1. Dish Pico de Gaio

Ingredients required to prepare this characteristic mexican sauce (more like a salad), a little, but they are all important. Spiced tomatoes and onions form the base of a popular Mexican sauce that can be served with wheat or corn tortillas with a variety of fillings. Fresh tomatoes, aromatic garlic and cilantro make the seasoning healthy and delicious. It's kind of a kind mexican salsa sauce.

Pico de Gaio can be served with different dishes, but it goes especially harmoniously with grilled meat, which includes kebabs and steaks. The seasoning is also good as a stand-alone snack.

This sauce So:
Tomatoes and onions need to be cut into small cubes of about 0.5 cm, add finely chopped garlic and hot peppers without seeds to them, chop cilantro and combine with the rest of the ingredients, squeeze the juice of one lemon, pepper and salt the dish, and then mix everything thoroughly ... Pico de Gaio ready to eat. Enjoy your meal!

Lovers of healthy food will be able to appreciate the beneficial properties of salad dressing, as it is prepared without heat treatment with full preservation of all vitamins in the products.

2. Guacamole recipe

Guacamole saucein Mexico it is used as often as mayonnaise in European countries, being the main ingredient for many dishes. IN classic guacamole includes avocado, lime or lemon, which explains its rare use in Russia, since avocados are quite expensive here. Mexican guacamole has a caloric content significantly lower than our esteemed mayonnaise, which affects its unconditional health benefits. Guacamole Ingredients of vegetable origin allow people to eat it fast.

Cooking guacamole consists of the following steps:
Slice the avocado and separate the seeds from the flesh, and use a spoon to loosen the flesh from the skin. To prevent the pulp from darkening, it should be immediately sprinkled with lime juice, and then chopped in a blender to a puree consistency. Squeeze lemon or lime juice into the resulting mass, add black pepper, salt, a couple of tablespoons of sour cream and three tablespoons of olive oil to taste, and mix again in a blender until smooth. Your guacamole ready!
It is in perfect harmony with tomatoes, all types of meat, shawarma fillings, lavash and many other dishes.

3. Burrito recipe with beef and cheese sauce

Burrito. Mexican cuisine

Burrito Is a meat dish, very tasty and nutritious. You can cook burrito with chicken, and we will tell you how it is made with beef. To prepare the dish, you will need the following products:

200 g beef, 100 g each rice and beans, mexican tortilla, two tomatoes and chili peppers, a head of red onion, 100 g of cheddar cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, black pepper, parsley, 100 ml each cream and white wine, and onions.
It is necessary to boil the rice until tender and discard in a colander. For cooking sauce chop the cheese at random and beat it in a blender with the addition of cream, white wine and a small amount of starch. The meat, previously cleaned, is cut into strips. Tomatoes with cut stalks are immersed first in boiling water and then in low temperature water so that the peel can be removed. Tomatoes are cut into four slices, seeds and pulp are removed, after which they need to be cut into cubes, which are laid out in a deep plate. Chopped tomatoes are added chilli, onion and parsley, the resulting mass is salted, seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice and mixed.

A frying pan with vegetable oil is heated, where beef, pepper and garlic are laid out. Do not forget to add salt, pepper and stir the ingredients. When the meat is almost ready, add boiled rice, pre-mashed canned beans, cheese sauce and mix the resulting mass. The burrito filling is ready. We spread it in the center tortillas and wrap it in a cake. From above Burrito greased with vegetable oil and fried on all sides. The dish is served on a warmed plate, drizzled with cheese sauce with the addition of concasse tomatoes. Garnished with jalapeno peppers and onions and parsley. Eat to your health!

4. Fajitas

Mexican fajitas were considered the food of cowboys, who had the right to take the leftovers of meat for their work after the slaughter of cattle. From the word "faja", which means "strip" in translation, the name of this meat dish comes, which is very popular with all fans. mexican food For cooking fajitas also needed tortillas... In establishments mexican cuisine in St. Petersburg or Moscowyou can also try fajitas with chicken or beef... It turns out no less tasty pork fajitas.

To prepare the dish you will need:
a pound of meat, eight tortillas tortillas, three tomatoes, a large head of onion, 50 g of hard cheese, avocado - 1 piece, lettuce and seasonings in the form of salt, ground pepper, cumin and paprika.

