In Mexico, there are thousands of ways to cook eggs. I propose you a glossary of the main different recipes, not wanting to be completely lost reading the menu.
Los Huevos Mexicanos
Those are fried eggs (huevos estrellados) cooked with pieces of tomato, onion and chile (verde, jalapeño or serrano). The name comes from the fact that the plate presents the three colors of the Mexican flag.
Los Huevos Divorciados
You have two fried eggs served on fried tortillas of maize: one bathed in salsa verde and the other one in salsa roja, both being separated by refried frijoles (beans).
Los Huevos Rancheros
They are really like the “huevos divorciados” (fried on tortillas of maize) but they are only served with salsa roja picante. In the South, they can be prepared with fried banana (platano frito).
Los Huevos Motuleños
They are also fried and served on fried tortillas, but they are cooked with frijoles in tomato sauce and garnished with peas (chicharos), ham, grated cheese (queso rallado) and ham. You can also have fried banana.
Los Huevos Norteños
Those are scrambled eggs cooked with machaca, a traditional dried meat (beef) which has been rehydrated and used in the popular cuisine of Northern Mexico. In some cases it’s served with tomato sauce.
Los Huevos Ahogados
Those eggs are poached and served in an abundant quantity of salsa. In some cases, they can be served with ham and peas, and even with nopales in the center of the country. The “nopal” is a fruit which comes from the cactus and which is used a lot in Mexican cooking.
Los Huevos Oaxaqueños
They come from Oaxaca, a State in the South of Mexico. They are fried, cooked in an abundant tomato sauce with epazote (a plant), chile agua (type of chile from Oaxaca) and nopal.
Los Huevos Tirados
Scrambled eggs cooked with refried frijoles, onion and chile verde. The recipe comes from the center of the State of Veracruz.
And to go back to the basic, the Huevos al Gusto!
It means that you can choose how you want your eggs: fried (estrellados) or scrambled (revueltos), with ham, bacon or chorizo. And don’t be surprise if you see the waiter bringing them with tortillas: in Mexico, everything can be eaten in tortillas.
I hope that this glossary will help some of you, travelers in Mexico, because I remember me, more than one year ago, totally lost: a menu in Chinese would have made me the same effect!
