My Cultural Identity

A Mexican holiday is filled with many traditional foods. The most popular traditional foods are tamales, pozole, champurrado, and buñuelos. In the Mexican culture tamales are usually made of pork and red chili pepper, however some people also make them out of cheese and jalapeño. Pozole is a stew made of hominy and meat, which is usually garnished with cabbage and cilantro. Champurrado is the Mexican version of the hot chocolate, it is made of corn flour, Mexican chocolate, and

Traditional Mexican cuisine is primarily a combination of indigenous Mesoamerican elements such as corn, beans, avocados, tomatoes, and chili peppers. Santi’s, a Mexican restaurant found on the corner of Meeting and Morrison in downtown Charleston, features a great variety of traditional and non-traditional elements all fused together to craft an impressive four page menu. In this essay, I will be discussing which parts of the dishes steak encebollado and mexican tacos are traditional and which parts are modern in regard to the history and evolution of Mexican cuisine.

Why is a simple Mexican recipe extremely important? A food that is meaningless without my mom’s laughter, Uncles Miguel’s redundant childhood memories, and grandma’s joyful eyes. Tamales to me mean unity and new memories; no one from my family can argue otherwise.

Most Mexican food is very spicy because it contains “chili” that has a strong hot flavor. For example most dishes are called “chile con carne” (meat with chili). It is a stew with pieces of meat and with vegetables all mixed together with a hot Chili sauce. Chilies are a main ingredient in Mexican cooking but not all Mexican food is spicy even with many recipes including chilies. While most of food is spicy not all of them are. For example, Mexican desserts are not spicy but instead really sweet. Just thinking about the delicious desserts makes my mouth water. It is becomes a tradition that on my birthday I have a tasty cheese flan. A pastel that it hard to avoid is “chocoflan” which is a combination of both chocolate and flan. I’m also additive to “bunuelos” which is deep fried dough with sugar. Another tasty dessert is “Rosca De Reyes” which is a traditional oval cake prepared in December. One of my favorite desserts is “arroz con leche” which is rice pudding. It’s a delicious warm dessert especially if it made with cinnamon and if it is homemade. Another mouthwatering dessert is “pan dulce” also known as sweet bread. Every time I go to the bakery with my parents I like buying the vanilla or chocolate “conchas” which is shaped as a seashell pastries. The sweetest dessert must be “dulce de leche” which is perfect when I have a sweet tooth. The most popular dessert in Mexico and a yummy one is the

I always love family gatherings and parties for the simple fact of what food dish everyone would bring. Some brought rice, others beans, and many other Mexican dishes. Although it was never a true family gathering without posole. All the moms would get together and help out making it, and it would always run out because everyone ate it. I never really gave much attention on how important the dish was to my culture until this assignment came along. I was trying to select a dish to write about. Mexico is very well known for its food ranging from tacos, beans and rice, chips and salsa, and so many more. Although, posole is the one that really represent our culture the most.

One of my favorite dishes is the roasted pork or like my Cuban family call it “lechon asado”. The roasted pork can be prepared in different ways, people of different cultures have their way of cooking it. My family is from Cuba and here in Miami it is a tradition to eat roasted pork for Christmas or like my grandmother call it “Noche Buena”. This tradition is not only for Cubans, people from other countries and cultures who live here in Miami also eat pork and depending on their culture, they have a different way of cooking it.

Some types of candy now seen in Mexico goes all the way back to the ancient Mayans then later the Aztecs.The Aztec combine spices, vanilla, honey, seeds and nuts with their chocolate. Chocolate drinks were used for rituals by priests and noblemen and Chocolate was so adored they used it for their currency and food.. The Aztec showed it the Spaniards and they adored it so much they brought it back to Spain where the King declared it his official drink.. The end of the 18th century in Europe they had special cups or pots for chocolate and had better way to melt chocolate..The Mexican twinkie or the Gansito is a yellow cake filled with strawberry and jelly cream. Mexico’s top brands: Carlos V, Bocadin and Nestle’s Tin Larin. Carlos V is the King

Authentic, traditional Mexican food is thought to be a product that was developed by the Mayan Indians. Food was first hunted and gathered so that it was then cooked on ceramic pots or iron skillets over open fires. This ritual was fundamental for the natives. They needed to obtain their food and prepare it in this way so that they could eat. This exemplifies the idea that the preparation of food is not only symbolic of having a meal to eat, but also of nature being transformed into culture. Additionally, everyone has a deep personal connection with the simple act of eating because what one person prefers to eat might be different for another individual. As individuals, we are each born into a culture that most likely has a cuisine different from what others prefer or are accustomed to. All of our palates are distinctly unique. To provide an example of the aforementioned, the Spanish invaded Mexico in the 16th century, and they brought along with them their own kinds of foods, with wheat holding a particular importance. The Spaniards made attempts so that Mexicans too would have the same liking to wheat as they did, but the reality was that Mexico had a strong attachment to corn. And while the introduction of wheat caused corn to be thought of as nutrient deficient, Porfirian intellectual elites later found that their maize was as equally healthy.

