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July 11th, 2016
It's been a while since we discussed the cuisine of any country. And before that there were both. And here it is. There was and , as well as
Anyone who has once tried a real Mexican dish is familiar with the rich palette of flavors that explode in the mouth. This exotic “cocktail” of spices, herbs, meat and vegetables is enough to satisfy even the most demanding gourmets.
Indeed, it is difficult to find a person who does not like Mexican cuisine. But for people who love Mexican food so much, we know too little about it. In the collective consciousness of most Mexican food fans, things like origins, history, and even cooking styles are completely absent. Well, it's time to change that!
Let's try to find out about true origin Mexican food, some traditional ways cooking your favorite Mexican dishes and even some weird Mexican food you may not have known existed. Here are 25 interesting things about Mexican food that you might not know!
Mexican cuisine is more ancient than you think. Many of the most traditional Mexican recipes date back to the Aztec and Mayan times.
However, the Spaniards had a significant impact strong influence to Mexican cuisine as we know it today. Traditional Mexican dishes (inherited from Mayan and Aztec recipes) were modified during the Spanish colonization of Mexico, resulting in the Spanish adding own ideas and preparation methods, as well as ingredients.
In the 1520s, the Spaniards brought plants and animals to Mexico that no Mexican had ever seen before: horses, large cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and chickens. Of the seasonings that were imported into the country - olive oil, cinnamon, parsley, coriander, oregano and black pepper. The Spaniards also brought nuts and grains such as almonds, rice, wheat, barley, as well as fruits and vegetables, including apples, oranges, grapes, lettuce, carrots, cauliflower, potatoes (brought from Peru) and sugar cane. .
All parts of cows and domestic bulls are used to prepare traditional Mexican dishes, including the udder, stomach, tongue, even the uterus and testicles.
Mexican cuisine is also famous for its variety of refreshing juices. Growing in abundance tropical and exotic fruits are the basis soft drinks, which are sold in roadside stalls.
Tortillas are a staple food in Mexico. They are made from corn or wheat flour, and their variety varies from one part of the country to another. Tortillas are used to prepare many dishes; they can be either soft or crispy.
Tequila is the most famous Mexican drink alcoholic drink to date. It is produced mainly in the vicinity of the city of the same name, and the core of the blue agave is used for its preparation.
Between 1864 and 1867, Mexico was ruled by the former Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, supported by French troops. And although his reign was short-lived and tragic, French cuisine left its mark on many Mexican dishes. French-inspired Mexican dishes include chiles en nogada ( stuffed peppers chili in walnut sauce) and “conejo en mostaza” (rabbit in mustard sauce).
During the colonial period, Spaniards who loved to experiment and members of Spanish religious orders came up with most of dishes that make up today's intricate Mexican cuisine. The nuns pioneered the preparation of such traditional Mexican foods as candies called cajeta (caramel), ball-shaped buñuelos (doughnuts), and the egg-based liqueur rompope.
In 1519, when the first Spanish conquistadors entered the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan (located in what is now Mexico City), they learned that the Aztec emperor Montezuma liked to drink a drink made from vanilla and chocolate and sweetened with honey. It was a traditional Mexican-Indian dish, probably invented by the Mayans themselves, which subsequently found worldwide recognition in various variations, including in the form of a milkshake.
Back in the colonial period of Mexican history, dishes such as “lomo en adobo” (pork loin in a spicy sauce), “chiles rellenos” (chili peppers stuffed with cheese, beef or pork), “guacamole” (an appetizer made from avocado pulp, tomatoes, onions, chili and coriander) and “escabeche” (marinade).
Vanilla is a substance obtained from the pods a certain type Mexican orchid, and chocolate is obtained from the fruit Mexican tree cocoa.
Some Mexican dishes, especially those that originated in Veracruz and the Yucatan Peninsula, are influenced by Caribbean cuisine. Other Mexican dishes, such as bolillo (wheat bread), are influenced by French cuisine. Bolillo is a popular Mexican bread.
