Oaxacan Food Glossary


Breakfast hours are generally 8-10 in the morning, lunch from 2-4 in the afternoon and dinners often don't begin until 8 in the evening.



Aciento/asiento: lard

Almendra con Tuna y Chilacayote: drink/agua of almond with prickly pear and squash

Almendrado, an almond sauce with tomatoes, olives, and herbs served over chicken

Blandas: tortillas

Botana Oaxaque–a: appetizer plate

Caguesa: chicken stew made with garlic, tomato and toasted corn (native to Teotitl‡n del Valle)

Camotes: crystalized sweet potato candy

Castillo: obscure mole

Cegueza: chicken soup with roasted corn

Chapuline: grasshoppers

Chepil: local herb, used in tamales

Chicatones: insect dish

Chichilo: obscure mole

Chilacayote: drink made from squash and sweetened with honey, cinnamon and brown sugar.

Chilaquiles: dried tortilla chips, broiled with cheese (and sometimes chicken) in green or red salsa.

Coloradito: Chicken with red mole made from chile ancho, sesame seeds and almonds.

Embaradas: Tortillas fried with black mole and fresh cheese.

Empanada : a large tortilla grilled on the comal, often with chicken and yellow mole

Encaladas: a flour pastry topped with egg white and sugar (famous in Tamazulapan)

Enchiladas: Corn tortillas topped with red mole sauce

Enmoladas: Corn tortillas topped with black mole sauce

Escabeche: Vegetables marinated in vinegar

Esquites: combination of corn, poblano chili and the epazote herb.

Estofado: obscure mole

Garnachas: slow roasted tortillas filled with chopped meat

Hongos: wild mushrooms

Hormigas De Sabores: insect dish

Manchamanteles: obscure mole

Memelas: tortillas topped with lard, crumbled cheese and salsa

Mole Coloradito: deep red

Nicoatole: dessert using tejate

Oblea: a thin circular wafer,

Pan de Yema: the local bread

Piedrazo: a hard-bread softened with vinegar and spices

Piloncillo: unrefined brown sugar (not eaten crude)

Pinole: a dusty mixture of roasted corn or wheat and brown sugar. you can't whistle while eating it.

Quesillo: string cheese

Queso Empanizado: breaded fried cheese served in a green sauce.

Requeson: a local version of ricotta used in salads, dips and desserts.

Rompope: egg nog often flavored with rum

Setas: cultivated mushrooms

Sopa de Guias: soup with squash flowers and stems and herbs.

Tasajo: thin sliced grilled beef

Tejate: "the drink of the gods." complex drink includes cocoa flowers. also in sherbet, as cookies

Tlayuda/Clayuda: crunchy tortilla, e.g. covered with refried beans, lard, cabbage, meat, cheese and salsa.

Tostadas Ejutecas: a signature dish of the town of Ejutla