Cajeta de Celaya

Cajeta is Mexico's caramel, and Celaya is its address. Goat's milk - the crucial difference from dulce de leche - goes into copper cazos with sugar and a little bicarbonate, and is stirred over fire for hours as it reduces, browns and thickens into a glossy, faintly tangy caramel with a depth cow's milk never reaches. The name comes from the cajete, the small wooden box the sweet was traditionally packed in, and the trade in Celaya dates to the late 1700s, with famous family houses still selling from the same recipes. Varieties are a menu of their own: quemada, the classic burnt-sugar version; envinada, laced with sherry or brandy; vanilla; and the modern parade of flavoured versions. Locals eat it on bread and pancakes, folded into ice cream, spooned over crepes - the Mexican crepas con cajeta having conquered dessert menus nationwide - or straight from the jar with a spoon and no defence. Roadside shops on the Bajio highways sell it in wooden boxes for gifting; the Celaya houses give tastings and, in the older ones, a look at the copper kettles.

What you actually see

• The copper kettles - hours of stirring in the traditional houses.
• The wooden boxes - the cajete packaging that named it.
• The varieties - quemada, envinada, vanilla and beyond.
• The uses - crepes, bread, ice cream, spoon.

When to go

Any time - it is a shop-and-taste stop rather than a seasonal event. Celaya sits on the Bajio highways, making it an easy break between Queretaro and Guanajuato.

Honest expectations

Industrial cajeta is everywhere; the artisanal houses taste noticeably different and cost more. Jars travel well but are heavy. Celaya itself is a working industrial city - the cajeta is the reason to stop, not the architecture.

Nearby

Queretaro, Guanajuato city and San Miguel de Allende are each about an hour away.