An Introduction to Mexico’s Traditional Dishes and Spices

At Sabores, we love food… especially Mexican food. We are passionate about showcasing everything Mexico City has to offer, and that’s why we run our Mexico City Food Tours. If you’d like to learn more about the tours we offer, please get in touch.

Otherwise, keep reading as we tell you a little bit about our country’s cuisine. We will also examine our country’s rather delicious food heritage. We will first look at the different spices of Mexico; then, we will delve into the dishes that mean so much to us!

The Spices of Mexico

Think of any spice. The likelihood is that Mexico discovered it, or it’s a staple in Mexican cuisine. From cumin and Mexican bay leaf to allspice and ancho chili powder — Mexico knows a thing or two about spices. Let’s learn about Mexico’s spices!

Mexican Bay Leaf

Mexican bay leaf is grown where you would expect: in Mexico. It’s traditionally used in Mexican cooking, soups, and stews and has a floral, herbal, and slightly bitter taste. If you have used the bay leaves traditionally used in European cooking, you’ll find Mexican bay softer and more mellow.

Vanilla Comes from Mexico

When thinking of spicy, your mind may not immediately go to vanilla. But this gentle and ever-popular spice is native to Mexico and South America. 

In Mexico, vanilla is traditionally used in dishes like ice cream and cake. Still, it can also appear in savory dishes, adding to some of the complex flavor combinations our cuisine is so famous for. 

Mexico Loves Cumin

While cumin was discovered initially in the Mediterranean, it plays a huge role in Mexican dishes. Cumin is a spice made from the seeds of the Cuminum Cyminum plant, and it has an earthy and warm flavor that we love in this part of the world!

Mexico is Synonymous with Chili 

The chili plant is native to the South American Continent, and it’s estimated that chilis were first harvested roughly 8,000 years ago. It’s a popular addition to cornbread, quesadillas, nachos, and tacos. Chili is incredibly popular in Mexico, and it has since made its way worldwide, helping other nations develop a taste for spicy food!

While we use a vast range of different chilies here in Mexico, our habaneros are a must-try. 

Cinnamon Perfectly Complements Mexican Cuisine

Cinnamon is a spice that arguably has its kind of heat that is different from chili. It is incredibly popular in Mexico. 

Despite originating from Sri Lanka, Cinnamon is a crucial ingredient in Mexican cuisine — so much so that cinnamon exports to Mexico are worth $72.4 million. Cinnamon is usually used in desserts, soups, and stews.

Achiote — Mexico’s Answer to Parika

Achiote can also be referred to as annatto seeds. If you’ve never tasted achiote, its closest counterpart is probably paprika (which Mexicans also adore). Achiote is primarily used as a food colorant but also gives dishes an earthy and peppery taste if used in larger amounts. 

Achiote is commonly made into achiote paste, consisting of grounded annatto seeds with added vinegar, garlic, oregano, cinnamon, and clove. Achiote paste is traditionally used to add extra flavor to tamales, stews, and bean dishes.

Nutmeg in Mexican Cuisine

Nutmeg is found in Mexican hot chocolate but also can be enjoyed with greens and chicken dishes. Nutmeg comes from the seed of the evergreen tree, Mystica Fragrans, and traditionally grows in humid, tropical destinations. 

Mexicans Love Sesame

Sesame is an ancient spice that has become a large import for Mexico. In 2019, the country produced 58 thousand metric tons of the stuff. 

Sesame garnishes Mexico’s national dish, Mole Poblano — and this brings us neatly to our next topic! 

Mexico’s Traditional Dishes

Now we’ve learned a little bit about the popular spices in Mexico, let’s learn a little about Mexico’s traditional dishes.

Mole 

Mole is a type of sauce; it’s also Mexico’s national dish!

Mole is incredibly versatile and can be used in dishes with chicken, fresh vegetables, and jalapeno peppers. Mole sauce has a base of dry or fresh chilies seasoned with wild plants and herbs. 

The history of mole is contested; some argue that mole originates from prehispanic Mexico and is served in Aztec rituals. Others argue that the traditional recipe used today was created by a nun in the 17th century who combined chili peppers and cocoa.

Pozole 

This is a hearty traditional Mexican soup seasoned with red chiles, aromatic spices, pork, tomato, and shredded cabbage. Not to leave out the most important ingredient: maize (AKA corn)! 

Pozole was a dish used in the Aztec empire for special occasions, such as honoring the gods, bringing on a good harvest, and changing seasons.

Pozole isn’t the only spicy soup available — there is also Chile de Pollo, which is a spicy chicken soup guaranteed to knock your socks off. 

Cochinita Pibil

Cochinita Pibil is a popular dish in Mexico — it’s also one of the spiciest. This dish comes from the Yucatán Peninsula and is made of smoky slow-roasted pork marinated with cinnamon, allspice, and achiote.

What makes this dish one of the spiciest is its sauces, as it’s usually served with extra-spicy habanero salsa or dried-chili salsa. 

Chilaquiles 

Chilaquiles is a traditional Mexican breakfast served with tortilla chips and sauce. Whereas nachos are hard and eaten with your hands — chilaquiles are soft and eaten with a fork. 

The sauce typically consists of green salsa or red enchilada. Chilaquiles are considered comfort food in Mexico and were used in pre-refrigeration days to reuse leftover tortillas for breakfast. 

