Most Americans are familiar with the basic staples of most Mexican restaurants: tacos, nachos, burritos and fajitas. But they may not be as familiar with regional Mexican cooking, which emphasizes local ingredients and is often a blend of native and Spanish influences.

The four main regions of Mexico have their own distinct flavors. For example, Puebla is considered the home of mole (mo-lay), a complex sauce made of more than 30 ingredients, among them chocolate and chilies. The cuisine of Oaxaca has risen in prominence in recent years, thanks in part to chefs such as Rick Bayless, owner of the renowned restaurants Frontera Grill and Topolobamo in Chicago. This region has adopted mole and made it its own. In fact, it is now known as the "land of seven moles" because it boasts seven basic mole recipes (endless variations of these exist), which are frequently served not as condiments, but as dishes in their own right. In Veracruz, the oceanside location means that fish and seafood are the mainstays. These dishes are usually served "a la Veracruzana," which means that they are served with a sauce of tomatoes, olives, capers and chilies. In the Yucatan, the main ingredient is achiote, which is made from red annatto seeds. Cooks in this region combine achiote with Seville oranges, pepper, garlic and cumin to make dishes such as cochinita pibil, which is pork smothered in achiote sauce and baked in banana leaves.

Of course, finding such delicacies is a bigger challenge. In recent years, Americans have expanded their Mexican food repertoire and now accept chorizo sausage and chalupas. Getting them to try poblanos stuffed with zucchini flowers might be more of a problem. Certainly, getting anyone to eat fried cactus worms or grasshoppers (a Oaxacan treat) will be nearly impossible. Still, I think we should have the choice, no? I went in search of authentic Mexican cuisine in Champaign-Urbana. I surveyed numerous menus and found a few bright spots: pollo con mole at Fiesta Cafe, horchata (rice water) and a helpful guide to Mexican food at El Toro and mole on the sauce menu at Qdoba Grill. Many places had carne asada, carnitas (marinated pork) and chiles rellenos (although not the way I like them, stuffed with ground beef instead of cheese).

All of the many Mexican restaurants in town offer lots of good meals pleasing to the American palate. But when I ventured to El Charro Taqueria (55 E. Green St., Champaign), I found items not found on other menus. This small store has a taqueria inside-a kind of short-order grill-that offers tacos for $1.49 and weekend specials of tripe soup or pozole for $6.99. Pozole is a spicy stew made with cacahuacintle corn (similar to hominy) and pork.

You can get a breakfast of huevos con chorizo (eggs with sausage) or any of a number of sandwiches (tongue, tripe, avocado, etc.). I tried the avocado sandwich, which featured huge chunks of fresh avocado, mayonnaise, refried beans, lettuce and tomato on a lightly toasted hoagie roll. I washed it down with a bottle of tamarind soda (tastes a little like fizzy apple juice). While I waited, I looked around the store for other goodies. At the meat counter, thinly sliced skirt steak, perfect for carne asada, sat beside fatty slabs of pork; in the drink cooler, I saw soda in glass bottles, the way you see them in Mexico, where they're sweetened with cane sugar instead of corn syrup. I also looked through a rack of spice packets, where one can find espazote (a strong, lemony herb used to season black beans, fish, salsa and more-also said to aid in legume digestion), lindenflower tea packets and ground shrimp, among the usual spices and herbs. Here, though, most of the packets sell for less than $1, making them a steal.

There are other Mexican grocery stores in town, which are useful if you want to make pozole or cochinita pibil at home. However, I'm holding out hope that the Mexican restaurants of Champaign-Urbana will offer more regional dishes in the future. Our taste buds can take it-I promise!

Amanda Kolling is hoping someone, anyone, will make her some ceviche. If you make ceviche, e-mail her at AmandaKolling@readbuzz.com and she'll be right over.