Tacos in Campeche

Campeche, on the Gulf side of the Yucatán Peninsula, cooks around dogfish (cazón), shrimp and Maya pit-roasting, and shares cochinita pibil, panuchos and lechón with Yucatán; the word campechano, meaning a mix, gave its name to a taco of combined meats.

Overview

Larousse's gastronomic dictionary describes Campeche as one of the three states of the Yucatán Peninsula, founded as a sovereign state in December 1861 and inhabited since antiquity by the Maya. It is the country's top producer of honey and leads in catches of species such as amberjack, octopus, snook, sierra and corvina; shrimp sold in southeastern markets is commonly labeled camarón de Campeche. Corn is the base of the diet. Mexico News Daily adds that Campeche's cooking reflects Maya heritage, Spanish influence and centuries of contact with Caribbean pirates, and relies on sour orange, achiote and habanero.

Cazón

Cazón, a small shark usually translated as dogfish, is the state's most representative fish. Larousse notes that it is fried or grilled and used as the filling for empanadas, salbutes and panuchos as well as pan de cazón, the signature dish: corn tortillas layered with shredded cazón and black beans under a tomato and habanero sauce. Mexico News Daily records that the fish was a staple of the poor by the nineteenth century and that in 2019 Champotón assembled a pan de cazón weighing 637 kilos.

Pork and the weekly table

Campeche shares Yucatán's pit-roasted cochinita pibil, papadzules and panuchos. Por Esto! describes lechón, a young pig roasted in the oven, as the second star of Campeche cooking after cochinita and the centerpiece of baptisms, birthdays and weddings, sold on Sundays at street corners and markets. Larousse and Mexico News Daily both describe a traditional weekly calendar: puchero on Monday, bistec a la cazuela on Thursday, fish on Friday, the beef and offal stew chocolomo on Saturday, and lechón on Sunday.

Campechano

The adjective campechano originally meant a person from Campeche and now also means easygoing. Mexico News Daily explains that the verb campechanear, recorded since the nineteenth century, means to mix things, and that tacos campechanos, filled with two or more meats, take their name from that sense of mixture rather than from any Campeche origin.

Signature tacos

• Tacos de cochinita pibil
• Tacos de lechón
• Tacos de cazón

Reviews

See also

• Tacos campechanos
• Tacos de cochinita pibil
• Tacos de lechón
• Tacos de cazón
• Tacos in Yucatán
• Tacos in Quintana Roo

References

1. "Campeche". Larousse Cocina (Diccionario enciclopédico de la Gastronomía Mexicana). Retrieved 2026-10-10.
2. "State by Plate: Campeche's pan de cazón". Mexico News Daily. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
3. "Lechón tostado: Aquí la receta original del platillo 100% yucateco". Por Esto!. Retrieved 2026-10-10.