SHRIMP MADE TO ORDER, IT’S FINGER LICKIN’ GOOD!
According to Bubba Blue in Forrest Gump, “Shrimp is the fruit of the sea.” In the Riviera Nayarit there are experts that can take this “fruit” and cook it in myriad ways guaranteed to make your mouth a happy place. The state is one of the top producers of this crustacean, as well as silver perch, snook and oysters, which fall within the top five on a domestic level.
Shrimp is one of the most important elements of the Nayarit kitchen. There is an amazing variety of dishes from this state that have made their way into the archives of Mexican cuisine thanks to their diversity, taste and aroma—all of which will delight even the most demanding palate.
Among the most popular dishes is the aguachile. The shrimp is peeled, deveined, butterflied and washed; it is then placed uncooked in a dish with thin slices of red onion and cucumbers, and covered in lime juice previously infused with serrano peppers and salt. Spicy and delicious!
The Tlaxtihuille is a dish of pre-Hispanic origin. It’s made with atole, a traditional hot corn-based beverage, shrimp powder and hot peppers. Preparing it is an art in itself!
Nayarit-Style Shrimp is another scrumptious dish, flavorful and with a slight spice that only makes you wish for more. Just melt a little butter or heat up some oil in a frying pan, add the shrimp previously shorn of their antennae, then bathe them in Huichol sauce to taste and sautée until they are cooked through.
Or how about shrimp with rice? It’s a simple yet tasty dish, where you prepare Mexican-style rice and add dried shrimp.
Then there are the tortas de camarón con nopales, or shrimp patties with prickly pear, prepared with dried shrimp, breadcrumbs and egg to shape the patties. These are then served in a tomato broth with chilacate peppers with the previously cooked prickly pear slices.
We could write volumes about the gastronomy of Nayarit with plenty of chapters dedicated to the region’s shrimp. However, we’d rather entice you to come to the Riviera Nayarit and enjoy these dishes for yourself, because luxury is in the tasting.
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