Recipes - Mexican and Latin American

Mexican’s are known for cooking with seeds. While many people consider spring time to be the planting season, Mexican’s have known for centuries that seeds can be used in Mexican cooking all year round!

Seeds in diets

Seeds contain a variety of nutrients necessary for a healthy diet, but they also enhance textures and flavors of ingredients that are typically found in porridge and drinks of Mexico, as well as to add color to certain foods. Other popular seeds that you’ll find in snack shops all over Mexico are the seeds from pumpkins and squash.

The Mexicans often bake fry with salt, to resemble something like a potato chip- although they are far more nutritional than the standard potato chip!

Mexican cooking history

As they entered Mexico during the 16th century, the Spaniards brought with them spices such as cinnamon, cloves, and cumin, and other items, like olives, grapes, dairy. Combined with other food items like cloves and chiles and rice, the end result is the layered flavors that are evident in all of the finest Mexican food.

Chocolate flavor

The famous Mexican chocolate is a mixture of chocolate and cinnamon flavors, although not the cinnamon that people in the United States are used to buying. Cinnamon in the US is actually cassia- an ingredient that appears and tastes very close to true cinnamon, but the real cinnamon is actually a bit sweeter, and lighter in color than cassia, and is found in the shape of mini tree barks, the natural way that cinnamon grows.

The famous taco

When a person thinks of Mexican food, there is no doubt that one of the first items that comes to mind are tacos. Tacos are simply a tortilla wrapped around some sort of filling, most often- spicy meat and vegetables, but there are many variations to the Mexican taco. Tacos were one of the first Mexican food items to be enjoyed throughout North America, and today you’ll find taco’s served all over the world. All over Mexico you’ll find little stands that make a variety of different tacos- each offering a specialty based on the area of Mexico the stand is located in.

Oranges and lemons

Mexico is also a primary exporter of Oranges throughout the winter, sending the oranges into the United States, as well as to the colder sections of Mexico itself. There are oranges grown for creating juice, and other oranges for eating. Orange juice is a staple at breakfast in Mexico, as well as a beverage often sold from carts near office buildings and street corners. While oranges are important commodities to the Mexican people there is no citrus fruit as known to Mexico as lime. Lime is served with every food except for coffee and dessert!

Cold weather cooking

Winter cooking in Mexico will often create a stew called puchero. Puchero is traditionally made in a claypot, which is where the name came from. It consists of meat, spices, vegetables, and sometimes even fruit. In some places in Mexico, the stew is eaten as a single course meal, while in others, you would eat the broth first, followed by the meats and vegetables, served on separate plates, followed by the fruit. The recipe of puchero will differ from house to house, and from one location to the next, but you’ll almost always see the meal served with a side of tortillas!

Fruity flavors

Mexican cooking incorporates a lot of tropical fruits, to add intense flavor and texture. Where as many European countries and all of North America tend to use tropical fruits as garnishes or part of salads, the Mexicans have always incorporated the rich and juicy flavors of mangos, pineapples and peaches in their traditional Mexican dishes.