Santiago de Anaya Gastronomic Exhibition
Everything that blooms, crawls, walks, runs and flies...goes into the pot!
By Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico
Secretary of Culture of the State of Hidalgo
40 years of the Gastronomic Exhibition
For over 40 years, a group of Otomi people from the Valle del Mezquital in Hidalgo have been meeting in a small community center of Santiago de Anaya to carry out tasks for the common good.
Muestra gastronómica de Santiago de Anaya 15 by Raúl GuerreroMinistry of Culture of the Government of Mexico
The attendees were from marginalized communities where there was little water and a diet that appeared to be very poor.
Muestra gastronómica de Santiago de Anaya 21 by Raúl GuerreroMinistry of Culture of the Government of Mexico
As people had to travel from their communities and did so on foot, it was necessary to carry an "itacate," which is traditionally a sack in which they brought tortillas or corn gorditas and some stew.
Muestra gastronómica de Santiago de Anaya 16 by Raúl GuerreroMinistry of Culture of the Government of Mexico
On one occasion when the anniversary of the community center was celebrated, the women brought some stews to share. Carmelo Ángeles Moreno said that the traditional cuisine of the communities was varied and that all the ingredients were harvested.
Muestra gastronómica de Santiago de Anaya 19 by Raúl GuerreroMinistry of Culture of the Government of Mexico
Despite the poverty, there were solutions to food and nutrition, and herbs of many varieties were eaten according to the season of the year.
Muestra gastronómica de Santiago de Anaya 7 by Raúl GuerreroMinistry of Culture of the Government of Mexico
Quelites, flowers, insects, cacti, mead or pulque and sometimes a mammal or reptile (when the husbands of the housewives had gone hunting). Not to mention corn and beans, as had been the case for centuries.
In 1981, the women were called upon to organize a gastronomic exhibition, where the collective intelligence and traditional cuisine of Santiago de Anaya would be made known.
However, local pride grew even stronger and people came to show off the recipes that had been passed down to them by their mothers, grandmothers and mothers-in-law.
Muestra gastronómica de Santiago de Anaya 5 by Raúl GuerreroMinistry of Culture of the Government of Mexico
Today, the Gastronomic Exhibition of Santiago de Anaya welcomes more than a thousand cooks, who present more than 1,500 recipes in the categories of traditional dishes and desserts or beverages (water, atole or pulque).
This activity stands out for the presence of native ingredients of the region in the dishes, as well as the very special cooking techniques, such as cooking in a barbecue oven and the use of sand grains to cool or heat foods.
The Gastronomic Exhibition of Santiago de Anaya is celebrated the first weekend of April (whenever it doesn't interfere with Holy Week), a time in which several of the seasonal products are present in the field and are harvested.
Historical photographs: Carmelo Ángeles
Contemporary photographs: Secretary of Culture of the State of Hidalgo
Learn more
