Perhaps it is no accident that Mexico is shaped like a horn of plenty, since it holds some of the most interesting and varied food to be found anywhere. At the curved bottom of the horn are Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas – the three southernmost states which encompass a wide variety of terrain and an equally impressive array of culinary resources.

Each of these states has a Pacific seacoast, and a significant part of the cuisine derives from fish and shellfish. Shrimp, octopus, squid, snooker, sea bass and snapper are among the delicacies served in high-end restaurants and humble beach palapas along the coast.

The tierra caliente, or hot lowland, is home to coconut and banana groves, papaya, lime and tamarind orchards, and fields of corn, beans, chiles, peanuts and sesame. Southern Mexican cooking uses both black beans and plantains in great quantity, and many of its dishes combine both of these ingredients.

Heading up into the interior brings a significant change in elevation, micro-climates and food resources. From the tropical coasts, the land ascends into forests of pine and oak. The wood from these forests is used to smoke a gourmet variety of pasilla chiles. Heartier varieties of corn, such as the hominy used in pozole, are grown along with several kinds of squash and pumpkin.

Pumpkin seeds are a characteristic ingredient of highland cooking and are used in moles, stews and sweets. This is also coffee country, with the mountains of Oaxaca and Chiapas being noted for the highly prized cafe pluma hidalgo.

Although these three states share a similar topographical range and culinary resources, they each have a unique cuisine, thanks to the different indigenous groups and various European influences.

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To tourists who have dined in Guerrero's beach resorts, and in restaurants in Acapulco, Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa, the mountainous northern region seems like a different country. Here, people have lived for centuries on wild game and herbs, maintaining close gastronomical links with ancient Mexico.

Pigeon, rabbit and iguana are all stewed with local herbs, such as purslane and the spinach-like chepil, and flavored with the characteristic green chile salsas of the area. Delicious local cheeses are also popular, often melted on tortillas to make tlaxcales, served in villages outside the colonial silver mining city of Taxco. Chalupas and ayamole, a sauce made with pumpkin seeds and epazote, are also regional favorites, as is the famous Guerrero-style pozole.

Although pozole is also enjoyed in the southern coastal region, menus here are largely based on fish and shellfish. Seafood cocktails, along with grilled fish, are traditional favorites along the coast. A variety of innovative dishes offered in the area's many restaurants expand upon the seafood theme.

La Sirena Gorda in Zihuatanejo offers such combinations as shrimp with bacon, and sea snails with nopales. At Casa Morelos in Ixtapa, fresh tuna is served with nopales, and whole snapper with garlic and chile. Seafood cooked with tequila is another of restaurant chefs' contributions to the local cuisine.

At Playa Troncones north of Ixtapa, chefs at the Inn at Manzanilla Bay sauté fish with tequila lime sauce and bake shrimp in a Mexican cheese sauce. Salsas made with mango and other fruits are also modern-day restaurant recipes using local tropical fruit.

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Continuing eastward to Oaxaca, the land becomes more mountainous, with the Sierra mountain range crisscrossing the state and creating distinct cultures and cuisines. Oaxaca is blessed with a wide variety of culinary resources: an abundance of vegetables grown in the central valleys, fish and shellfish from the southern coast and Isthmus regions, and a year-round supply of tropical fruit from the Tuxtepec region. Oaxaca's chocolate, blended with almonds, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla, is considered the best in Mexico.

As in other Mexican states, corn is the staple food, and takes on many guises, often combined with mole, as in the empanadas with amarillo (yellow) mole sauce – a specialty of the central valleys.

At La Abuelita restaurant in Oaxaca city, versions of all seven of Oaxaca's moles are served. Good soup is also a hallmark of Oaxacan cooking, and local special-ties, including a creamy garbanzo soup, are featured at Restaurante El Topil.

Surprisingly, despite high coastal temperatures, soup is also popular along Oaxaca's beaches. Caldo de camarón (shrimp broth) is the basis of many seafood soups and stews. The ocean yields so much shrimp in the Isthmus area that most of it is dried for future use and piled in market stalls, ready to be cooked with beans, made into botana de camarón (a dip served with tortilla chips), or served as tasty shrimp croquettes.