The popular Mexican dish called “fajita” was actually brought to wide popularity by Mexican-American restaurateur Ninfa Rodriguez Laurenzo, who named her own restaurant after herself - Ninfa’s. The dish was so simple and appetizing that competitors constantly sent their spies to her restaurant in order to get the recipe.
In some parts of Mexico, exotic foods include grasshoppers and caterpillars. Tacos in some parts of the country are also prepared with a variety of fillings, from cow brains to bull testicles.
Sugar Calaveras (Calaveras de Azukar), a skull-shaped confection made from sugar, amaranth and chocolate, are one of the most famous Mexican sweets. They are prepared to celebrate the Day of the Dead.
Mexican food found in the United States is commonly referred to as "Tex Mex". The name comes from the fusion of Texan, Mexican and American cuisine. Burritos, fajitas, and quesadillas are the most popular examples of Tex-Mex.
It is estimated that the average mexican family can consume up to 2 pounds (almost 1 kg) of tortillas (corn tortillas) per day.
Chili peppers are the most commonly used ingredient in traditional Mexican cuisine.
Even traditional Mexican desserts are prepared with chili peppers, which achieve a pleasant combination of hot and sweet.
Northern Mexicans prefer meat dishes, while in the south of the country they prefer to use chicken and vegetables as the main ingredients.
Tortillas were once sold in cans and were popular in this type of packaging from the 1940s until the early 1980s.
Quesadillas are one of the mainstays of Mexican street stalls. This dish is considered typically Mexican. But it turns out that quesadilla, like the Mexicans themselves, is a hybrid dish: half indigenous, half Spanish. The tortilla that makes up a quesadilla is a Native American dish; cheese, as well as pork and/or beef that can be added to the filling - Spanish influence; in terms of garnish, hot sauce made from chili peppers - local cuisine, and the shredded lettuce leaves are again influenced by Spanish cuisine.
Despite the fact that Mexican cuisine is predominantly known for its spicy and heavy food, it is actually quite healthy food, rich in vitamins and minerals, and also low in fat. Some nutritionists consider it an ideal combination of important food groups: meat, dairy products, grains and vegetables.
If you still thought that only Asian cuisine uses the nastiest animals, then you will be interested to know that some recipes for traditional Mexican dishes include ingredients such as iguana and rattlesnake meat.
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Mexican cuisine, which unites the culinary traditions of several nations, will appeal to everyone who loves juicy and bright flavors. Knowing certain tricks, anyone can cook its most popular dishes. All you need is a small list of familiar ingredients and, of course, your desire to experiment.
website I have selected 6 excellent Mexican dishes that will delight guests and are easy to prepare at home.
Fajitas
This is perhaps the most popular dish in Mexican cuisine. It is customary to serve the filling hot, right in the frying pan, and always along with traditional tortillas. This way, each guest can choose what to wrap in the flatbread and what sauces to eat it with.
Ingredients:
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 red onion
- 1 chili pepper
- 1 can canned red beans
- 300 g beef
- 2 tbsp. l. tomato paste
- 3 tbsp. l. vegetable oil
- 1 lime
- 4 wheat or corn tortillas
Preparation:
- Cut beef tenderloin, bell pepper and chili pepper into thin strips.
- Marinate the meat in lime juice for 1 hour.
- Place vegetables on a hot frying pan and fry for 10 minutes.
- Add the beef to the vegetables and fry for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add tomato paste and beans to the contents of the frying pan, stir and keep on fire for a couple of minutes.
- The filling for fajitas is ready! Serve it with flatbreads, spicy tomato sauce and sour cream.
Guacamole
Adored by gourmets all over the world, avocado paste can be used as a side dish, for example, with meat or fish. But traditionally it is consumed as a snack and eaten with corn chips.
Ingredients:
- 2 tomatoes
- 3 ripe avocados
- 1 onion
- 1 chili pepper
- 1 lime
- 1 clove of garlic
- bunch of cilantro
Preparation:
- Finely chop the onion, garlic and cilantro. Grate the lime zest.
- Remove the seeds from the chili peppers, remove the skins from the tomatoes and also chop them.
- Mash all ingredients with a fork. Salt and mix again.
- Add a couple of tablespoons of water and lime juice.
- Peel the avocado, remove the pit and cut into several pieces.
