Part II - Mexican Food and Mexican Restaurants

History of Mexican Cuisine

Many Mexican dishes include ingredients which date back to the Aztec and Mayan Empires and include chocolate, chili peppers, black beans, tomatoes, squash and corn. It was a mainly vegetarian diet for the native indigenous people. Spices were introduced later from Spain and Arabia. It was the Spanish conquistadors who brought cattle, pigs and livestock and gradually it became a multi-cultural mix. Rice only reached Mexico in the 1520s and it quickly became a staple food.

French influences on Mexican cooking came in the early 1860s during a brief spell under French tenure. Baking and other cooking techniques were quickly learned and adopted. The Germans and Austrians founded almost all the breweries in Mexico, and most of these now export beer to the United States.

Mexican Regions and Traditions

Mexico is a huge country and inevitably the cuisine varies from region to region. Its main variations were brought about from the various different ingredients that were available locally. Different climates and ethnic differences also influenced the food, as well as the proximity to the Spanish conquistadors and their Mediterranean traditions.

The area of Veracruz is famous for its seafood dishes, as it runs along the Gulf of Mexico. Provinces which lie along the Pacific coast have similar fish and seafood-based cuisine. Down in the south, Oaxaca is known for its fine moles and sauces.

The Yucatan and south eastern area of Mexico eat iguana lizard as a specialty. This is not something that transferred to Tex-Mex cuisine north of the border! They also eat chicken and vegetable dishes and pork pibil, which is cooked in banana leaves. Their achiote sauce is made from crushed annatto seeds which grow there and give a deep orange color to the local dishes.

The northern states include more meat in their cooking, as they border with the ranching areas of Texas. Beef, goat and ostrich are all used in northern Mexico’s dishes. Exotic dishes are still cooked in the pueblitos, or traditional villages, and include rattlesnake, deer, spider monkey, grasshoppers and ants eggs.

Mexican Restaurants

Puebla is a province just south of Mexico City. Chefs from Puebla are known for their cooking skills and reliability and are sought after in American-Mexican restaurants. They take with them all their local knowledge and produce and develop many Tex-Mex dishes which the Americans love.

Another ‘import’ to American restaurants is the celebration of Cinco de Maya. This Mexican celebration commemorates the defeat of the French in 1862 by the Mexicans. It is often referred to as Mexico’s Independence Day, which is not strictly the case. Restaurants throughout the USA celebrate the occasion with Mexican-American food and Mexican beers including the popular Corona. The Margarita is another popular drink from Mexico and is a tequila-based cocktail.

Mexican cuisine is so popular that Mexican restaurants can be found in almost every town in the United States, and every city throughout the world. They serve not only the ex-Pat Mexican communities but all nationalities. New Mexico has a large Mexican community and actually has developed its own New Mexican Cuisine which can be enjoyed in many local restaurants there.