Durango is strong influence here from that region. One of the best known dishes, caldillo duranguense, is essentially a hearty beef soup with roasted green chili peppers. Gorditas are a particularly popular and important food historically, as they were a mainstay for field hands who found the pockets of corn or wheat convenient for carrying and eating meats and sauce outside of the home. Although found in other parts of Mexico, tacos de tripe (intestines) are particularly popular here. Asado rojo de puerco, known as asado de boda in other parts of north-central Mexico is popular. Tamales are popular but they
Menudo (soup) of this meat which has been previously processed by boiling it in hot water, which reduces cooking time by hours. In its simplest form, beef tripe is rinsed then boiled for three hours in a large pot with half an onion to remove the strong odor of the tripe. It is then removed from the pot, discarding the onion half, and allowed to cool before being cut into strips, or occasionally diced. The water is removed and discarded, then the tripe is put back into the pot and fresh water, oregano, red chili paste or powder, lime/lemon juice, hominy, and