The photo is of Market Fish Veracruz cooked in a banana leaf at La Mina restaurant in Dallas. I recently took my sister there when she had a layover in Dallas on her way to Palm Springs from Charlotte. It has a menu of modern Mexican dishes from pork belly pastor tacos to mole dishes, aguachile, queso fundido and more. Ingredients are sourced from Mexico and from local producers, and corn tortillas are housemade using a process called nixtamalization aka they’re really good. For drinks, the La Mina ‘Rita is made with charcoal to give it its black coloring and lemonade taste, which is served in an Instagrammable skull cup and topped with tajin candy. Plus, it has a speakeasy cocktail bar that requires a secret code to enter. There is a Mexican restaurant on every corner in Dallas, and most of them are quite good. When my sisters and I went to Chicago, we ate at Frontera Grill, celebrity chef Rick Bayless’ restaurant. It has taken him 20 years to perfect his Mexican mole sauce, made with dried chiles, peanuts, sesame seeds, chocolate, cinnamon, anise, etc. I do enjoy Mexican, Tex-Mex and Southwestern cooking. Let’s learn more about Mexican cuisine.
According to Wikipedia, Mexican cuisine consists of the cooking cuisines and traditions of the modern country of Mexico. Its earliest roots lie in Mesoamerican cuisine. Its ingredients and methods begin with the first agricultural communities such as the Maya who domesticated maize, created the standard process of maize nixtamalization and established their foodways. Successive waves of other Mesoamerican groups brought with them their own cooking methods. These included: the Olmec, Teotihuacanos, Toltec, Huastec, Zapotec, Mixtec, Otomi, Purépecha, Totonac, Mazatec, Mazahua and Nahua. With the Mexica formation of the multi-ethnic Triple Alliance or Aztec Empire, culinary foodways became infused in Aztec cuisine.
Today's food staples are native to the land and include: corn or maize, beans, squash, amaranth, chia, avocados, tomatoes, tomatillos, cacao, vanilla, agave, turkey, spirulina, sweet potato, cactus and chili pepper. Its history over the centuries has resulted in regional cuisines based on local conditions, including Baja Med, Chiapas, Veracruz, Oaxacan and the American cuisines of New Mexican and Tex-Mex.
After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire and the rest of Mesoamerica, Spaniards introduced a number of other foods, the most important of which were meats from domesticated animals (beef, pork, chicken, goat and sheep), dairy products (especially cheese and milk), rice, sugar, olive oil and various fruits and vegetables. Various cooking styles and recipes were also introduced from Spain both throughout the colonial period and by Spanish immigrants who continued to arrive following independence. Spanish influence in Mexican cuisine is also noticeable in its sweets such as: alfajores, alfeniques, borrachitos and churros.
Asian and African influences were also introduced during this era as a result of African slavery in New Spain and the Manila-Acapulco Galleons, Spanish trading ships.
Mexican cuisine is an important aspect of the culture, social structure and popular traditions of Mexico. The most important example of this connection is the use of mole for special occasions and holidays, particularly in the South and Central regions of the country. For this reason and others, traditional Mexican cuisine was inscribed in 2010 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
Basic elements
Mexican cuisine is a complex and ancient cuisine, with techniques and skills developed over thousands of years of history. It is created mostly with ingredients native to Mexico, as well as those brought over by the Spanish conquistadors, with some new influences since then. Mexican cuisine has been influenced by its proximity to the U.S.-Mexican border. For example, burritos were thought to have been invented for easier transportation of beans by wrapping them in tortillas for field labor. Modifications like these brought Mexican cuisine to the United States, where states like Arizona further adapted burritos by deep frying them, creating the modern chimichanga.
In addition to staples, such as corn and chile peppers, native ingredients include tomatoes, squashes, avocados, cocoa and vanilla, as well as ingredients not generally used in other cuisines, such as edible flowers, vegetables like huauzontle and papaloquelite, or small criollo avocados which have edible skin. Chocolate originated in Mexico and was prized by the Aztecs. It remains an important ingredient in Mexican cookery.
Vegetables play an important role in Mexican cuisine. Common vegetables include zucchini, cauliflower, corn, potatoes, spinach, Swiss chard, mushrooms, jitomate or red tomato, green tomato, etc. Other traditional vegetable ingredients include chili pepper, huitlacoche or corn fungus, huauzontle and nopal or cactus pads to name a few.
European contributions include pork, chicken, beef, cheese, herbs and spices, as well as some fruits.
Tropical fruits — many of which are indigenous to Mexico and the Americas, such as guava, prickly pear, sapote, mangoes, bananas, pineapple and cherimoya or custard apple — are popular, especially in the center and south of the country.
