The Cultural Playlist: Mexico City
¡Hola! Welcome back to The Cultural Playlist. This week’s stop? Mexico City — a place that bursts with color, flavor, and creativity. It’s especially magical in spring, when jacaranda trees bloom across the city and the weather is just about perfect. Whether you’ve visited, dream of going, or just need a little cultural escape, this one’s for you.
Travel to Mexico City through music, tacos, and traditions
Here’s what to expect:
A Mexico-inspired music playlist
An authentic (and delicious!) Mexican recipe
Books by local authors
Movies that capture the city’s energy
One transformative experience to have if you go
If you missed the last playlist (Kyoto!), catch up here, or if you’re new and curious how this all started, here’s the backstory.
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¡Vamos a la Ciudad de México!
Mexico City is built on the ruins of Tenochtitlán, the ancient Aztec capital, and its layered history is everywhere. In the Centro Histórico alone, you’ll find ornate colonial architecture, grand cathedrals, and UNESCO-recognized landmarks rising beside excavated Aztec temples.
Modern-day CDMX is full of contrasts that work together beautifully. Explore busy markets alive with the best kinds of chaos, then step into a quiet, world-class museum just around the corner.
Grab street food so good it might make you emotional (I shed a happy tear or two over a bowl of aguachile the last time I was there), or book a table at a Michelin-starred spot for a tasting menu that feels like edible art.
Spend the day slowly wandering through leafy neighborhoods like Condesa or Coyoacán, sipping café de olla at a stylish bakery or people-watching in one of the city's many manicured parks. At night, dance in a mezcal bar or hop between taquerías on a midnight crawl.
Whether you're here for the food, the history, the art, or just to take it all in — it all comes together to make Mexico City one of the coolest places to explore.
Listen to a Mexican music playlist
Mexico City is alive with rhythm — from the traditional son jarocho and mariachi to today’s indie, cumbia, rock, and reggaetón scenes. Music spills from taxis, street corners, galleries, and rooftop bars, creating a citywide soundtrack that never stops.
This playlist channels CDMX’s bold, creative spirit — a mix of indie rock, danceable beats, throwbacks, and modern classics. Don’t speak Spanish? No hay problema. Music is a universal language, and you don’t need to understand the lyrics to appreciate a good beat.
Food in Mexico City
Mexico City’s food scene is layered, flavorful, and rooted in history. From pre-Hispanic traditions to modern culinary mashups, the city is a true gastronomic capital. You’ll find the legacy of ancient Mesoamerican staples — like maize, chiles, and cacao — blended with colonial influences and contemporary creativity. In CDMX, food isn’t just a meal — it’s culture, memory, and celebration.
Street vendor carving marinated meat straight from the spit onto a fresh corn tortilla — a classic scene from Mexico City’s incredible taco culture.
Make tacos al pastor
If you want to make an incredible Mexican meal that nods to CDMX, tacos are the move. And there’s no better place to start than with tacos al pastor, one of its most beloved street foods.
Inspired by shawarma brought by Lebanese immigrants and transformed into something uniquely Mexican, al pastor is a beautiful collision of cultures: marinated pork cooked on a vertical spit, sliced thin, and served on warm tortillas with pineapple, onion, and cilantro.
You don’t need a trompo (the traditional rotating spit) to make it happen at home. Here’s an easier version with big flavor and no special equipment required.
Tacos al pastor — a Mexico City favorite — served with the classic toppings: onion, cilantro, and pineapple.
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2 lbs boneless pork shoulder or pork loin, sliced thinly across the grain
2 dried *guajillo chiles
2 dried *ancho chiles
3 garlic cloves
*1 chipotle in adobo + 1 tbsp adobo sauce
½ cup pineapple juice
¼ cup white vinegar
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp ground cloves
2 tbsp *achiote paste (optional but adds authentic flavor)
1 tbsp oil
For Serving:Small corn tortillas
Fresh pineapple, diced or grilled
Chopped white onion
Chopped fresh cilantro
Lime wedges
Your favorite salsa
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Make the marinade:
Toast the chiles in a dry skillet over medium heat for 1–2 minutes until fragrant. Soak them in hot water for 10 minutes to soften. Then blend softened chiles with garlic, chipotle, pineapple juice, vinegar, oregano, cumin, paprika, salt, cloves, achiote paste, and oil until smooth.Marinate the pork:
Pour marinade over the sliced pork and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours — overnight is even better.Cook the pork:
Heat a large skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat. Heat a large skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook the pork for 1–2 minutes per side, until browned and slightly crispy at the edges.Assemble & Serve:
Warm tortillas, then top each with a few pieces of pork, pineapple, onion, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime. Add salsa if you like.