Would you like to learn more about another Mexican staple? Join us on our Taco Tour in Mexico City to sample the finest tacos around!

Well, that’s all we have time for. We hope you’ve enjoyed this tour through the spices and dishes of Mexico. 

If you’d like to experience all the culinary delights that Mexico offers, take a look at our Mexico City food tours. For those interested in deep diving into Mexico City’s history, we recommend our Coyoacán Food Tour in particular.

And if you’d like to learn more about our food adventures, please get in touch. 

The post The Sabores Guide to Mexican Spices appeared first on Sabores México Food Tours.

“A few weeks ago, during the Historic’s Center Food Tour, one of our saboristas couldn’t believe I did not know what a chimichanga was… The truth is, I had never seen one in Mexico until that day, when I learned it is basically a fried burrito!”

Many foreigners think of taco shells, burritos, chimichangas, and chili con carne when they speak of Mexican traditional food. However, almost all those dishes belong to the Tex-Mex regional cuisine, that is prepared in some states in the northern part of Mexico but is not at all popular in the rest of the country.  

Although we do love tacos, tortas, and mole, there are many other dishes in our territory that we truly enjoy. In fact, we had to divide our culinary expressions into six different regions: Northwest, Northeast, South, Pacific, Center, and Southeast, each of them with local ingredients, techniques, and dishes.

The Mexican Palate

It is important to mention that taste has an emotional component that makes individuals like or dislike certain flavors. Therefore, education and culture are defining influences in the creation of each person’s palate. Because of this, most Mexicans truly enjoy eating everything with corn, lime, black beans, and chili, because we’re used to these flavors since the pre-Hispanic times.

One of the best ways to learn what food we eat in Mexico is by visiting our markets. It is there where we have products form all Mexican land, ready to be transformed into exquisite quality and flavored dishes.

What Mexicans eat on a daily basis englobes dishes and ingredients from all around the world, starting off with a pastry and a coffee, having a salad, a pasta or sushi for lunch, and ending the day with a smoothie or a quesadilla. Of course, to get to this globalized point, it took us thousands of years of food evolution, changes in traditions and culinary habits.

Mexican Food through Time

The pre-Hispanic cuisine had the milpa as its main basis. This harvesting system works around the symbiosis between plants like corn, beans, and chili, with wild animals. The first version of dishes like mole, tamales, prepared quelites, the traditional cacao drink, and of course, tortillas, come from this time. According to the Mendocino Codex, Nahuas were used to eating tortillas every day. As early as three years old, kids ate half a tortilla, when they turned four, they ate a whole tortilla, one and a half tortillas when they turned six, and finally, thirteen-year-olds could eat two tortillas.

From the Spanish conquest in 1521, the mestizo cuisine emerged, combining local ingredients with Arab, Asian, and European products and techniques. During these times, delicacies like the arroz con leche and the churros were adopted, dishes like tamales and black beans were enhanced with pork fat, and iconic delights like the stuffed chilis, the pambazos, and the quesadillas were born.

In 1821, Mexico declared its independence and celebrated it with enchiladas and coffee. Years later, the French influence arrived in our country, and many haute cuisine and nouvelle cuisine styled restaurants and pastry shops opened. It was then, during the presidency of Porfirio Díaz when wine, dishes with sour cream, cheese, and butter dominated menus. Also, pastries or pan dulce came to Mexico to stay here forever.

Food Nowadays

With the Mexican Revolution, from being sophisticated and elegant, food started being prepared with low-cost ingredients, simple flavors, and easy techniques. During this time, dishes from the Northern part of the country such as barbacoa, beans with pork rinds, and wheat tortillas became popular.

Finally, the 20^th Century came to redefine Mexican gastronomy, transforming the eating habits, but conserving their essence. Globalization, trade agreements, and the presence of foreigners in Mexico were key to the creation of al pastor tacos, molletes, gringas, and Cuban tortas. Many national brands of industrialized products were born, like Chocolate Abuelita, Gansito or Galletas María, and at the same time, international brands such as Hershey’s and Dr. Pepper arrived. Also, several Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Lebanese, and even Russian restaurants opened their doors, mainly in Mexico City.

Nowadays, on the 21^st Century, the food Mexicans really eat is the result of an evolution of techniques, flavors, preferences, and habits acquired with time. However, it is interesting that even now, our every day food is the same way Manuel Payno described in his 1960 book “The bandits of Río Frío”, where he narrates that his protagonist enjoys for breakfast a plate with scrambled eggs with longaniza, green chili rajas, peas, tomato, avocado, and tortillas, to later have a chicken puchero with ham, beef, chickpeas, and vegetables for lunch.

Even though we sometimes crave pizza, sushi, pasta, or sandwiches, we Mexicans LOVE tacos, tortas, enchiladas, scrambled eggs, broths, quesadillas, and homemade stews, provided they’re prepared with love and our national seasoning.

If you’re interested in eating like a real Mexican, I encourage you to try one of our food tours, where you’ll discover why we have our ingredients and traditional food so entrenched. If you especially enjoy tacos, consider our much-loved Taco Tour of Mexico City.

The post What kind of food do people in Mexico really eat? appeared first on Sabores México Food Tours.