Cut the onion into small pieces and fry in a small amount of vegetable oil until transparent. Then add the meat, cut into small strips, to the onion and fry over high heat. Peeled and diced tomatoes are added to the meat and onions. Salt and pepper the dish and add the planned seasonings. Bring the resulting mixture to a boil, then continue to simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes.

In parallel with cooking the meat, we heat the tortillas in an oven with a temperature of 180 degrees (about 10 minutes). Grate the cheese and chop the avocado with a knife. Alternatively, you can cook avocado guacamole.
Fajitos is served in this form:
tortillas, meat filling with sauce, guacamole, grated cheese, lettuce - all separately. At the table, everyone wraps their own ingredients in tortillas.

5. Quesadia recipe

The word " quesadia" or " quesadilla"Literally means" cheese tortilla". The dish consists of two Mexican tortillas with different fillings, an indispensable ingredient of which is cheese. Tortillas fried in boiling oil, so that the cheese inside melts and connects the two tortillas securely together. Alternatively, fold one corn tortilla in half. Most popular with tourists and Mexican food lovers quesadillas with chicken, quesadillas with mushrooms, quesadillas with minced meat... Instead of classic tortillas in Russia, pita or pita is often used.

For the filling, you can take any kind of meat, vegetables, mushrooms and cheese. To the table quesadia served cut into quarters with hot sauces such as salsa or sour cream. A light vegetable salad goes well with this dish.

Classic Quesadia recipe as follows:
The tortilla is fried in a hot frying pan for half a minute, then a filling of grated cheese mixed with finely chopped onions, pre-fried meat of any kind, sour cream and chili is laid on it, and covered with a second flat cake. The tortilla is fried on both sides for two minutes (one minute on each side). During this time, the cheese inside should melt, the more cheese, the stronger the cakes will bond. You can cut the dish into pieces of any size. Enjoy your meal!

6. Ceviche recipe

There are many options for preparing this wonderful Mexican dish, the must-have ingredients of which are seafood. The main feature of ceviche is raw marinated fish and shrimp in lemon juice. You can cook salmon ceviche and shrimp ceviche... Many varieties of red and white fish mixed with other seafood are suitable for this dish. We will tell you how cook cevichefrom white fish and shrimps.

We need the following components:
about 800 g fillets of any white fish without bones;
300-350 g shrimp;
half each green and red sweet pepper, as well as half a hot pepper;
large onion head, preferably red;
lemon;
salt, coriander, a little sugar, ground pepper.

Rinse the fish thoroughly and cut it into small pieces. Defrost frozen fish in the refrigerator; it is not recommended to do this using a microwave. To the fish we add shrimps and onions, boiled until half cooked, cut into half rings and soaked a little in salted water. Finely chop the pepper and coriander, remove all the grains, add to the dish. Season the resulting mass with salt, ground pepper, lemon juice and sugar, which will help to make the taste of the dish less sour and spicy. We leave for half an hour in the refrigerator, after which seafood ceviche can be served with white wine. Enjoy your meal!

7. Sopa Aztec

All sorts of peppers that have been known to the local population since ancient times are widely used in Mexican cuisine. Sopa aztec fully meets the ideas of foreigners about spicy, juicy and unusual dishes from distant exotic countries. But you can cook it in our usual conditions in order to feel the tart national flavor of the new food in your kitchen. The recipe for this healthy Mexican vegetarian soup uncomplicated. To prepare it, you need to take a quarter of an avocado, two onions, three fresh tomatoes, one sweet bell pepper, three canned tomatoes, two pickled jalapenos, vegetable oil, salt and ground pepper.

Coarsely chop the onion and bell pepper, divide the tomatoes into four parts. Knead the canned tomatoes, finely chop the jalapeno peppers, removing the seeds. Simmer all the ingredients for 20 minutes in vegetable oil, adding salt and ground pepper at the end. Grind the resulting mass in a blender until puree.
Put slices of avocado in each serving and pour the finished dish into plates. Serve the soup with fried tortillas. Eat to your health!

8. Sopa de Lima

All types of legumes are widely used in Mexican cuisine, allowing you to diversify the menu with foods high in plant proteins. This is what a delicious and healthy recipe looks like. vegetable soup with beans, which can be cooked not only with meat, but also in a vegetarian version.