Edible insects have been enjoyed in Mexico for millennia. Entemophagy or insect-eating is becoming increasingly popular outside of poor and rural areas for its unique flavors, sustainability and connection to pre-Hispanic heritage. Popular species include chapulines (grasshoppers or crickets), escamoles (ant larvae), cumiles (stink bugs) and ahuatle (water bug eggs).
Corn
Despite the introduction of wheat and rice to Mexico, corn is the most commonly consumed starch in almost all areas of the country and serves as the main ingredient in many local recipes e.g., corn tortillas, atole, pozole, menudo and tamal. While it is eaten fresh, most corn is dried, nixtamalized and ground into a dough called masa. This dough is used both fresh and fermented to make a wide variety of dishes from drinks — atole, pozole, etc. — to tamales, sopes and much more. However, the most common way to eat corn in Mexico is in the form of a tortilla, which accompanies almost every dish. Tortillas are made of corn in most of the country, but other versions exist, such as wheat in the north or plantain, yuca and wild greens in Oaxaca.
Chili peppers
The other basic ingredient in all parts of Mexico is the chili pepper. Mexican food has a reputation for being very spicy, but it has a wide range of flavors and while many spices are used for cooking, not all are spicy. Many dishes also have subtle flavors. Chilis are indigenous to Mexico and their use dates back thousands of years. They are used for their flavors and not just their heat, with Mexico using the widest variety. If a savory dish or snack does not contain chili pepper, hot sauce is usually added, and chili pepper is often added to fresh fruit and sweets.
The importance of the chili goes back to the Mesoamerican period, where it was considered to be as much of a staple as corn and beans. In the 16th century, Bartolomé de las Casas wrote that without chilis, the indigenous people did not think they were eating. Even today, most Mexicans believe that their national identity would be at a loss without chilis and the many varieties of sauces and salsas created using chilis as their base.
Many dishes in Mexico are defined by their sauces and the chilis those sauces contain which are usually very spicy, rather than the meat or vegetable that the sauce covers. These dishes include entomatada in tomato sauce, adobo or adobados, pipians and moles. A hominy soup called pozole is defined as white, green or red depending on the chili sauce used or omitted. Tamales are differentiated by the filling which is again defined by the sauce — red or green chili pepper strips or mole. Dishes without a sauce are rarely eaten without a salsa or without fresh or pickled chilis. This includes street foods, such as tacos, tortas, soup, sopes, tlacoyos, tlayudas, gorditas and sincronizadas. For most dishes, it is the type of chili used that gives it its main flavor. Chipotle, smoked-dried jalapeño pepper, is very common in Mexican cuisine.
Spanish contributions
Together with Mesoamerica, Spain is the second basis of Mexican cuisine, contributing in two fundamental ways: First, they brought with them old world staples and ingredients which did not exist in the Americas such as sugar, wheat, rice, onions, garlic, limes, oil, dairy products, pork, beef and many others.
Second, they brought various culinary traditions from the Iberian peninsula which have become prevalent in Mexico. Equally, the discovery of the incorporation of New World ingredients to Spanish cuisine has led to many shared foods such as chorizo which uses paprika.
Spanish cuisine was in turn heavily influenced by its Moorish heritage, and this created one of the earliest instances of the world's greatest fusion cuisines. The Spanish also introduced the technique of frying in pork fat. Today, the main meats found in Mexico are pork, chicken, beef, goat and sheep. Seafood and fish are also popular, especially along the coasts, and the way of cooking it commonly has Spanish origin such as Huachinango a la vizcaina.
Cheesemaking in Mexico has evolved its own specialties, although uniquely Spanish cheese such as manchego is also typical of Mexico. It is an important economic activity, especially in the north, and is frequently done at home. The main cheesemaking areas are Chihuahua, Oaxaca, Querétaro and Chiapas. Goat cheese is still made, but it is not as popular and is harder to find in stores.
Churros are a common snack originating in Spain, and because sugar cane was brought to the Americas through Spanish colonization, all of Mexico's sweets have a Hispanic origin, often with a Muslim heritage such as Alfeñiques.
Food and society
Home cooking
In most of Mexico, especially in rural areas, much of the food is consumed in the home. Cooking for the family is usually considered to be women's work, and this includes cooking for celebrations as well. Traditionally, girls have been considered ready to marry when they can cook, and cooking is considered a main talent for housewives.
The main meal of the day in Mexico is the "comida," meaning “meal” in Spanish. This refers to dinner or supper. It sometimes begins with soup, often chicken broth with pasta or a "dry soup," which is pasta or rice flavored with onions, garlic or vegetables. The main course is meat served in a cooked sauce with salsa on the side, accompanied with beans and tortillas and often with a fruit drink.
