Ten years go, traditional Mexican food was declared “ Intangible Heritage of Humanity ” by UNESCO . The international organization recognized that Mexico’s culinary tradition also involves “farming, ritual practices, age-old skills, culinary techniques, and ancestral community customs and manners.”
This distinction has pushed for the preservation of traditional Mexican cuisine and its techniques, yet Mexico still lacks public places that honor Mexican gastronomy.
However, in an interview with gastronomy blog Culinaria Mexicana, chef Ricardo Muñoz Zurita revealed that Mexico will have its first museum dedicated to Mexican food.
The museum dedicated to the country’s rich culinary tradition will be located inside Chapultepec Park , in one of the most beautiful parts of the urban park.
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The chef revealed corn will have a special place at the museum and that there will be nixtamalization workshops, where you will learn how to make tortillas , sopes , and tlacoyos . Zurita added that this will be a “living museum.”
The museum dedicated to Mexican cuisine will also have a special area where you will enjoy delicious dishes. Moreover, the museum will present corn from all over the country, including pink corn from Tlaxcala, as well as blue, green, and miniature corn.
It will also offer activities for children, like making popcorn using maize sourced from the State of Mexico, and whose origin dates back to the Aztec Empire.
This multidisciplinary space will also have a room dedicated to science, which will focus on the culinary techniques created by ancient cultures and also delve into their legacy , which is the basis of our gastronomy .
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Chef Muñoz Zurita
said that the official name of the museum is still unknown and that the project is in its early stages. The opening is scheduled for late 2020 ; nevertheless, the process came to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The renown Mexican chef and researcher is the mastermind behind restaurants such as Azul y Oro, Azul Condesa, and Azul Histórico.
In 2001, Time magazine named him a “ Prophet and preserver of a culinary tradition .” He has written several books on salsas and traditional Mexican food .
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