In order to get real Sopa de Lima in Mexican, you need to take 400 g of pumpkin, 1 cup of freshly frozen peas, 1 cup of white beans, two onions, 1 cup of red lentils, a few cloves of garlic, salt, curry, vegetable oil (preferably olive oil), black pepper and any greens ...

Boil the beans soaked in water until half cooked, cut the pumpkin into cubes, finely chop the onion and garlic. Fry the onion in oil, then add pumpkin, garlic and curry to it and continue to fry over high heat until yellow. Put the washed lentils in the dishes where the beans are cooked, boil for five minutes, then add the pumpkin with onions and garlic and green peas. We continue to cook over medium heat until all components of the soup are completely soft for 5 to 10 minutes, and then we insist the dish under the lid. Sopa de Lima is ready!

Fans of hearty and tasty food should like the recipe for traditional Mexican pork soup, which is often offered to its visitors by restaurants and cafes of Mexican cuisine. The recipe for this soup is a balanced combination of meat and vegetables, so its health benefits are undeniable.

To cook, you need to cook a can of canned corn, two kilograms of pork meat, chopped into cubes, an onion, a few cloves of garlic, salt and 150 g of dried pepper.

The soup is prepared like this:
Cut the pepper, removing the seeds and stalks, and cook until soft. In a saucepan with thick walls, fry the meat in oil for several minutes, then add the onion and garlic, water to the pork to cover the food, and cook over low heat.
Pour the broth of the pepper into the soup, and grind the pepper to the state of puree in a blender. Add the corn and pepper to the soup. If the dish is too thick, add more water. Cook until all ingredients are cooked.
Serve the Sopa de Pozole with lime, finely chopped cabbage and tortilla chips. Eat to your health!

10. Fried nopal

Nopal Is a symbolic plant of Mexico depicted on its coat of arms, the most common type of cactus in this country. Fried nopal - exotic food, which will be interesting to all fans of Mexican cuisine. Cactus is beneficial as it helps to get rid of excess fat. Cooking this dish is not too difficult.

To enjoy fried nopal, you need to take a glass of water, a few cloves of garlic, a teaspoon of cumin, a bouillon cube, a head of onion, three leaves of nopal, a glass of flour, four tomatoes, a glass of vegetable oil, a little salt to taste, a pound of hard cheese, one piece jalapeno peppers, ground pepper and four chicken eggs.

Remove the tough peel from the nopal leaves with a knife, stew the vegetables with seasonings for about 20 minutes and mix in a blender until puree. Cook the cactus in salted water until tender (about 40 minutes), and then dip it in batter - beaten eggs with flour. Fry the nopal leaves in oil on both sides (8 minutes each). We serve an exotic dish to the table with vegetable gravy and grated cheese. Enjoy your meal!

11. Chili con carne

A thick soup with meat and chili con carne is loved by people on the borders of Mexico. To taste it, you need to prepare the following foods:

800 g beef fillet;
vegetable oil;
two heads of red onions;
allspice and black peppercorns;
two chili peppers;
a few cloves of garlic;
four fresh tomatoes (you can replace them with tomato paste or canned tomatoes);
400 g red or green green beans;
spices: cumin, cloves, oregano;
cilantro;
lemon or lime;
bitter chocolate;
two spoons of cocoa;
salt;
sour cream for dressing.

Cut the meat into small cubes (as an option using a food processor). We will carefully grind the spices in a mortar. We cut the sweet peppers into small strips, and free the chili peppers from the seeds and chop them with a knife. Pour the vegetable oil into a frying dish and put on fire. Fry the meat in oil until a crust appears and the water evaporates. Then we put it in a deep saucepan with thick walls or a cauldron and simmer over low heat until soft (it is good to add a little red wine). Fry the onions thoroughly in oil, then add the vegetables, simmer everything together with seasonings.

Put stewed vegetables, beans, tomatoes or a paste from them in a saucepan with meat. At the end, add lemon juice, heated chocolate and cocoa to the dish, carefully combining all the ingredients into a homogeneous mass. When serving on the table, season the soup with sour cream, crushed garlic and herbs. Chili soup con carne eaten with tortillas, mexican nachos chips, boiled rice and, of course, tequila.

12. Tortillas with filling

Tortijas - Mexican tortillas

Mexican tortillasyou can cook with any meat, vegetable and cheese fillings; there are a great many recipes for this traditional dish. We invite housewives to get acquainted with one of the options for delicious tortillas stuffed with chicken and vegetables. Make this a great snack for a picnic or travel. Since it is delicious, both cold and heated.

