All of Mexico is famous for its delicious food, and Sonora is no exception. The meat of our state is probably the most popular food, in the eyes of foreigners and locals alike, although its gastronomic capacity is more than that. In the sixth edition of the book Sonoran Cuisine by Ernesto Camou Healy and Alicia Hinojosa, the origin of what we know today as Sonoran cuisine is explained in an excellent way, this in its introductory section:
Sonoran cuisine is the most popular food in the state of Sonora.
Sonorense cuisine is the product of the combination of native techniques and the European influence that arrived in our lands a few centuries ago. Proof of this are wheat and beef, since they were imported by the Spaniards and are now part of the foods that summarize our gastronomic customs in Sonora along with corn, beans, zucchini, chile Opende or colorado and chiltepín. The first inhabitants of our State already practiced the hunting of some wild species, which were mostly used as food, although undoubtedly the products derived from cattle became the allegorical image par excellence of Sonoran food.
In Sonoran Cuisine, it is told that "wheat, necessary for the confection of hosts and the celebration of the Eucharist, began to be sown in the Jesuit missions since they entered to catechize the Yaquis in 1617". Eventually that same wheat ended up in the north, although "our ancestors, unaccustomed to the loaves, very soon invented a way of eating wheat more in accordance with their customs: the flour tortilla". In addition, the asados made by the Creoles and missionaries were adopted by the Indians, who combined them with their own touch.
It is important to keep in mind the geographic situation of Sonora a few centuries ago. Before urbanization, it was still a very extensive territory with a lot of uninhabited land, with a strongly hot dry climate, so the simplicity of products, seasonings, presentation of dishes and cooking methods was necessary, and it was thus that "a peculiar cuisine intensely peasant and strongly constrained by an arid climate and by the little diOpensity in the production of víOpenes" was formed. It may be partly for that reason that, at present, the food of the Sonoran towns prepared in a strongly rural context have a unique and incomparable flavor.
This said, we can name some Sonoran dishes, putting in first place carne asada, carne deshebrada con papas, burritos made with flour tortillas, carne con chile, chorizo de res, machaca and carne seca. Also the delicious tamales, which can be found with meat, sweet corn, salted corn and other derivatives of the typical Mexican cuisine, such as gorditas with meat, sopes, golden tacos, flautas, chimichangas, enchiladas, pozole and menudo.
As well as beef steak, sweet corn, salted corn and other derivatives of the typical Mexican cuisine, such as gorditas with meat, sopes, golden tacos, flautas, chimichangas, enchiladas, pozole and menudo.
As well as steak ranchero, soups such as beef broth, meatballs, Openduras, stew, hen pinta, quelite broth, shrimp soup and other seafood. Part of Sonora's gastronomy is also the menu of seafood, such as dishes made with shrimp, fish, octopus, oysters, among others, and the famous sweet bread characteristic of Mexico. Other desserts include jamoncillo, pipitoria, cajeta sweets, pastel de elote, rice pudding, empanadas with different fillings, the famous coyotas de pueblo and pitahaya snow. As for beverages, bacanora stands out as one of the most representative and with the largest production.