In the evening, it is common to eat leftovers from the comida or sweet bread accompanied by coffee or chocolate. Breakfast can consist of meat in broth such as pancita, tacos, enchiladas or meat with eggs. This is usually served with beans, tortillas and coffee or juice.
Food and festivals
Mexican cuisine is elaborate and often tied to symbolism and festivals, which is one reason it was named as an example of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. Many of the foods of Mexico are complicated because of their relation to the social structure of the country. Food preparation — especially for family and social events — is considered to be an investment in order to maintain social relationships. Even the idea of flavor is considered to be social, with meals prepared for certain dinners and certain occasions when they are considered the most tasty.
The ability to cook well, called "sazón" — lit. seasoning — is considered to be a gift generally gained from experience and a sense of commitment to the diners. For the Day of the Dead festival, foods such as tamales and mole are set out on altars, and it is believed that the visiting dead relatives eat the essence of the food. If eaten afterwards by the living, it is considered to be tasteless. In central Mexico, the main festival foods are mole, barbacoa, carnitas and mixiotes. They are often prepared to feed hundreds of guests, requiring groups of cooks. The cooking is part of the social custom meant to bind families and communities.
Mexican regional home cooking is completely different from the food served in most Mexican restaurants outside Mexico, which is usually some variety of Tex-Mex. The original versions of Mexican dishes are vastly different from their Tex-Mex variation.
Some of Mexico's traditional foods involved complex or long cooking processes, including cooking underground such as cochinita pibil. Before industrialization, traditional women spent several hours a day boiling dried corn, then grinding it on a metate to make the dough for tortillas, cooking them one-by-one on a comal griddle. In some areas, tortillas are still made this way. Sauces and salsas were also ground in a mortar called a molcajete. Today, blenders are more often used, though the texture is a bit different. Most people in Mexico would say that those made with a molcajete taste better, but few do this now.
The most important food for festivals and other special occasions is mole, especially mole poblano in the center of the country. Mole is served at Christmas, Easter, Day of the Dead and at birthdays, baptisms, weddings and funerals, and tends to be eaten only for special occasions because it is such a complex and time-consuming dish. While still dominant in this way, other foods have become acceptable for these occasions, such as barbacoa, carnitas and mixiotes, especially since the 1980s. This may have been because of economic crises at that time, allowing for the substitution of these cheaper foods or the fact that they can be bought readymade or may already be made as part of the family business.
Another important festive food is the tamale, also known as tamal in Spanish. This is a filled cornmeal dumpling, steamed in a wrapping — usually a corn husk or banana leaf — and one of the basic staples in most regions of Mexico. It has its origins in the pre-Hispanic era and today is found in many varieties in all of Mexico. Like mole, it is complicated to prepare and best done in large amounts. Tamales are associated with certain celebrations such as Candlemas. They are wrapped in corn husks in the highlands and desert areas of Mexico and in banana leaves in the tropics.
Street food
Mexican street food can include tacos, quesadillas, pambazos, tamales, huaraches, alambres, al pastor and food not suitable to cook at home, including barbacoa, carnitas and since many homes in Mexico do not have or make use of ovens, roasted chicken. A quesadilla is a tortilla that is filled primarily with cheese, and sometimes meats, spices and other fillings, and then cooked on a griddle or stove. A pambazo is pambazo bread dipped and fried in a red guajillo pepper sauce and filled with potatoes with chorizo or potatoes only. Huarache is masa dough with smashed pinto beans placed in the center before it is given an oblong shape and fried masa base with a variety of toppings including green or red salsa, onions, potato, cilantro and any manner of protein such as ground beef or tongue, and then finished with queso fresco. Alambre is grilled beef topped with chopped bacon, bell peppers, onions, cheese, salsa and, in some variations, avocado. One attraction of street food in Mexico is the satisfaction of hunger or craving without all the social and emotional connotation of eating at home, although longtime customers can have something of a friendship/familial relationship with a chosen vendor.
Tacos are the top-rated and most well-known street Mexican food. It is made up of meat or other fillings wrapped in a tortilla often served with cheese added. Vegetarian fillings include mushrooms, potatoes, rice or beans.
The best known of Mexico's street foods is the taco, whose origin is based on the pre-Hispanic custom of picking up other foods with tortillas as utensils were not used. The origin of the word is in dispute, with some saying it is derived from Nahuatl and others from various Spanish phrases. It is possible the term taco comes from the term tlaco or tlacatl, which means middle or half in nahuatl.
