Mercado

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mexican cuisine is also known as the “mercado” type food, due to its extensive flavors, colorful decoration, and the variety of spices that it has. Mexican gastronomy, in terms of diversity of appealing tastes and textures, is one of the richest in the world, the problem is that certain people characterizes this type of food as greasy and spicy; however, the other side of it is that it is rich in proteins, vitamins, and minerals.

When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the old Mexico City (Tenochtitlán), they found that Aztec people had a particular diet; they ate corn based dishes with some herbs, but most of the time, with beans. According to some research, scientists say that the mixture of beans and corn have a natural “amino acid” compound, good for the diet. Later on, the conquistadors added rice, beef, and wine, among others. Some say that the “tortilla”, a corn based chip was created as part of this exquisite cuisine, later on they were adding a cream based of beans.

Many things were brought to Mexico by the Spanish conquistadores, such things were: animals: horses, pigs, cattle, chicken, goats, and so on; spices: oregano, parsley, cinnamon, pepper, etc.; vegetables; fruits.

Most of the today’s Mexican cuisine came from various mixtures of traditions, ingredients, and creativity. The majority of it, are native American based, with an indigenous mixture, and with a Spanish touch. For example, the famous Quesadilla is a corn based tortilla with cheese that has beef, chicken, and/or pork. The indigenous part of this and many other traditional foods is the chili.

The art of decoration in this type of food is very decorative and colorful. This is because Mexican food is rich in vegetables (red pepper, green pepper, chilies, broccoli, cauliflower, and radish) and in beef/pork, including chicken.

A comparative summary of Mexican cuisine: Its origin is a complex mixture of the traditions of the original inhabitants (mainly Aztecs, but also Maya and other Native American ethnic groups) with the culinary trends brought by the Spanish conquistadores.

Foods indigenous to Pre-Columbian Mexico include chocolate, maize, tomato, vanilla.

The food varies according to the region, depending on the original population, and the influence by Spaniards and others, to which such regions were exposed. For example, the north of Mexico is known for its beef production and meat dishes, while southeastern Mexico is known for its spicy vegetable and chicken-based dishes.

Mexican cuisine has combined with the cuisine of the southwest United States to form Tex-Mex cuisine.

Traditional Mexican dishes include:

burrito chilaquiles enchilada guacamole mole pico de gallo quesadilla refried beans salsa taco tamal tortilla tostada