San Luis Potosí, the northernmost of the Bajío states, ranges from high desert in the west to the tropics in the east. Its diverse soil conditions support a variety of produce that is used creatively in its cuisine.

The state is an important livestock center. The northern area, famous for gold and silver mines, resembles northern Mexico in its culinary leanings. In this mountainous land, the biznaga cactus, which grows wild and is prized by cooks in its candied form, is used in baking. Its fruit, which resembles the artichoke, is used in salads.

The Sierra slopes down to the Huasteca country, a lush area known for its mangos, bananas, limes, pineapples and jobo, a regional fruit used to make a fermented drink called jobito. Fruit is combined with ingredients such as lentils in soups and stews. The zacahuil, a three-foot-long tamale that weighs in at some 150 pounds, is perhaps the most famous food of the region. Stuffed with pork and a variety of ingredients including potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, and vegetables, the zacahuil requires nearly all the leaves of a banana tree to wrap it.

In the Hidalgo market in the state capital, also named San Luis Potosí, the aroma of tropical fruit competes with that of beef sizzling on grills. In the Tangamanga market, Enchiladas Potosinas are served. Fiambre, a cold meat specialty dating to the Baroque era, is one of the city's signature dishes, as is grilled beef.

Guanajuato, just south of San Luis Potosí, is home to the capital city of the same name, and to San Miguel de Allende, a mecca for foreign visitors.

Restaurants with menus posted outside line the downtown streets of Guanajuato city, many listing the local specialty, Enchiladas Mineras. Competition inspires creative cooking, and one of the unique takes on a Mexican standard is the dish Chiles Empanizados at the Real de Esperanza restaurant. Rather than being batter-fried, these chiles rellenos are wrapped in puff pastry dough and baked until golden.

In addition to restaurants of every size and type, the city is known for its candy shops called dulcerías. With Celaya (the home of the goat's milk candy called cajeta), and Irapuato (the strawberry capital of the world) in the same state, there is no lack of candy-making ingredients.

Travelers who somehow missed the candies can find them on the road to Irapuato, which is lined with stands selling strawberry jams and candies as well as the regional favorite, fresas con crema (strawberries with cream).

East of Guanajuato and south of San Luis Potosí lies Querétaro, one of Mexico's smallest but most prosperous states. Querétaro's thermal springs and curative waters beckon, and its colonial capital, Santiago de Querétaro, entices with its churches, aqueduct, palaces and mansions (several of which have been converted into restaurants) and the European-style sidewalk cafes lining its plazas.

Renowned for its restaurant scene, the city of Querétaro offers something for every taste and price range. A breakfast of Huevos Querétanos at a sidewalk café features eggs scrambled with pasilla chile salsa and accompanied by the city's well-known Enchiladas Querétanas (filled with shredded chicken, potatoes and carrots).

At 1810, on one of the pedestrian streets that wind around the plazas, these enchiladas are a popular item, as is the Sopa de Lentejas con Fruta, a regional lentil and fruit soup made with dried apricots, plantains and pineapple.

At San Miguelito, located in what was once a viceroy's palace, the olive soup is a Spanish twist on the typical Mexican cream soup. An after-dinner walk is a good time to sample some of Querétaro's famous ice cream at La Mariposa, where the specialty is the mantecada, a rich cream, egg and cinnamon-flavored ice cream studded with raisins and crystallized fruit.

Two other towns in the state, Tequisquiapan and San Juan del Rio, are the centers of grape-growing regions, and Tequisquiapan is the home of the National Wine and Cheese Fair, held every spring.

Besides grapes, leading local crops include lentils and lettuce. The state is famous for its turkey, most often served in the form of mole de guajolote, and for the pork from the Santa Rosa de Jauregui area, with which the region's delicious carnitas are made.

Of the states in this region, Michoacán, just south of Guanajuato, has perhaps the most distinct culinary identity. The sugar cane fields of Los Reyes, the farms and ranches of La Piedad, the rice- and lime-growing areas of Apatzingo and Lombardia, and the coffee plantations, macadamia and avocado orchards surrounding Uruapan are all crucial to Mexico's food production.

The native Tarascan (also called Purépecha) people continue to exert a strong influence on the gastronomy of Michoacán. Their corn-based diet includes the small, triangular tamales called corundas; uchepos, sweet corn tamales made with fresh rather than dried corn; gorditas; and ponteduro, a sweet dish made with toasted corn and brown sugar. Michoacán also has a great variety of atoles, corn-based drinks flavored with everything from fruit to chiles. Churipo, a meat and vegetable stew flavored with chiles, is essential to any Tarascan fiesta.

The Spanish influence is also evident in the cuisine; the wheat the Europeans planted for their bread thrived in Michoacán, which has one of the largest selections of breads — including those for Día de los Muertos — in the country. Rice also did well here, and the Spanish rice dish called morisqueta (made with onion, chorizo and tomatoes) is invariably associated with Michoacán.

Patzcuaro, a colonial city situated on Lake Patzcuaro, is famous for its whitefish. Upscale restaurants such as Posada la Basilica and Cielito Lindo serve Mexican dishes, but most visitors are drawn to the row of restaurants along the lake for whitefish or the smelt-like charrales, fried whole and served with lime and chile. In the lake itself stands the island of Janitzio, where a seafood and vegetable soup called caldo michi is the specialty. Trout and salmon are now cultivated and enjoy increasing popularity.

Many items from Mexico's breadbasket make great menu additions, chefs in the United States have found.

At El Torito, for example, executive chef Pepe Lopez recently crafted a menu of dishes from Guanajuato that included Enchiladas Mineras.

And at Riques in Chicago, Ill., chef/owner Enrique Cortes created a special Noche Mexicana meal on June 5 that featured dishes from San Luis Potosí.