Tacos are not eaten as the main meal; they are generally eaten before midday or late in the evening. Just about any other foodstuff can be wrapped in a tortilla, and in Mexico, it varies from rice, to meat — plain or in sauce, to cream, to vegetables, to cheese, or simply to plain chili peppers or fresh salsa. Preferred fillings vary from region to region with pork generally found more often in the center and south, beef in the north, seafood along the coasts and chicken and lamb in most of the country.
Another popular street food — especially in Mexico City and the surrounding area — is the torta. It consists of a roll of some type, stuffed with several ingredients. This has its origins in the 19th century, when the French introduced a number of new kinds of bread. The torta began by splitting the roll and adding beans. Today, refried beans can still be found on many kinds of tortas. In Mexico City, the most common roll used for tortas is called telera, a relatively flat roll with two splits on the upper surface. In Puebla, the preferred bread is called a cemita, as is the sandwich. In both areas, the bread is stuffed with various fillings, especially if it is a hot sandwich, with beans, cream —mayonnaise is rare — and some kind of hot chili pepper.
The influence of American fast food on Mexican street food grew during the late 20th century. One example of this is the invention of the Sonoran hot dog in the late 1980s. The frankfurters are usually boiled then wrapped in bacon and fried. They are served in a bolillo-style bun, typically topped by a combination of pinto beans, diced tomatoes, onions, jalapeño peppers and other condiments.
Along the U.S.-Mexican border — specifically dense areas like Tijuana — Mexican vendors sell food such as fruit melanged with Tajin spice to people crossing the border via carts. In recent years, these food carts have been threatened by tightened border security at the port of entry. Both the U.S. and the Mexican governments have proposed a project that would widen the streets at the border, allowing for more people to pass through the border, although widening them would decimate neighboring mercados that rely on the business of travelers.
Besides food, street vendors also sell various kinds of drinks (including aguas frescas, tejuino and tepache) and treats (such as bionicos, tostilocos, and raspados). Most tamale stands sell atole as a standard accompaniment. Aguas frescas are light non-alcoholic beverages made from one or more fruits, cereals, flowers or seeds blended with sugar and water. Tejuino is a cold beverage made from fermented corn and popularly consumed in the Mexican states of Jalisco and Chihuahua. Tepache is a fermented beverage made from the peel and the rind of pineapples and is sweetened either with piloncillo or brown sugar, seasoned with powdered cinnamon and served cold. Bionico is essentially a fruit salad consisting of a variety of fruits chopped up into small cubes, drenched with crema and topped off with granola, shredded coconut, raisins and sometimes honey. Tostilocos are Tostitos tortilla chips topped with cueritos, cucumber, jícama, lime juice, Valentina hot sauce, chamoy, Tajín chili powder, salt and "Japanese peanuts," sometimes referred to as "cracker nuts." Raspados is an ice-based dessert made by shaving a block of ice and flavoring it with syrup and other sweet ingredients.
History
Pre-Hispanic period
Around 7000 BCE, the indigenous peoples of Mexico and Central America hunted game and gathered plants, including wild chili peppers. Corn was not yet cultivated, so one main source of calories was roasted agave hearts. By 1200 BCE, corn was domesticated and a process called nixtamalization — or treatment with lye — was developed to soften corn for grinding and improve its nutritional value. This allowed the creation of tortillas and other kinds of flat breads. The indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica have numerous stories about the origin of corn, usually related to being a gift of one or more gods, such as Quetzalcoatl.
The other staple was beans, eaten with corn and some other plants as a complementary protein. Other protein sources included amaranth; domesticated turkey; insects such as grasshoppers, beetles and ant larvae; iguanas; and turtle eggs on the coastlines. Vegetables included squash and their seeds; chilacayote; jicama, a kind of sweet potato; and edible flowers, especially those of squash. The chili pepper was used as food, ritual and as medicine.
When the Spanish arrived, the Aztecs had sophisticated agricultural techniques and an abundance of food, which was the base of their economy. It allowed them to expand an empire, bringing in tribute which consisted mostly of foods the Aztecs could not grow themselves. According to Bernardino de Sahagún, the Nahua peoples of central Mexico ate corn, beans, turkey, fish, small game, insects and a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, pulses, seeds, tubers, wild mushrooms, plants and herbs that they collected or cultivated.
Modern period
After the Conquest, the Spanish introduced a variety of foodstuffs and cooking techniques, like frying, to the New World. Regional cuisines remained varied, with native staples more prevalent in the rural southern areas and Spanish foods taking root in the more sparsely populated northern region. European style wheat bread was initially met unfavorably with Moctezuma's emissaries who reportedly described it as tasting of "dried maize stalks." On the Spanish side, Bernal Díaz del Castillo complained about the "maize cake" rations on campaign.
