page_title: Sonora
section_title: Gastronomy
hierarchical_section_title: Sonora / Culture / Gastronomy
caption_attribution_description: Parrillada de Carne Asada
context_page_description: Sonora, officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora, is one of 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo.
  Sonora is bordered by the states of Chihuahua to the east, Baja California to the northwest and Sinaloa to the south. To the north, it shares the U.S.–Mexico border primarily with the state of Arizona with a small length with New Mexico, and on the west has a significant share of the coastline of the Gulf of California.
  Sonora's natural geography is divided into three parts: the Sierra Madre Occidental in the east of the state; plains and rolling hills in the center; and the coast on the Gulf of California. It is primarily arid or semiarid deserts and grasslands, with only the highest elevations having sufficient rainfall to support other types of vegetation.
  Sonora is home to eight indigenous peoples, including the Mayo, the O’odham, the Yaqui, and Seri. It has been economically important for its agriculture, livestock, and mining since the colonial period, and for its status as a border state since the Mexican–American War.
context_section_description: As in other parts of Mexico, Sonoran cuisine is basically a mixture of indigenous and Spanish influences. When the Spaniards moved north from the Mexico City area, they found that the diet of the area was simpler, with the basics of corn, beans and squash, but without the further variety as existed in the lusher south. The Spaniards had a great impact on how the diet of the region. They brought European staples of wheat, beef, dairy products, pork and more, as well as dishes and ingredients from the center and south of Mexico, such as tortillas, more varieties of chile peppers and tamales. The cowboy/vaquero culture has been an important aspect of Sonora's culture since the colonial period and much of the cuisine is based on what cowboys ate on the range, even though most Sonorans no longer work outdoors. Sonoran cuisine is not limited to the present state. Arizona, especially in southern border area, has a cuisine which is also heavy on wheat, cheese and beef introduced by the Spaniards, back when the area was part of Sonora. Both states continue the cowboy tradition. Because Sonora is a border state, its cuisine has received significant influence from the United States as well.
  Two important staples in the diet are seafood and beef, the latter playing a larger role in the cuisine of Sonora than in the rest of Mexico. Beef is often cooked over an open flame, and Sonorans prefer robust cuts such as brisket and skirt steak. Machaca, or carne seca, is still enjoyed, although refrigeration has eliminated the need to dry meat. Sonora also has a reputation for producing fine cuts of beef, but the lean Spanish cattle of the colonial period have been replaced by Angus, Herefords and Holsteins. Dishes based on or usually containing beef include carne desebrada, carne con rajas verdes, burritos, carne con chile colorado, beef chorizo, carne seca, machaca, menudo, gorditas and meatballs. Seafood is an important staple, especially along the coast as there is a large variety of fish and shellfish in the Gulf of California. Seafood is generally cooked in very simple dishes, such as fish tacos, seafood soups, rice with shrimp or squid and shrimp meatballs. Favored fish include cabrilla, flounder, marlin, sardines, manta rays and various types of jacks.
  Tortillas are the base of the diet, but they are made from wheat, rather than corn. In Sonora, these tortillas are much larger than those prepared elsewhere and paper thin. Dairy products are common in dishes with chile peppers playing a smaller role. However, one important native chile pepper is the chiltepín (Capsicum annuum var. aviculare), which people continue to harvest wild in the mountains of northwestern Mexico. In a dry year, about 20 tonnes (44,000 lb) can be harvested in Sonora, with as much as 50 tonnes (110,000 lb) during a wet year.
  The cuisine contains a number of soups and stews, which combine native ingredients with Mexico-wide staples of beef, pork and corn. Seafood soups are popular along the coast. These dishes include pozole de trigo, pozole de res, menudo con pata, verdolagas (Portulaca oleracea) broth, sopa de elote, caldo de calabazas and sopa de camarón. Tamales are made with cornmeal dough and fillings such as beans, vegetables, potatoes, chile colorado and other ingredients, wrapped in dried corn husks and steamed. Tamale fillings vary in the state but the most popular include fresh corn with cream, green chile strips with cheese, beef with chile colorado and seafood.
  The various cultures that have come through the state have influenced the development of breads, desserts and sweets. Most sweets are made from cow's milk, sugar cane, peanuts, rice, nuts, sesame seeds and piloncillo. These include pipitoria, jamoncillo, cubierto de viznaga, cubiertos de calabaza, cubiertos de camote, squash in honey, piloncillo, pitahaya ice cream, crystallized oranges and limes, cakes made from corn and rice pudding.
  Bacanora is a local liquor which has been made for decades in the town of the same name, located in the center of the state. Its base is an agave plant (agave lec
caption: Grilling carne asada
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