Tacos in Coahuila

Coahuila, on the Texas border, is goat and beef country whose taco traditions include Sunday beef barbacoa in Saltillo, the mixed-meat discada of the Comarca Lagunera and flour-tortilla tacos, with the border town of Piedras Negras credited as the birthplace of nachos.

Overview

Larousse's gastronomic dictionary describes Coahuila as a highly industrialized northern state that leads the nation in goat milk and goat meat and is second in cow's milk. It shares many northern specialties with its neighbors: barbacoa, carne asada, machaca, chorizo, frijoles charros and quesadillas, with cabrito prepared roasted, baked, al pastor, in broth or as fritada cooked in its own blood. Flour tortillas are made in both savory and sweet versions, and the dictionary also mentions tacos laguneros without describing them.

Two small communities add distinctive notes. Larousse names the Kikapú, traditionally hunters, and the Mascogo of Múzquiz, descendants of Black Seminoles whose cooking blends Afro-Seminole and northern traditions. México Desconocido mentions a little-known taco mascogo as representative of that community.

Sunday barbacoa

In Saltillo, barbacoa means beef rather than the lamb of central Mexico. Vanguardia explains that northern barbacoa is usually made from the head, cheek, tongue and tripe, fatty and collagen-rich cuts suited to long cooking, traditionally in an underground pit lined with hot stones and covered with maguey leaves. It is eaten on Sunday mornings in corn tortillas with onion, cilantro, chile salsa and lime, a custom the newspaper ties to family gatherings across the northern states. A 2023 reader poll by the paper produced a long list of favorite barbacoa sellers around the city, from neighborhood stalls to the Mercado Juárez.

Discada and La Laguna

Discada is a dish of chopped beef, pork, bacon, ham, sausage and chorizo cooked with onion, tomato and chile on a plow disc set over a fire. Tus Buenas Noticias places its origin in the twentieth century among farm workers of the Comarca Lagunera, the region shared by Coahuila and Durango, and notes that both states claim it; México Desconocido likewise calls it a dish of La Laguna. It is eaten with tortillas, often as tacos. México Desconocido also describes the gorditas of Torreón and the Laguna, filled with chicharrón, beans with cheese or potato with chorizo, in flour or corn masa.

Nachos and the border

Piedras Negras is widely credited as the place where nachos were invented. History.com recounts that in 1943 Ignacio Anaya, a maître d' in the town, assembled fried tortilla pieces with cheese and jalapeños for a group of military wives from Eagle Pass, Texas, and the dish took his nickname. México Desconocido calls the nachos of Piedras Negras an essential local snack. The state's other food landmarks include the wineries of Parras and a long tradition of pecan sweets and pan de pulque.

Signature tacos

• Tacos de barbacoa de res
• Tacos de discada
• Tacos de cabrito
• Tacos de machaca
• Tacos de cabeza

Reviews

See also

• Tacos de barbacoa de res
• Tacos de discada
• Tacos de cabrito
• Tacos de machaca
• Tacos in Nuevo León
• Tacos in Durango

References

1. "Coahuila". Larousse Cocina (Diccionario enciclopédico de la Gastronomía Mexicana). Retrieved 2026-10-10.
2. "Gastronomía de Coahuila: Platillos, bebidas y postres típicos". México Desconocido. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
3. "¡Y la mejor barbacoa de Saltillo es...! Conoce el veredicto de nuestros lectores". Vanguardia. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
4. "De Coahuila o Durango: ¿Dónde es originaria la discada?". Tus Buenas Noticias. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
5. "Tracing the History of Tex-Mex". History.com. Retrieved 2026-10-10.