Mexican cuisine is synonymous with Mexican culture. The civilizations that lived in the valley of Mexico, namely the Aztecs, Mayans, Spanish and even the French all made a lasting impact on the diet of the people there. The native foods found and grown in this area are corn, beans, squash, amaranth, chia, avocados, tomatoes, tomatillos, cacao, vanilla, agave, turkey, spirulina, sweet potato, cactus, and chili pepper. The diverse cultures and available raw materials have given us dishes such as burritos, quesadillas, tacos, guacamole, salsa, enchiladas, mole sauce, tortilla chips and many more. Today let us look at a few popular Mexican dishes and their origins to get a better understanding of Mexican cuisine and culture.

Enchiladas

Enchiladas date back to Mayan times when people would eat corn tortillas wrapped around small fish as a healthy snack. This snack is now known as the enchilada. It is a corn tortilla rolled around a filling and covered with chili sauce. These days the tortilla is prepared from both corn and flour, while the filling could be meat, cheese, seafood, beans, vegetables or all of the above. Just like the famous tacos an enchilada can be made to suit your taste, making a well-made enchilada an unforgettable experience.

Mole Sauce

There are too many origin stories for mole (pronounced mo-lay) sauce, making it difficult to pin down the truth. One of the most popular stories goes something like this. The archbishop was set to visit the convent of Santa Clara in Puebla. Upon hearing this the nuns in the convent panicked as they were poor and had very few ingredients to prepare a good meal for such an important guest. They gathered what little they had, everything from chili peppers, spices, day-old bread, nuts and even some chocolate. They also found an old turkey, cooked it and served it with the sauce on top. The archbishop loved the dish and immediately asked a nun what it was called. She said it was a ‘mole,’ which was the ancient word for ‘mix.’ This name stuck throughout the centuries. Mole sauce is a thick and rich sauce typically served with meats and rice. Preparing the sauce requires upwards of two dozen ingredients and can take an entire day. The complex and layered flavour is derived through an intricate blend of dried chillies, spices, fruits and seasonings. It is an explosion of taste and flavour making it a great representation of Mexican cuisine itself.

Tortillas

Tortillas are a thin flatbread prepared from corn or wheat. They were first made by the indigenous population of Mesoamerica before European contact. It is an important part of many famous Mexican dishes such as tacos, burritos, enchiladas, chimichangas, huevos rancheros, quesadillas and even tortilla chips. The tortilla is thus an irreplaceable part of Mexican cuisine. 

If this blog makes you want to munch on some Mexican cuisine yourself, you can simply order taco shells from DIP Foods and fill them with your favourite filling to get the taste of Mexico at home. Prepare some mole to go along with it and you can make a Mexican themed meal for you and your family to enjoy as easy as that.