Prepare 200 g of chicken or turkey fillets, 150 g each of sweet bell peppers and tomatoes, 100 g each of cucumbers and lettuce, leeks and five Mexican tortillas.
For the sauce, you will need 300 g of tomatoes, 150 g of onion, a little garlic, vegetable oil, salt, ground pepper and herbs to taste.

Let's start with the sauce. Finely chop onion and garlic, tomatoes release from the skin and cut into small pieces, finely chop the greens. Fry in vegetable oil onion with garlic, add tomatoes to them and continue to fry for about 3 minutes. Put greens in the resulting sauce and remove Fire.

Finely cut chicken fillet and fry in oil for a quarter of an hour, season with salt and pepper.
Tomatoes and cucumbers cut small pieces, leek rings and mix vegetables with meat, adding tomato sauce, salt to taste.
We spread the resulting filling on the tortilla and wrap it on both sides. Fry the stuffed tortillas on both sides in a roasting dish or on the grill. Your dish is ready!

You don't have to travel far to experience the distinctive Mexican culture and taste of Mexican cuisine. Food is an integral part of the national flavor, after drinking strong tequila and tasting a well-prepared dish according to a Mexican recipe, you can plunge into the exotic world of this amazing and mysterious country for the European consciousness.
The recipes of Mexican cuisine, despite their peculiar taste, are not difficult for hardworking and skillful housewives from Russia. In Mexican restaurants, highly qualified experienced chefs are engaged in cooking, creating real miracles from ordinary products. All traditional dishes offer many options, so don't despair if one or another ingredient is not at hand. It can be easily replaced with another product. All Mexican recipes are designed for the inexhaustible imagination of the hostesses, who, having fallen in love with the national traditions of a distant country, will do their best to please guests and relatives with wonderful, healthy and tasty dishes.

Friends! If you have any questions - do not hesitate! - ask them in the comments below or write to me in social networks!

Hello!

Mexican cuisine is so unique and delicious that it certainly deserves a separate consideration. In this country, they really know how to cook well, no matter what restaurant, cafe or dining room on the corner you go, almost everywhere, with rare exceptions, you can have a great meal. Although, I still suspect that their secret lies in the freshness of the products used. You can always buy fresh vegetables, fruits and meat in markets and supermarkets.

FEATURES OF MEXICAN CUISINE

Mexican cuisine is influenced by the cultural traditions of the Indians, Spaniards and French. The main ingredients of Mexican dishes are exclusively local products: a variety of fish and seafood, meat from livestock and poultry, corn, beans, avocados, chili peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini and even cacti. Yes, that's not a typo!

Cacti in Mexico are used not only to make tequila and mezcal (the second most popular alcoholic drink), but also for food. Moreover, the nopal cactus is especially popular. It is fried with onions and tomatoes, grilled, added to tacos and many other dishes.

When I tasted a cactus for the first time, I honestly admit that I did not experience any pleasure because of its slimy consistency, reminiscent of our aloe, but not bitter in taste. But, it turned out, it was simply unsuccessfully prepared, after trying it a second time, I still eat it. As they say, I tasted it. In the first photo you can see the cactus raw, in the second it is already fried with onions and tomatoes.

So, I invite you to discover the most popular traditional dishes of Mexico.

Tacos (tacos)

A kind of symbol of Mexico. Taco is a stuffed tortilla, served with hot Mexican sauces based on chili and lime. Most often, the tortilla is made from cornmeal. Pork, beef, chicken, lamb, choriso sausages, fish, seafood, usually seasoned with parsley and pickled onions are used as the filling. There are thousands of recipes, sometimes even vegetarian tacos.

Pozole (ambassador)

This is another symbol of Mexico. Traditionally, it is prepared on Independence Day, and on any other day. In simple terms, salting is corn soup. For its preparation, a special variety of white corn "cocahuacintle" is used, which is grown only in Mexico. First, the corn is boiled for a long time until it is cooked properly. Meat is prepared separately, it can be chicken, pork, beef or even shrimp.

Then the meat is added to the broth with corn and served with chopped lettuce, radishes, onions, herbs, avocado, Chicharon (fried pork skin, eaten like chips, added to various dishes), oregano, lime and traditional sauces based on chili and tomato. Everyone complements their soup with these ingredients to taste.