At Restaurante Mariscos d'Marlo's in Juchitan de Zaragoza, camarones al ajillo (shrimp with garlic and guajillo chiles) is one of the local favorites. At the beach palapa Restaurante La Perla in Playa Cangrejo, the day's menu is determined by what the fishing boats bring in, and the catch of the day is grilled over a wood fire and accompanied by fresh coconut milk.

In this part of the state, as in all of Oaxaca, black beans accompany most dishes, and are the basis of enfrijoladas (enchiladas with bean sauce) – staples of just about every small restaurant menu in southern Mexico.

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Historically and geographically isolated from the rest of the country, Chiapas is a treasure trove of natural resources, including vegetables and fruit, fish and shellfish, and cattle that graze on the high Chiapan plains.

Going east to Chiapas from Oaxaca, some culinary similarities are apparent. The huge avocados found in southern Oaxaca are also grown in the coastal lowlands of Chiapas, and the achiote pastes and marinades favored by Oaxaca's coste–os have traditionally been used in the cooking of Chiapas' Mayan people. The two states share a history of coffee cultivation, and consumption of chocolate as both a nutritional and ritual drink.

Strong indigenous roots influence Chiapan cooking, especially in the use of native herbs such as chipil’n and hoja santa, both of which are used in the regional tamales. Combining corn and herbs is one of the strongest characteristics of chiapaneco cuisine. Indigenous people still hunt and eat wild boar and deer, although this practice is becoming less common in developed areas.

The Europeans also made a significant contribution with the introduction of bovine and wool-bearing animals. Cattle are important in Chiapas, and many of the region's dishes are prepared with tasajo, a thin cut of beef used frequently in southern Mexican cooking.

In Las Pichanchas restaurant in the state capitol, Tuxtla Gutierrez, the famous beef in pumpkin seed sauce, created to celebrate the fiesta of San Sebastian in Chiapa de Corda, is served all year. In San Cristobal de las Casas, El Fogon de Jovel restaurant features a chiapaneca grill, which includes the best of the region's meat.

Raising milk-producing animals gave rise to a tradition of cheesemaking, most of it still done on ranches or cooperatives. Among the most famous are the white cheeses of Ocosingo, Rayon and Pijijiapan, and queso de corazón de mantequilla.

All over Chiapas, restaurants and home cooks specialize in the regional sweets – fruit compotes, flans, crystallized fruits and coconut candies – which are delicious as an evening treat or to top off a satisfying comida.

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Southern Mexican cuisine is gaining a following in the United States now, too, thanks to the efforts of restaurants willing to menu the regional fare. At Lula Cocina Mexicana in Santa Monica, Calif., chef/owner Gerri Gilliland (who has studied in Mexico with Diana Kennedy and Patricia Quintana) creates regional dishes like the Tamales Oaxaquenos, chicken tamales in mole negro wrapped in banana leaves and served with rice and black beans.

Guelaguetza, with locations in Los Angeles and Palms, Calif., is a landmark for Oaacan dishes including clayudas, a tostada-style tortilla baked on a clay griddle; birria, a traditional goat stew; and even crickets! Also popular are the black mole tamales, enchiladas and chicken with black mole – dishes that attracted the attention of Martha Stewart, who filmed a segment for her television show at the Palms location last February. Guelaguetza also cooks with the pasilla de Oaxaca chile, and uses hierba santa and hojas de agucate (Mexican avocado leaves) that import a true taste of Southern Mexico.

The mole from El Agave Tequileria in Old Town, San Diego, also imparts a Southern Mexican flavor to the chicken and pork dishes it serves. Choices include the mole cacahuate, an ancient recipe from the Chiapas region made from peanuts, regional chiles and spices served over a chicken breast; mole verde, a sauce of tomatillos, chile de agua, chile serrano, epazote, hierba santa and corn masa served over chicken or pork with white rice; and mole negro with pasilla, mulatto, ancho and chipotle chiles, plátano frito, sesame seed, peanuts, almonds, pasitas, tomate and tomatillos.

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