Food

Why you eat well here

Michoacan is one of Mexico’s great food states, and Morelia is where you eat it comfortably. This is the home of carnitas done properly and of a deep tradition of corn cookery. Plan meals the way you would plan sights.

The dishes to chase

• Carnitas. Michoacan-style slow-cooked pork, sold by weight and piled into tacos. Best at a busy taqueria or market stall in the morning when it is fresh.
• Corundas and uchepos. The local tamales: corundas are savory and triangular, uchepos are made from fresh sweet corn. Look for them at markets and street carts.
• Sopa tarasca. A rich bean-and-tomato soup topped with cream, cheese and fried tortilla and chile. The local comfort dish.
• Enchiladas morelianas and carnitas anchor most cenadurias at night.
• Gazpacho moreliano. Not the Spanish soup: chopped fruit with lime, chili, salt and cotija, sold from carts. A perfect afternoon snack.

Where to eat

Markets first. Mercado Independencia for cheap, honest carnitas and comida corrida. The Mercado de Dulces by the plaza for candied fruit, ate and cajeta to taste and take home.

Sit-down michoacano. The center has several well-regarded restaurants serving regional cooking in old courtyards, from casual to refined. A good mid-range meal runs roughly the equivalent of a mid-priced city dinner; the fancier courtyard spots cost more (all prices approximate).

A friend’s tip

Eat carnitas in the morning where locals do, save the sweet market for a walk-through taste rather than a meal, and don’t leave without a cup of gazpacho from a street cart.