Mariscos (the Spanish word for seafood/shellfish) is a classic type of Mexican food.
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Array of dishes is as vast and varied as the country’s nearly 7,000 miles of coastline
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There are nearly 7,000 miles of coastline in Mexico, depending on how you count them. Over 4,500 miles of that coastline faces the Pacific Ocean. Despite that, when one thinks of Mexican cuisine, it’s not often the fruits of those seas that first come to mind. In fact, the most famous “Mexican” mariscos dish — ceviche — is almost surely not even Mexican but, rather, Peruvian or Ecuadorean (or both).
So, what are mariscos? At the most basic level, the Spanish word translates to English as “seafood.” A bit more specifically, the word mariscos is generally understood to refer to any edible marine invertebrate intended for food consumption, especially crustaceans and mollusks. Of course, the menus at mariscos food trucks, carts and stands as well as brick-and-mortar restaurants — on both sides of the border — will often include Ensenada-style fish tacos as well as fin fish ceviches. But it is those crustaceans and mollusks that are at the core of the Mexican seafood menu.
Part of the problem of definitions lies in the sheer size of Mexico and in the sprawling extent of those 7,000 miles of coastline. There simply is no single such thing as “Mexican food.” Depending how you want to split or lump them, there are at least seven distinct “Mexican” cuisines (and that’s just in Mexico): Norteño, Oaxaqueño, Veracruzano, Yucateco, Poblano, Jaliscense and Bajacaliforniano. Each distinct cuisine features the food of different regions with different geographies. Advertisement
Where seafood is involved, the seas themselves are different, as are the denizens of those seas, whether fin fish, shellfish or crustacean. So are the land-based flavoring ingredients and accompaniments. Take, for example, aguachile, a classic Sinaloan dish of a raw seafood protein lightly cured in a broth of chile peppers, lime juice, salt and cilantro, often with accompaniments of sliced cucumber and onion. Aguachile differs from ceviche primarily in the degree to which the seafood is “cooked” (actually, cured) by the spicy and acidic brew (the aguachile).
In Mazatlan, where the dish originated, it would almost always feature shrimp (though it was originally made from beef machaca). In Baja California, it is often made with yellowtail of sparkling fresh tuna (as Javier Plascencia did at his late-lamented Bracero restaurant in Little Italy). At top Mexico City restaurants, it might be made with octopus (as it is at Contramar) or even without a protein at all (at Pujol). These highlight the fact that the defining feature of an aguachile is not the protein, but the “chile water” itself.
Perhaps the most famous form of mariscos just south of the border in Baja is Puerto Nuevo lobster. These are not the big-clawed creatures of Maine lobster rolls, but, rather, spiny lobsters that look more like crawdads on steroids. In the early parts of the 20th century, the waters off Puerto Nuevo were silly with them, and the town grew up around the trade.
In time, though, that trade became more about export and the town became something of a parody of itself. Tourists, though, still flock there for frozen imported split lobsters deep-fried in lard and doused in margarine, offered with large flour tortillas, refried beans and two hot sauces.
Far more common and satisfying, if slightly lacking the “luxurious” carnival allure of Puerto Nuevo lobster, lies the world of cocteles. They can be found at just about any mariscos stand or restaurant along the coast. The ubiquitous coctel de camarones is a tall glass — or, depending on the vendor, plastic cup — filled with fresh, plump and barely cooked shrimp, in a light red sauce flavored with ketchup (hopefully not too much) and Clamato juice, filled with finely chopped chile peppers, tomatoes, onion, cucumber, avocado and cilantro.
The Mexican coctel de camarones should not be confused with the American shrimp cocktail, though it might well have been created as a variation — and distinct improvement — on the latter. And there are many variations on this classic itself. One of the most common is the campechana, a mixed seafood cocktail. It can be made with octopus, abalone, oysters, mussels, scallops and even fin fish, along with the shrimp, and just about any imaginable subset or combination thereof. The combination of shrimp and octopus makes for a particularly successful coctel.
It is at La Guerrerense in Ensenada that some say mariscos, indeed Mexican street food as a whole, reach their apogee. Anthony Bourdain used the term “the best street cart in the world.” Rick Bayless called it “one of the best places to eat in Mexico.” It is hard to disagree with them after a taste La Guerrerense’s signature sea urchin and Pismo clam tostadas. And that is just one of the cart’s tostadas, ranging from the most simple to the ones Bourdain called “Le Bernardin quality seafood in the street.”
The world of mariscos may not be the most famous dishes in Mexican cuisine, but they may be some of the best. From cocteles off street carts to aguachiles at Michelin starred restaurants (like the Watermelon Aguachile at two Michelin starred Californios in San Francisco) to La Guerrerense that essentially splits the difference between the two, Mexican mariscos may be the most versatile class of Mexican dishes. And, at the end of the day, perhaps the most delicious.
With almost 7,000 miles of possibilities, it is not difficult to see why.
Mexican Seafood
FAQ
What do you call Mexican seafood?
What seafood is Mexico known for?
What seafood is caught in Mexico?
What is a Mexican shellfish called?
Camarón: shrimp, possibly the most beloved and versatile of Mexico’s many shellfish, sold fresh, from either ocean or river, or dried, either whole or powdered, called camaron seco. Powdered shrimp is a seasoning for Lenten soups made with legumes. Prawns are called camarón gigante.
What fish eat in Mexico?
Jurel: jack fish, of which at least nine different species inhabit Mexican waters. Yellow jack is perhaps the most popular for the Lenten dish albóndigas de pescado, “meatballs” made with ground fish, a specialty of Baja California.
Where to eat seafood in Mexico?
Many thousands of seafood eating establishments exist in Mexico, ranging from rickety seaside stands or popular market stalls—often called coctelerías or marisquerías— to five-star restaurants in large urban areas far from the coast such as Mexico City.
Is Pescado a seafood?
Though fish ( pescado) is not technically seafood, fish species are usually served alongside shellfish dishes. The two types of food are often lumped together in the same category on restaurant menus and signs and in cookbooks as pescados y mariscos (fish and seafood).