Enchiladas (enchiladas)

Well, where can we go without them? Enchilada is a stuffed tortilla, usually fried in a pan and served with a sauce. It sounds very simple, but it was not there. First, the tortilla can be blue corn, yellow corn, or wheat flour. The filling can be different types of cheese, different types of meat, shrimp, potatoes, vegetables, cactus, for which only the imagination of the cook. Not to mention the sauces, their variety is simply bewildering when choosing. Sprinkle the enchiladas on top with chopped parsley, onions, salad or radishes to taste, cheese and pour over sour cream.

Mole con pollo (mole with chicken)

It is impossible to tell about Mexican cuisine without mentioning the mole. Mole is a thick brown sauce most often used in chicken or turkey (usually at Christmas). Not only that, it is also served with enchiladas, tomales, or rice. The sauce is based on cocoa, chili peppers of at least three varieties, nuts, spices, cinnamon, and many other components, depending on the recipe. Sometimes chocolate is added, sometimes a special variety of green tomatoes (in this case, the sauce is called mole verde - mole green).

Chilaquiles (chilaquiles)

Chilakiles is a favorite Mexican dish and is most often served for breakfast. As a rule, these are corn tortillas cut into strips, fried in oil, with the addition of meat, beans or vegetables to taste, seasoned with a traditional chili sauce and cheese. After which the dish is put in the oven for a short time. If desired, a fried egg can be served with the chilaquiles.

Tamales (tamales)

Tamale is a corn dough stuffed with minced meat, cheeses, fruits, or vegetables, often with chili peppers, wrapped in corn leaves. The dish is steamed, the corn leaves are removed before use. Tamales have been known for centuries. It is believed that it was tamales that the hospitable Indians offered to try the conquestadors who arrived here.

Tortas (cake)

Cake is a kind of sandwich; they are sold very cheaply on the street or in small cafes. For only 25-35 pesos, you get a huge sandwich that you can safely feed two people. At the same time, you choose the filling to your taste, these are various types of meat, ham, sausages, cheese with slate, tomato and avocado.

You can write endlessly about the peculiarities of Mexican cuisine! I told you only about her most famous and brightest masterpieces. There is a huge variety of them, I still amazed at new discoveries. But there are features that remain the same everywhere:

Mexicans season any dish with traditional sauces and lime. Anything, anytime, anywhere.

Mexican food without tortillas is no longer Mexican food. They are used in many dishes and are eaten instead of bread.

Mexicans are very fond of spicy, chili is the main component of almost all dishes. More than a hundred varieties of chili are grown in Mexico. They vary in pungency, flavor, size, color and shape.

Avocado is the number one fruit. It is added to various soups, salads, main courses, the most famous guacamole sauce and even desserts are prepared on its basis.

Mexicans are very fond of jelly for dessert; it is sold everywhere here and is often prepared for the holidays instead of cake.

Here you can eat tasty and satisfying food for any budget.

I think you have already understood that in Mexico everyone can find a treat to their liking and taste. And also, before coming here, I tried Mexican cuisine in Russia and the USA, I liked them. But only when I was in the country, I was able to truly appreciate all its greatness.

Travel, discover new things, enjoy delicious food!

With sincere sympathy, Olesya.

P.S. What Mexican food have you tried? What did you like and dislike?

July 11th, 2016

It's been a long time since we discussed the cuisine of any country. And before that there were and. And here it is. Was and, as well as

Anyone who has ever tasted a real Mexican dish is familiar with the rich palette of flavors that explode in the mouth. This exotic “cocktail” of spices, herbs, meat and vegetables is enough to satisfy even the most fastidious gourmets.

Indeed, it is difficult to find someone who does not like Mexican cuisine. But for people who love Mexican food so much, we know too little about it. In the collective mind of most Mexican aficionados, things like origins, history, and even cooking styles are completely absent. Well, it's time to change that!

Let's try to find out about the true origins of Mexican food, some of the traditional ways to prepare your favorite Mexican foods, and even some weird Mexican food that you might not have known existed. Here are 25 things you might not know about Mexican food!

Mexican cuisine is more ancient than you might think. Many of the more traditional Mexican recipes date back to the time of the Aztecs and Mayans.

However, the Spanish have had a significant impact on the Mexican cuisine we know today. Traditional Mexican food (inherited from Mayan and Aztec recipes) was changed during the Spanish colonization of Mexico, resulting in the Spanish adding their own ideas and methods of preparation, as well as ingredients.

