Steamed masa bundles, hot drinks and bakery classics

While tamales are national, Central Mexican cuisine is especially associated with their variety and their pairing with atole and champurrado, thick hot drinks based on corn or chocolate. In CDMX alone you find tamales verdes, rojos, de rajas, oaxaqueños, de dulce and tamal de olla, many sold from street steamers at dawn. Universities and local guides list tamales alongside pozole and chilaquiles as must-try city dishes. unaminternacional.unam.mx Central Mexico is also a powerhouse of pan dulce and seasonal breads: conchas, orejas, puerquitos, hojaldras, pan de muerto, roscas de reyes and more. These breads are eaten with café de olla, chocolate caliente or atole, turning breakfast and merienda into small rituals that mark the calendar—particularly Day of the Dead and Epiphany.