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| - Mexican meals consist mainly of sauces, stews and soups, and most recipes are prepared anywhere between a quick-fry to a slow roast. Mexico represents a melding of cultures: Spanish, French, Mediterranean influences are felt and combined into a mestizaje (mixing), as Mexicans defy their own cuisine. Almost every region has its own legends regarding food background. In Puebla, the legend says that some nuns were asked to prepare a dish for a dignitary visit. Because they were not sure what a stylish meal meant, the nuns innovated a mixture of herbs, chocolate and spices. This recipe is the base of mole, a thick sauce, used at the old royal feasts and highly popular nowadays.
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| abstract
| - Mexican meals consist mainly of sauces, stews and soups, and most recipes are prepared anywhere between a quick-fry to a slow roast. Mexico represents a melding of cultures: Spanish, French, Mediterranean influences are felt and combined into a mestizaje (mixing), as Mexicans defy their own cuisine. Almost every region has its own legends regarding food background. In Puebla, the legend says that some nuns were asked to prepare a dish for a dignitary visit. Because they were not sure what a stylish meal meant, the nuns innovated a mixture of herbs, chocolate and spices. This recipe is the base of mole, a thick sauce, used at the old royal feasts and highly popular nowadays. The Mexican diet is based on some very specific aliments: beans, corn, tomatoes, chilies and exotic fruits. The most important aliment and the oldest one is the corn, as it has been consumed for over 4000 years. Corn is used for the famous tortillas, tacos, tamales and nachos and beans are prepared as kidney beans and fava (in soups or stews), served as refrito, or de la olla. The tomatoes are essential for the salsas and the dips, used for the fish meals or the beef ones. Chilies are used both dried and fresh and they are found in a wide range: chipotle, haberano, mulato, cascabel or serrano. The exotic fruits are used for garnishes, sauces or desserts: the coconuts, papayas, pineapples or bananas. Corn, chilies, beans, tomatoes and fruit make up the Mexican diet. Corn is used for tortillas, which are usually used for tacos and tamales. Chilies, on the other hand, are used both fresh and dried. Mexicans prefer their food hot and flavorful thus, they use a variety of chilies in their dishes – jalapeno, serrano, guajillo, pasilla, ancho, poblano, habanero and mulato to name a few. Beans range from lentils to kidney beans and these are the usually used in many Mexican soups and stews. Of course, a truly Mexican salsa is never complete without tomatoes. Tomatoes, too, are used to make sauces for meat and fish dishes. Fresh mangoes, pineapples, papayas and coconuts are usually served for dessert. However, they are also used for sauces. Long before Spain set foot on Mexican soil, corn was an important and revered crop by the Aztec Indians. It was the Aztec’s staple food and corn was eaten a number of ways – raw, roasted, boiled or made into corn meal. Tortilla, which comes from the Spanish word “torta” meaning “round cake”, was born when the Spanish brought grain with them and mixed it with corn. Similar to rice, corn tortillas are versatile – they can be eaten plain, with beans or meat, with sauces, and served hot or cold. Many Mexicans consider tortillas as an alternative to bread. Mexico is abundant in exceptional and famous cuisine. Here are a few of them from selected Mexican regions:
* Veracruz: Located near the sea, most cuisine in this area features fish. Any Veracruzana dish is topped with sauce made from tomatoes, capers and chilies. If you’re hankering for a taco or enchilada, you’ll find that if you get them here at Veracruz, they’d be stuffed with fish.
* Yucatan: Had enough of chilies and hot food? This region is a place where they make sauces out of fruit flavored with oranges, cumin and garlic. Here, chicken or pork is baked wrapped in banana leaf and lathered generously with Yucateco sauce.
* Puebla: This is where the first mole sauce was created. Mole is Mexico’s most popular sauce and consists of about 30 ingredients – from spices to herbs to chocolate. It is served over turkey and chicken.
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