In the 1520s, the Spaniards brought plants and animals to Mexico that no Mexican had seen before: horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and chickens. The spices imported into the country include olive oil, cinnamon, parsley, coriander, oregano and black pepper. The Spaniards also brought in nuts and grains such as almonds, rice, wheat, barley, as well as fruits and vegetables, among which were apples, oranges, grapes, lettuce, carrots, cauliflower, potatoes (imported from Peru) and sugarcane. ...

All parts of cows and domestic bulls are used to prepare traditional Mexican dishes, including the udder, stomach, tongue, even the uterus and testicles.

Mexican cuisine is also renowned for its variety of refreshing juices. The abundant tropical and exotic fruits are the basis of soft drinks sold in roadside stalls.

Tortillas (tortillas) are a staple food in Mexico. They are made from corn or wheat flour, and their variety varies from one part of the country to the next. Tortillas are used to prepare many dishes; they can be both soft and crispy.

Tequila is the most famous Mexican alcoholic beverage today. It is produced mainly in the vicinity of the city of the same name, and the core of blue agave is used for its preparation.

Between 1864 and 1867, Mexico was ruled by former Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, supported by French troops. Although the period of his reign was short-lived and tragic, French cuisine left its mark on many Mexican dishes. French-inspired Mexican dishes include chiles en nogada (stuffed chili in walnut sauce) and conejo en mostaza (rabbit in mustard sauce).

During the colonial period, experimental Spanish women and members of the Spanish religious orders invented most of the dishes that make up today's intricate Mexican cuisine. The nuns pioneered traditional Mexican food such as cajeta (caramel) candy, buñuelos (donuts) and egg-based rompope liqueur.

In 1519, when the first Spanish conquistadors entered the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan (located on the site of modern Mexico City), they learned that the Aztec emperor Montezuma loved to drink a drink made from vanilla and chocolate and sweetened with honey. It was a traditional Mexican-Indian dish, probably invented by the Maya themselves, which later found worldwide recognition in various variations, including in the form of a milkshake.

Even in the colonial period of Mexican history, such dishes as "lomo en adobo" (pork loin in a spicy sauce), "chiles rellenos" (chili peppers stuffed with cheese, beef or pork), "guacamole" (an appetizer made of avocado pulp, tomatoes, onions, chili and coriander) and escabeche (marinade).

Vanilla is a substance obtained from the pods of a particular type of Mexican orchid, and chocolate is obtained from the fruit of the Mexican cocoa tree.

Some Mexican dishes, especially those that originated in Veracruz and the Yucatan Peninsula, have been influenced by Caribbean cuisine. Other Mexican dishes such as bolillo (wheat bread) have been influenced by French cuisine. Bolillo is a popular Mexican bread.

A popular Mexican dish called "fajita" was actually made famous by an American of Mexican descent, restaurateur Ninfa Rodriguez Laurenzo, who named her own restaurant after her own name - Ninfa's. The dish was so simple and delicious that competitors constantly sent their spies to her restaurant in order to get a recipe for the preparation.

In parts of Mexico, exotic dishes include grasshoppers and caterpillars. Tacos are also made in some parts of the country with fillings ranging from cow brains to bovine testicles.

Sugar Calavera (Calaveras de Azukar), a skull-shaped confection made from sugar, amaranth and chocolate, is one of the most famous Mexican sweets. They are being prepared to celebrate the Day of the Dead.

The Mexican food found in the United States is commonly referred to as “Tex Mex”. This name comes from the fusion of Texas, Mexican and American cuisine. Burritos, fajita and quesadillas are the most popular examples of tex-mex.

It is estimated that the average Mexican family can consume up to 2 pounds (almost 1 kg) of tortillas (corn cakes) per day.

Chili is the most commonly used ingredient in traditional Mexican cuisine.

Even traditional Mexican desserts are made with chili peppers, which create a pleasant combination of hot and sweet.

The inhabitants of northern Mexico prefer meat dishes, while in the south of the country they prefer to use chicken and vegetables as the main ingredients.

Tortillas were once sold in cans and were popular in this packaging from the 1940s to the early 1980s.

