On November 16, 2010, Mexican gastronomy was recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The origin of the current Mexican cuisine is established during the Spanish colonization, as a mixture of the meals of Spain and the native Indians. Of indigenous origin is corn, chili (known throughout the Spanish-speaking world as chili), beans, pumpkins, avocados, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, cocoa, turkey and many more fruits and spices. Similarly, some cooking techniques that are used today are the inheritance of the pre-Hispanic peoples, such as the nixtamalization of corn, the cooking of food in the ovens of the earth, grinding in molcajete and metate. With the Spaniards came the pork, beef and chicken meats; pepper, sugar, milk and all its derivatives, wheat and rice, citrus and other constellation of ingredients that are part of the daily diet of Mexicans. In the meeting of two culinary traditions millennia old, were born pozole, mole, barbecue and tamales in their current forms, chocolate, the variety of breads, tacos and the wide repertoire of Mexican snacks. Beverages such as atole, champurrado, milk chocolate and fresh waters were born; desserts such as acitrón (biznaga) and the whole range of crystallized sweets, rompope, cajeta, jericaya and the wide repertoire of creations in the convent of nuns in all parts of the country. Some Mexican beverages have exceeded their borders and are consumed daily in Central America, the United States, Canada, Spain and the Philippines; Such is the case of Jamaica's water, rice horchata, root water, margaritas and tequila itself. The Nao of China, a galleon of Manila, brought from the east a range of varied spices and above all, rice. A good poblano mole is unthinkable without Mexican rice. The Arab cuisine came to Mexico indirectly through the Spanish conquerors. Also the relationship with the Latin American countries left its mark on the popular cuisine, perhaps the best known cases are ceviches and Moors with Christian debtors of Cuban cuisine, who have been assimilated and reworked with ingredients from Mexico. The invasions left their mark on the entire Mexican culture, and cooking is no exception. The taste for ground beef came with the Belgian army of Carlota. The bread box was, according to legend, an invention of the American troops who came to Mexico in 1847. The arrival of immigrants from other latitudes throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries also participated in the construction of Mexican cuisine. As an example, the Italian cheeses and polenta that are made today in Chipilo, Puebla; or the French of Orizaba as well as their bread and the Germans (Mennonites) of Chihuahua. The English miners of Mexico laid the foundations of the paste, a puff pastry that today is filled with the same cheese and potatoes as the green mole of pumpkin seeds. The cakes are sandwiches made with bread called telera and, like the tacos, various foods such as ham and cheese, meat to the shepherd, cochinita pibil, chicken meat. It is said that they originated during the War of the Reformation when it was necessary to find a way to distribute food among the Mexican troops. There are many drinks typical of Mexican cuisine: fresh waters, atoles, chocolate, mezcal, tequila, wine, tepache, charanda, tejuino, beer. |