In Taxco, you can taste such typical dishes as broths, tamales and beef tacos, not to mention exotic jumil-based dishes made with local insects… Dare to try them? Taxco, like most traditional Mexican towns, has a vast gastronomic offering to delight visitors. Local dishes gather pre-Hispanic ingredients such as corn, bean, pumpkin, and even insects, alongside other more recent acquisitions such as chicken meat, olives and European spices. Corn, a staple of the Mexican diet, is present in almost Taxco's dishes: in pozole – an exquisite broth containing white corn grains, pork or chicken meat, green or red spicy mole sauce, laurel and oregano –, in bean, pumpkin and plum tamales, smoked beef tacos, and other traditional specialities.

Taxco's fiambre – a salad-based dish originating in Spain and adapted by the Guatemalans – is a combination of pork, chicken and beef, jalapeño peppers, raisins, olives and other fruits and vegetables. The meat is marinated in juice made from sour orange, lime, ground black pepper and salt. This delicacy is served cold and accompanied by a rich vinaigrette. The star dish of local gastronomy is, without doubt, the jumiles: insects from the trunks of oak trees, blessed with a subtle cinnamon flavor. A sacred delicacy for ancient Mexicans, jumiles are prepared in diverse forms: in sauce, mole or with hot hand-made tortillas.

Such is the importance of these small and nutritious creatures to local gastronomy that, in their honor, the Jumil Fair is celebrated every year. During the month of November, the ancestral practice of getting to the top of the Cerro del Huixteco – the highest mountain in Taxco – just in order to collect jumiles, comes back to life again. During this festival, you can taste these insects in a great variety of dishes. Local dishes are usually accompanied by a refreshing beverage called “Berta” which contains tequila, honey, lime and mineral water. It is served in a big glass with chopped ice – perfect for a hot day.