Quesadilla is one of the mainstays of Mexican street tents. This dish is considered to be typically Mexican. But it turns out that quesadillas, like the Mexicans themselves, are a hybrid dish: half indigenous, half Spanish. The tortilla that makes up the quesadilla is a Native American dish; cheese, as well as pork and / or beef, which can be added to the filling - Spanish influence; in terms of a side dish, the hot chilli sauce is local cuisine, and the shredded lettuce is again a Spanish influence.

Although Mexican cuisine is predominantly known for its spicy and heavy food, it is actually quite healthy food, rich in vitamins and minerals, and also low in fat. Some nutritionists consider it the perfect blend of important food groups: meat, dairy, grains and vegetables.

If you still thought that only Asian cuisine uses the ugliest animals, then you will be interested to know that some of the recipes for traditional Mexican dishes include ingredients such as iguana and rattlesnake meat.

sources

Mexican cuisine was influenced by such global historical events as the conquest of their territories by the Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century; the subsequent massive arrival of immigrants from Spain and their more than five hundred years of coexistence and partial assimilation with the local peoples - the Maya and Aztecs.

Unlike their northern neighbors - immigrants from England, the Mexicans did not pursue a consistent policy of total extermination of Indian peoples. Therefore, the process of mutual influence and penetration of two cultures, European and local, Indian, took place over the centuries. And the national cuisine of Mexico has become a kind of synthesis of the Spanish and Indian culinary traditions.

Just as rice is the staple food in Asia, in Mexico the dominant food is maize... Simply put - ordinary corn, the same one that Khrushchev brought from overseas in 1959 and actively distributed in Europe. Corn gives excellent harvests here, it is the real "queen of the fields" in Mexico; for the Mexicans, it is bread, first and second courses and drinks, milk, butter and meat (corn grain is used as food for people, and silage from its leaves and stalks is used to feed livestock).

After maize in the hierarchy of staple foods in Mexican cuisine are sweet potato(potatoes), tomatoes, beans and similar legumes, cheese, cacti, avocados and, of course, hot chili peppers, a salsa sauce on the basis of which Mexicans add to a variety of dishes. Local chefs prefer poultry and pork from meat.

National dishes based on corn cakes

Mexican cuisine considers bread tortillas- round flat cakes made of maize flour, unleavened, similar to Caucasian lavash. Tortillas are the basis for the world famous tacos- rolls with filling similar to shawarma. Simply put, when what is available is wrapped in a taco and flavored with pepper sauce. Traditional fillings for tacos are fried small pieces of meat or minced meat with tomatoes; as well as cheeses and feta cheese, beans, boiled corn and cacti.

A variety of tacos are rolls enchilada.These national dishes are prepared in the following way: rolled tortillas with a pepper filling of meat, cheese or eggs are fried in a skillet or baked in the oven. In the process of cooking, they are poured with a molé sauce (made from cocoa and chili pepper).

Any Mexican restaurant will offer you burrito- meat roll pie, which is all the same tortilla, in which, in addition to fried meat or minced meat, beans, avocado pieces, tomatoes and cheese are wrapped. At the client's choice, these ingredients are flavored with sour cream, vegetable salad or salsa(tomato, chili, garlic, onion and coriander ketchup).

Also, as the taco has a variety - enchilada, a variety of burritos is chimichanga- the same roll pie, but fried in a pan or in the oven with sauce or cheese.

Unlike burrito, pie roll fajita is served on the table in an expanded form, so that the guest himself chooses the filling and seasoning he likes for it and wraps it all in a tortilla as he likes. The classic filling of fajita is meat cut into strips and fried with vegetables ( Faha in Spanish - strip). But in the coastal regions of Mexico, fish and seafood fajita are popular.

First meal

A European needs to be careful when trying Mexican soups, because they are not only served hot, but also very spicy for unaccustomed taste buds. Except for the simple peasants' table taco soup -of thick corn soup with flour and grains of this plant plus potatoes, carrots and "what else is there at the moment", Mexican cuisine presents the following first courses to the attention of gourmets:

Sopa de sebolla . This is a spicy and satisfying onion soup based on chicken or meat broth, which is also made using cream or milk, flour, cheese, eggs and butter.

Sopa de tortilla. Spicy spicy soup based on chicken broth with tomatoes, black and hot peppers, cumin, cilantro, fried onions and garlic. Before serving, grated cheese and tortillas cut into strips are added to the soup, as well as sour cream and avocado pieces. The tortilla strips are soaked in the hot broth and swell slightly.