- Add the avocado to the tomato and chili paste and mash thoroughly with a fork.
Serve with corn chips. Bon appetit!
Fresh Mexican salsa
Spicy Mexican sauce goes well with potatoes and meat and adds piquancy and richness to dishes.
Ingredients:
- 3 tomatoes
- 1 onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 chili peppers
- juice of 1 lime
- 2 tbsp. l. tomato paste
- 2 tbsp. l. olive oil
- cumin, salt, pepper to taste
Preparation:
- Remove the skin from the tomatoes and cut into cubes.
- Chop the onion and garlic in the same way.
- Remove seeds from chili peppers and cut into strips.
- Mix all the ingredients, salt and pepper, add cumin and tomato paste.
Season with lime juice and olive oil.
Bean soup with chili
Mexicans love beans and add them to almost everything. Dishes with it, like this spicy and aromatic soup, turn out to be very nutritious and tasty.
Ingredients:
- 300 g red beans
- 2 liters vegetable broth
- 1 bunch of cilantro
- 8 cloves garlic
- 2 red chili peppers
- 1 tbsp. l. cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp. l. coriander seeds
- 1 tsp. allspice
- 4 tbsp. l. olive oil
- salt to taste
Preparation:
- Soak the beans in cold water and leave for 8–10 hours.
- Drain the water from the beans, fill them with vegetable broth and set to cook for 1 hour.
- Pour 2 cups of broth into a separate pan and set aside for a while.
- Remove with a saucepan small quantity beans. It will be useful for decoration.
- Grind the remaining broth along with the beans in a blender.
- Chop the garlic and seeded chili pepper.
- In a dry frying pan, fry the cumin, coriander and allspice for 2 minutes.
- Place garlic, chili in a frying pan and add vegetable oil. Fry for 1.5 minutes.
- Place the reserved broth on the fire, transfer the contents from the frying pan and puree from the blender into it, add salt and pepper. The soup only needs to be heated, not boiled.
- Pour the soup into bowls and add the beans that we prepared for decoration.
Serve with greens. The dish turns out very aromatic and rich.
Huevos Rancheros
According to legend, this dish was first invented by cowboys many years ago, and today every Mexican enjoys it for breakfast. It can be eaten straight from the pan or wrapped in a traditional flatbread.
Ingredients:
- 2 eggs
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 red pepper
- 1 green pepper
- 100 g smoked sausage
- 1 red onion
- 2 tbsp. l. tomato paste
- 2 tsp. ground cumin
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil
- bunch of parsley
Hello!
Mexican cuisine is so unique and delicious that it certainly deserves special consideration. In this country they really know how to cook well, no matter what restaurant, cafe or canteen you go to on the corner, almost everywhere, with rare exceptions, you can eat great. Although, I still suspect that their secret lies in the freshness of the products used. You can always buy in markets and supermarkets fresh vegetables, fruits and meat.
FEATURES OF MEXICAN CUISINE
Mexican cuisine was formed under the influence of the cultural traditions of the Indians, Spaniards and French. The main ingredients of Mexican dishes are exclusively local products: a variety of fish and seafood, meat from livestock and poultry, corn, beans, avocados, chili peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini and even cacti. Yes, yes, that's not a typo!
In Mexico, cacti are used not only for making tequila and mezcal (the second most popular alcoholic drink), but also for food. Moreover, the nopal cactus is especially popular. It is fried with onions and tomatoes, grilled, added to tacos and many other dishes.
When I tasted the cactus for the first time, I admit honestly, I didn’t feel any pleasure because of its slimy consistency, reminiscent of our aloe, but not bitter in taste. But it turned out that it was simply poorly prepared; after trying it a second time, I still eat it now. As they say, I tried it. In the first photo you can see the cactus raw, in the second it is already fried with onions and tomatoes.
So, I invite you to get acquainted with the most popular traditional dishes of Mexico.
Tacos (tacos)
A unique symbol of Mexico. A taco is a flatbread (tortilla) with filling, which is served accompanied by spicy Mexican sauces based on chili and lime. Most often, the flatbread is made from corn flour. Pork, beef, chicken, lamb, chorizo, fish, and seafood are used as fillings, usually seasoned with parsley and pickled onions. There are thousands of recipes, sometimes even vegetarian tacos.
