Mexican Food History

Those who are interested in the cuisine of Mexico are often interested its origins: Mexican food history. Mexican food today has been so Americanized much of it has little to do with the fine culinary traditions that fueled the country for centuries. Much of modern Mexican cuisine began after Cortez conquered the country for Spain in the 1500s. The regional ingredients of Mexico, like maize, peppers, chocolate, and tomatoes, spread around the world and influenced global cuisine, while European foods helped create a new cuisine in Mexico.

When Hernando Cortez and his men marched into Mexico City they found an advanced Aztec culture that included a cuisine based on many local ingredients. Emperor Montezuma, ruler of the Aztec people, enjoyed a drink made of cacao beans, vanilla, and honey, all native ingredients. The Spanish conquistadors were so taken with the drink, they exported it back to Spain, and a world addiction to chocolate was born. The Mexican cacao tree and vanilla orchid were both native plants in the area. So were corn, (maize), beans, and peppers, which much of the Aztec cuisine was based on. In fact, corn and beans are cornerstones of the Mexican foods.

Many people who haven't really experienced true Mexican cuisine (NOT Taco Bell!) think all Mexican food is spicy hot and greasy. That's simply not the case. True Mexican food, the food of the Indians and later the peasants, was actually quite bland. The diet was mainly corn tortillas and beans. They used chiles to add some flavor to a bland diet, and the chiles are what most people seem to remember about Mexican seasonings. However, many other cuisines, such as Thai and Indian, can be far hotter than many Mexican dishes.

Mexican cooking centers on corn and beans, but the region also supplied many other new foods to Europe and the world, including avocados, peanuts, tomatoes, squash, and coconuts. Most all of these foods were enjoyed in early Aztec and Mayan cuisines of the people of Mexico and Central America, and many of them blended into early Mexican cuisine.

As the Spanish settled in their conquered lands of Mexico and Central America in the 1520's, they brought many items to the New World that had been familiar at home, and many of them worked themselves into the Mexican cuisines. Some of the animals seem commonplace now, but at that time Mexicans had never seen them. They included pigs, horses, cows, sheep, goats, and chickens. The Spaniards also brought many condiments including black pepper, olive oil, cinnamon, cilantro, and oregano. They also introduced many nuts and grains, including many citrus fruits, and sugarcane, which eventually turned into a profitable cash crop that ultimately produced sugar (and began the slave trade, but that is another story).

With the introduction of so many new ingredients, Mexican cooking had to evolve, and it did. Spanish influences helped create dishes such as buñuelos (deep fried little pillows of dough), lomo en adobo (pork loin in a spicy sauce), chile rellenos (large, mild-flavored chilies stuffed with cheese, beef or pork), quesadillas, which have been traditional Mexican street food for eons, and of course, the always popular guacamole.

Much of what people in America think is "real" Mexican food is really what's known as "Tex-Mex" cuisine. It's made up of many Americanized versions of Mexican foods, and it evolved along the Texas-Mexican border, blending traditional Mexican foods with Americanized tastes and even some Southwestern cowboy fare thrown in. For example, refried beans are really a Tex-Mex translation of the Mexican frijoles refritos, which really translates to "well-fried beans." Other Tex-Mex inventions for gringo tastes are nachos, chili con carne (which was unknown in Mexico), chimichangas, which were actually invented at the El Charro restaurant in Tucson, Arizona in the 1950s, and fajitas, which were introduced in Houston in the 1970s. Just like many other cuisines, true Mexican food changes with the region. Don't confuse Americanized combination plates and sizzling fajitas for the real Mexican food, and don't be afraid of the spices, and you'll find you enjoy true Mexican cuisine!

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