Sopa de veracruz. Fish soup originating from the coastal region of Veracruz, the very one in the vicinity of which at the beginning of the 16th century. Cortez landed with his adventurers. Tomatoes, corn, onions, garlic are boiled in fish broth, with the addition (where without it) of hot chili peppers. Before serving, this Mexican fish soup is generously seasoned with fresh herbs.

Second courses and snacks

Often, Mexican cuisine considers the varieties of tacos with different fillings to be second courses, which were discussed in detail above. In addition, the following second courses and appetizers are popular in Mexican restaurants around the world:

Chili con carne. Beans stewed with meat, onions and garlic in a thick and spicy tomato sauce. The highlight of this dish is the addition of cocoa and lime.

Huevos rancheros ... Spicy scrambled eggs with tomatoes, garlic, lemon, parsley and coriander.

Guacamole. A popular appetizer salad made from tomato, avocado, onion, cilantro, lime and chili. Pieces of pear or apple, grapes are used as additional ingredients.

Quesadilla. Meat (most often chicken), stewed with eggplants, tomatoes, other available vegetables, generously seasoned with hot peppers and fresh herbs.

Fruits and vegetables

All kinds of fruits and vegetables in this warm, sunny country are on the table all year round. Sweet pies are made from fruits (the most common is rosca de reyes), make dried and candied sweets, as local Indians did thousands of years ago. In addition to all the well-known and familiar fruits and vegetables, cacti, "shaved" from thorns, are also used. They are added to fruit desserts and vegetable salads.

Desserts and drinks

The national refreshing drink is made from maize flour - horchat.Flour is poured with water and infused for several days. It turns out a kind of "kvass", but similar in color and consistency to milk. Thanks to the abundance of local flora, the staple drinks of even the poorest peasants are fresh juices. Of the exotic soft drinks, it is worth noting tamarind - juice from the eponymous exotic fruit, which has a black color, and hamaika - a floral mix, brewed like tea and chilled.

Of alcoholic beverages, invented by the Mexicans is known and popular throughout the world. tequila... Although in some countries this strong drink is stubbornly considered cactus vodka, it is prepared from another plant - blue agave. In the heat, Mexicans are happy to use cheladu - beer mixed with lemon juice and salt, and michelada - beer, to which chili-pepper is also added (even here it is present!)

To the question: where to eat, you can confidently answer: anywhere. Due to its simplicity, satiety and piquancy, ancient Mexican dishes have spread throughout the world. And you can feel the full range of sensations from traditional cooking without ever having visited Mexico.

There are Mexican restaurants in all major cities of the world, and the national cuisine of Mexico itself, thanks to its ancient traditions and flavor, was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2010!

Speaking of Mexican cuisine, first of all, I recall corn, which is used here as the basis of all flour products, a source of starch, oil, and also as a universal side dish - corn porridge. The main and certainly the most popular Mexican dish in the world is tortillas, which are dry corn tortillas wrapped in anything: minced meat, vegetables, fruits, herbs, etc. Variations on the theme of tortillas are tachos, which use legumes and chili as a filling, and quesadillos, which are based on meat or cheese.

Mexican vegetables deserve special attention, which are considered some of the best in the world, thanks to the hot local sun. Juicy tomatoes are used here in almost any Mexican recipe, which is reflected in the photos of local dishes, which are characterized by a bright red color scheme. As for chili peppers, this is a feature of Mexican cuisine, which gives it an extraordinary pungency, not typical for European or Eastern cuisine. One of the most popular Mexican sauces, Tabasco, is prepared on the basis of hot pepper.

The best Mexican recipes always use a lot of herbs and spices. Coriander, parsley, oregano, cumin, onion, garlic, peppercorns, anise and cinnamon are considered the most typical in this regard. The abundance of herbs and spices explains the rich, full-bodied flavor of any dish. The sauces are also prepared here especially concentrated, with minimal addition of water. Among vegetables, besides tomatoes and peppers, Mexican cuisine is characterized by spinach, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, as well as such wonders as Jerusalem artichoke and vegetable bananas. Among the fruits, Mexicans prefer avocados, bananas, pears, guava and papaya.

Mexican recipes, complemented by step-by-step photos of the cooking process, presented on the KitchenMag website, will be useful culinary techniques for both experienced and novice chefs.