The cuisine of Spain is a Mediterranean cuisine influenced by its Arab period composed of a number of staples such as olive oil and rice. Spanish settlers introduced these staples to the region, although some continued to be imported such as wine, brandy, nuts, olives, spices and capers. They introduced domesticated animals, such as pigs, cows, chickens, goats and sheep for meat and milk, raising the consumption of protein. Cheese became the most important dairy product.
The Spanish brought rice to Mexico, along with sugar cane, used extensively for the creation of many kinds of sweets, especially local fruits in syrup. A sugar-based candy craft called alfeñique was imported and is now used for the Day of the Dead. Over time, ingredients like olive oil, rice, onions, garlic, oregano, coriander, cinnamon and cloves became incorporated with native ingredients and cooking techniques. One of the main avenues for the mixing of the two cuisines was in convents.
Despite the influence of Spanish culture, Mexican cuisine has maintained its base of corn, beans and chili peppers. Natives continued to be reliant on maize. It was less expensive than the wheat favored by European settlers and was easier to cultivate and produced higher yields. European control over the land grew stronger with the founding of wheat farms. In 18th century Mexico City, wheat was baked into leaved rolls called pan frances or pan espanol, but only two bakers were allowed to bake this style of bread and they worked on consignment to the viceroy and the archbishop. Large ring loaves of choice flour known as pan floreado were available for wealthy "Creoles." Other styles of bread used lower-quality wheat and maize to produce pan comun, pambazo and cemita.
Pozole is mentioned in the 16th century Florentine Codex by Bernardino de Sahagún.
In the eighteenth century, an Italian Capuchin friar, Ilarione da Bergamo, included descriptions of food in his travelogue. He noted that tortillas were eaten not only by the poor, but also by the upper class. He described lunch fare as pork products like chorizo and ham being eaten between tortillas with a piquant red chili sauce. For drink pulque, as well as corn-based atole, and for those who could afford it, chocolate-based drinks were consumed twice a day. According to de Bergamo's account neither coffee nor wine are consumed, and evening meals ended with a small portion of beans in a thick soup instead, "served to set the stage for drinking water."
During the 19th century, Mexico experienced an influx of various immigrants, including French, Lebanese, German, Chinese and Italian, who have had some effect on the food. During the French intervention in Mexico, French food became popular with the upper classes.
An influence on these new trends came from chef Tudor, who was brought to Mexico by the Emperor Maximilian of Habsburg. One lasting evidence of this is the variety of breads and sweet breads, such as bolillos, conchas and much more which can be found in Mexican bakeries. The Germans brought beer brewing techniques, and the Chinese added their cuisine to certain areas of the country. This led to Mexico characterizing its cuisine more by its relation to popular traditions rather than on particular cooking techniques.
Since the 20th century, there has been an interchange of food influences between Mexico and the United States. Mexican cooking was of course still practiced in what is now the Southwest United States after the Mexican–American War, but Diana Kennedy, in her book “The Cuisines of Mexico” published in 1972 drew a sharp distinction between Mexican food and Tex-Mex.
Tex-Mex food was developed from Mexican and Anglo influences and was traced to the late 19th century in Texas. It still continues to develop with flour tortillas becoming popular north of the border only in the latter 20th century. From north to south, much of the influence has been related to food industrialization, as well as the greater availability overall of food, especially after the Mexican Revolution. One other very visible sign of influence from the United States is the appearance of fast foods, such as hamburgers, hot dogs and pizza.
In the latter 20th century, international influence in Mexico has led to interest and development of haute cuisine. In Mexico, many professional chefs are trained in French or international cuisine, but the use of Mexican staples and flavors is still favored, including the simple foods of traditional markets. It is not unusual to see some quesadillas or small tacos among the other hors d'oeuvres at fancy dinner parties in Mexico.
Professional cookery in Mexico is growing and includes an emphasis on traditional methods and ingredients. In the cities, there is interest in publishing and preserving what is authentic Mexican food. This movement is traceable to 1982 with the Mexican Culinary Circle of Mexico City. It was created by a group of women chefs and other culinary experts as a reaction to the fear of traditions being lost with the increasing introduction of foreign techniques and foods. In 2010, Mexico's cuisine was recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
In contemporary times, various world cuisines have become popular in Mexico, thus adopting a Mexican fusion. For example, sushi in Mexico is often made by using a variety of sauces based on mango and tamarind, and very often served with serrano-chili blended soy sauce or complemented with vinegar, habanero peppers and chipotle peppers.