Mexico City

Mexican wrestling, or lucha libre, is a huge spectator sport, characterised by bling, spandex and colourful masks. El Cuadrilátero is a wrestling-themed fonda (small restaurant) founded by the parents of lucha libre star Juan Jose Zezatti, and lays claim to the ‘largest sandwich ever seen’. Known as El Gladiador, its ingredients include eggs, chorizo, sausage, bacon, chicken, steak, ham and cheese. Anyone who manages to eat one in 15 minutes gets it free. • Luis Moya 73, Centro Histórico , +52 55 5510 2856

Sinaloa

Japanese immigrants have lived and worked in Mexico for well over 100 years. Miguel Taniyama’s grandfather, an agronomist specialising in vegetables, arrived in the state of Sinaloa in 1927, married, and stayed on. Miguel’s Mexican/Japanese fusion restaurant, Tomo Open Kitchen in Culiacán, reflects his family background. He sources most of his seafood, such as this octopus for sushi, locally.

Baja California Sur

Fishmonger Jorge Armando Pérez outside the fish market in La Paz. Bordered by Baja California, the Pacific and the Sea of Cortés, Baja California Sur has lots of sun, sea and sandy beaches, and rich fishing grounds. One rare delicacy caught there is, the panopea generosa, or Pacific geoduck, a clam that can grow to 20cm long.

Zacatecas

The state of Zacatecas is known for its rich deposits of silver and other minerals. By the mid-1500s, Zacatecas City had become one of the principal suppliers of silver to the Spanish crown.

Zacatecas

The palm-ceilinged bar Cantina Tizoc on Calle Tacuba , in the city of Jerez.

Nayarit

Restaurant Mariscos Kika, in the small fishing village of Mexcaltitán, needs constant propping up to prevent it sinking into the lagoon. It serves some of Mexico’s best dried prawns.

Yucatán

For 60 years in the inland town of Kaua, 25km west of Valladolid, Antonia Chulim Noh, or La Tia , has been making tortillas and selling them outside her hut to passing lorry drivers – and tourists – from 4am until midnight each day. She uses maize harvested from their own fields by her husband, and her signature dish, poc-chuc, is thinly sliced pork marinated in orange and spices. Mexico: A Culinary Quest by Hossein Amirsadeghi and Ana Paula Gerard is published by Thames & Hudson (£45); to order a copy for £38.25, including UK p&p, visit theguardianbookshop

Photographs: Adam Wiseman