#5: Nuevo León

#5 in the series is the state of Nuevo León. Situated in the interior northeast of Mexico, Nuevo León is rugged mountainous state with the capital Monterrey metro area (2nd largest in the country) accounting for 92% of its population. Before there was Mexico, there was a New Kingdom of León so named for its geographic similarities to Spain's Castilla y León (Kingdom of León at the time) in the northern interior of the Iberian peninsula.

NL is a major manufacturing and industrial hub and one of the largest contributors to national GDP, with a thriving tech sector, auto industry (with Kia and Tesla plants), metallurgy, banking and finance, and food and beverage sector (and a thriving brewery industry) leading the way. Some of the largest companies in Mexico are headquartered in and around Monterrey - including Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Breweries (with its Sol, Tecate, XX, and other beer brands), Cemex - the 5th largest cement company in the world, FEMSA - the largest beverage bottling company in LatAm, and others. It has the highest life expectancy in the country and some of the highest rates of educational attainment. Monterrey has also experienced a construction boom, with numerous skyscrapers and an influx of nearshoring (foreign investment in producing goods for export) owing to its proximity to the US.

Now for the food. The northern tier of Mexico, including NL is beef country and barbecuing is a big part of norteño culture and gastronomy. I made 'frijoles borrachos' (drunken beans) - so named for beans cooked in beer (along with onion, garlic, chile, bacon, tomato and cilantro). That goes alongside the famous 'carne asada' - steak marinated in citrus and grilled. In the north, wheat is more prevalent than corn, and so wheat tortillas are more common, and like elsewhere is an efficient delivery vehicle for just about any food - including beans and steak. I had mine over rice.