There’s a reason many tourists flock to Baja California Sur (BCS) to enjoy vacations on beautiful beaches in destinations like Los Cabos, Loreto, and La Paz. The state has more coastline than any other in Mexico and it’s not particularly close. In fact, between Baja California and BCS, the peninsula they share — the world’s second longest — makes up 38% of Mexico’s total coastline .
BCS alone accounts for 22%. Given this coastal abundance and easy access to the fruits of the sea in both the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortés, it should come as no surprise that the cuisine of BCS is and has always been seafood-focused. That’s not to say there aren’t other foods of note.
The state is famous for its chicken-stuffed tamales fajados ; regional fruit-based specialties like mangate and dulce de pitahaya, made from ripe mangoes and dragon fruit, respectively; and its aphrodisiacal liqueur, Damiana , which is sourced from a native herb. But seafood is the culinary lodestar, and before the age of tourism, fishing accounted for much of the regional industry. It’s still practiced commercially, of course.
For example, the Baja California peninsula provides the majority of abalone in Mexico, while BCS and Sinaloa harvest more than half the country’s clams. Simple recipes are the rule for tuna, marlin, totoaba, octopus, crab, shrimp, scallops, lobster, clams, abalone, snails and other salty fare. When you have ingredients this fresh, after all, why not let their flavo.