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These ingredients are widely available in Latin markets — or we’ve linked online ordering options below.
Guajillo chiles: Mild, tangy dried red chiles.
Ancho chiles: Sweet, earthy dried poblanos — not spicy.
Chipotle in adobo: Smoky canned jalapeños in a tangy sauce.
Achiote paste: Earthy, red-orange spice blend made from annatto seeds.
Read the best books about Mexico
From magical realism to sharp literary fiction and moody noir, these books capture the spirit of Mexico in all its complexity. Travel to Mexico City and pick one up at a stylish local bookstore — or let these stories inspire your next trip.
Set in rural Mexico during the Mexican Revolution, this novel masterfully blends magical realism with political history. It follows a mysterious, silent boy whose connection to bees seems to carry both magic and prophecy — and who forever changes the lives of the family that takes him in. (This is great as an audiobook, too!)
Faces in the Crowd by Valeria Luiselli
Written by one of Mexico City’s most celebrated contemporary authors, this novel weaves together past and present through poetic, fragmented bursts. It follows a woman in CDMX reflecting on her past life as a translator in New York — and her obsession with a forgotten Mexican poet from the 1920s. A good pick when you’re in the mood to pause between lines.
Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Set in turbulent 1970s Mexico City — a time when the government was covertly silencing student activists — this noir thriller follows two outsiders pulled into a web of secrets, surveillance, and missing radicals. Stylish, moody, and politically charged — a great slow-burn read.
More Must-Read Books About Mexico
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel: A story of love, food, and rebellion in revolutionary Mexico. Each chapter shares a traditional Mexican recipe.
Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs by Camilla Townsend: Curious about pre-Hispanic Mexico? This accessible and engaging history tells the story of the Aztec world through Indigenous voices and surviving texts.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Set in 1950s Mexico, this gothic horror blends suspense with atmospheric glamour. Haunting and addictive.
The Mexico City Reader edited by Rubén Gallo: An eclectic anthology of essays, fiction, and reportage that captures the city's contradictions, poetry, and chaos. A perfect browse-before-you-go book.
Watch the best movies set in Mexico
Mexico has a long tradition of poetic, powerful storytelling on screen. Whether you’re into lyrical indie films, biopics, or animation, these movies capture the spirit of Mexico in all its complexity. If you watch only one, make it Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma.
Watch Roma — Alfonso Cuarón’s Oscar-winning film set in 1970s Mexico City. One of the best Mexican movies and a must-see for fans of visually stunning cinema.
Roma (2018)
Set in the Roma neighborhood of 1970s Mexico City, this Oscar-winning film is poetic and deeply human. It follows Cleo, a live-in housekeeper, as she navigates daily life and personal heartbreak during a time of political unrest. It’s not a fast-paced watch, but it’s beautifully shot and quietly unforgettable.
More Must-Watch Movies About Mexico
Frida (2002): A vivid, stylized biopic about the life of Frida Kahlo — her art, politics, and pain brought to life in bold color. For a more intimate take, watch Frida (2024), a documentary that tells her story through her own words and archival footage.
Y Tu Mamá También (2001): Considered a landmark of Mexican cinema, this coming-of-age road trip through rural Mexico is both political and provocative.
Coco (2017): A Pixar film that celebrates Mexican culture and Día de los Muertos. Heartfelt, funny, and full of music, it’s easy and entertaining.
And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (2003): The true story of how Villa struck a deal with Hollywood to film actual battles of the Mexican Revolution — a fascinating look at myth-making and media.
Watch the Sunrise in a Hot Air Balloon Over Teotihuacán
There are travel moments that stay with you — and this is one of them. Floating above the ancient city of Teotihuacán at sunrise, with the Pyramid of the Sun glowing beneath you, is equal parts surreal and sacred. It’s not just the view (though that’s unforgettable); it’s the awe of soaring above a city built more than 2,000 years ago — long before the Aztecs arrived, in a place once believed to be where the gods created the world.
The balloon ride starts early, but watching the sky gradually light up over one of Mesoamerica’s most iconic archaeological sites is worth every minute of lost sleep. After you land, most tours include a champagne toast and breakfast — the perfect reset before walking the Avenue of the Dead and seeing the temples up close.
Not every highlight has to be extravagant, but every trip deserves one unforgettable moment. This is it.
Thank you for reading The Cultural Playlist: Mexico City!
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