Pozole (posole)
This is another symbol of Mexico. Traditionally it is prepared on Independence Day, and on any other day. Speaking in simple language, posole is corn soup. To prepare it, they use a special variety of white corn, “cacahuasintle,” which is grown only in Mexico. First, the corn is boiled for a long time until it is properly cooked. Meat is prepared separately, it can be chicken, pork, beef or even shrimp.
The meat is then added to the broth with corn and served accompanied by chopped lettuce, radishes, onions, herbs, avocado, chicharon (fried pork skin, eaten like chips, added to various dishes), oregano, lime and traditional sauces based on chili and tomato. Everyone complements their soup with these ingredients to taste.
Enchiladas (enchiladas)
Well, where would we be without them? An enchilada is a stuffed tortilla, usually fried in a pan and served with sauce. It sounds very simple, but it was not so. First, the tortilla can be blue corn, yellow corn, or wheat flour. The filling can be different types cheese, various types meat, shrimp, potatoes, vegetables, cactus, whatever the cook’s imagination allows. Not to mention the sauces, their variety simply leads to a dead end when choosing. Top the enchiladas with chopped parsley, onions, lettuce or radishes to taste, cheese and sour cream.
Mole con pollo (chicken mole)
It is impossible to talk about Mexican cuisine without mentioning mole. Mole is a thick brown sauce most often used to cook chicken or turkey (usually at Christmas). Not only that, it is also served with enchiladas, tomales, or rice. The sauce is based on cocoa, at least three types of chili pepper, nuts, spices, cinnamon, and many other components, depending on the recipe. Sometimes chocolate is added, sometimes a special variety of green tomatoes (in this case the sauce is called mole verde - mole green).
Chilaquiles (chilaquiles)
Chilaquiles are a favorite Mexican dish that is most often served for breakfast. Typically, these are corn tortillas cut into strips, fried in oil, with the addition of meat, beans or vegetables to taste, seasoned with a traditional chili sauce and cheese. After which the dish is placed in the oven for a short time. If desired, you can serve the chilaquiles with a fried egg.
Tamales (tamales)
Tamale is a corn dough filled with... minced meat, cheeses, fruits, or vegetables, often with chili peppers, wrapped in corn leaves. The dish is steamed; the corn leaves are removed before use. Tamales have been known since ancient times. It is believed that it was tamales that the hospitable Indians offered the conquestadors who arrived here to try.
Tortas (tortas)
Tortas are a kind of sandwich; they are sold very cheaply on the street or in small cafes. For just 25-35 pesos you get a huge sandwich that can easily feed two people. In this case, you choose the filling to your taste, these are various types of meat, ham, sausages, cheese with lettuce, tomato and avocado.
You can write endlessly about the peculiarities of Mexican cuisine! I told you only about her most famous and striking masterpieces. There is a huge variety of them, I still never cease to be amazed by new discoveries. But there are features that remain the same everywhere:
Mexicans season any dish with traditional sauces and lime. Everything, always and everywhere.
Mexican cuisine without tortillas is not Mexican cuisine. They are used as the basis of many dishes and eaten instead of bread.
Mexicans love spicy food, chili - the most important component almost all dishes. More than one hundred varieties of chili are grown in Mexico. They differ in pungency, taste, size, color and shape.
Avocado is the number one fruit. It is added to different soups, salads, main courses, the most famous sauce “guacamole” and even desserts are prepared on its basis.
Mexicans love jelly for dessert; it is sold everywhere here and is often prepared for holidays instead of cake.
Here you can have a tasty and satisfying meal for any budget.
I think you have already understood that in Mexico everyone can find a delicacy to their liking and taste. And before coming here, I tried Mexican dishes in Russia and the USA, and I liked them. But only once I was in the country, I was able to truly appreciate all its greatness.
Travel, discover new things, enjoy delicious food!
With sincere sympathy, Olesya.
P.S. What Mexican dishes have you tried? What did you like and dislike?