This versatile enchilada dish has created somewhat of a tradition to be passed down ever since my grandfather used to make it as his favorite dish and soon made it his specialty. This savoury dish can be found at any of our holidays and family dinners, whether we are celebrating Easter, having our Sunday dinner before family movie night or gathering together for a meal with my extended family. This dish also symbolises family to me because it is something my mother and I have in common. Since I have been cooking alongside my mother in the kitchen since I was just three years old, this dish has always been one of my favorite to make with her. It establishes her role as head of the family but also my role as the family caretaker, especially whenever I took over the kitchen when she was too exhausted from work to cook a meal. Later on when our step father was brought into our lives, as a family we experienced an ethnic change when it came to our food due to multiple ethnic and cultural affiliation. Trinidadian cuisine made its way into our lives which changed my whole perspective about food. I have always struggled with trying new foods before this drastic change, however the cultural shift slowly but completely changed my neophobic attitude. I was much more willing to try new foods because foods that I was much too hesitant to try beforehand ended up turning out to be very delicious; this made me anxious to

From the time of Adam and eve, food is always a very essential need of human life. Due to good or bad eating habits and the difference in human body sizes is always noted. Eating a lot does not guarantee good health as eating balanced diet. Many individual eat certain groups of foods mostly due to their cultures, backgrounds, geographic locations and also the economic status of their families and their ethnic groups. Unlike other human essentials, food preserves cultures as different cultures are associated with various foods. For instance, in a gathering that has people from various locations of the world and containing different types of foods where and the mode of eating is self-service, it is observed that individual from the same region tend to consume similar types of foods the main reason being tradition and culture (Esquivel, 15). The reason various foods taste different is that they are always prepared in different styles, methods and also ingredients. It is known for centuries that any alteration on a food recipe brings a different taste which results to a different food style altogether. Laura Esquivel, an author, wrote a book by the title "Like Water for Chocolate." The book talks about the role and the importance of food. In her book, she introduces a Mexican traditional culture where the female gender is attached to the art of cooking, serving, monitoring and protecting this good

In the US, there are various types of foods whose origin can be traced from the Mexican recipe. Two of the regional foods that have the original possibility of the Mexico are the Taco Bell and Burritos. These are prepared using seasoned beef, beans, tangy red sauce, the lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream and onions. However, the dish is recently replaced with different ingredients hence giving a different recipe from the original one. In today’s Mexican foods served in the US, the modifications are done on Tacos where the beef served is now grounded, presence of hard corn shell and shredded cheese. To the Burrito, the ancient Mexican food included just meat and refried beans as well as cheese that is rolled up in a flour tortilla. However, the

The majority of the culture’s consumption is agro-food and local produce. The cuisine of Castile Leon is best known for its cooked dishes which include fresh ingredients. Local food and cooking is prominent to the natives’ traditions. Major ingredients of this region include chickpeas, beans, lentils, lamb, pork, game, wild mushrooms, etc. Garbanzo beans, familiarly known as chickpeas, are one of the most common elements in Castilian cuisine because it has presided over most dishes for centuries. It is a dried vegetable, “which was brought to Spain by the Carthaginians, that serves as a dietary staple in Spanish meals (“Castile-Leon” n.d.). They are most often used in soups, along with large quantities of white and red beans and lentils that are often complemented by poultry and pork products. Soups and stews are a predominant meal in Castile Leon due to the long, cold winters. Sopa de Ajo, or garlic soup, is among one of the traditional soups reverent to Castile Leon. In addition to just beans and lentils, trout is also a famous ingredient in this culture’s soups. Trout from Leon is famous for being the best among Spain due to its excellent

The name of the recipe I will be making is Mexican hot chocolate cookies. The reason I chose Mexican hot chocolate cookies is I find this cookie super unique in taste and texture compared to other cookies. It is fairly simple to make. I learned how to make these cookies with my mother. It was not for a special occasion, we just wanted to try a new recipe. Our family often packages the cookies, three per bag, to take to the military base and distribute to the security forces folks on duty. They really appreciate being thought of. They often tease my mother saying it has been too long since she brought them by. There are stories of people hiding them from their spouse or family members. The recipe originally appeared on Martha Stewart’s website. My mother made some changes to the recipe along the way.

The history of Mexican cuisine tells a story about different regions having distinct ways of cooking and choosing foods to eat. For instance, cooking teachers have attempted to associate the date of origin of certain Mesoamerican foods to successive rulers of Xochimilco, “Xaopantzin (1379-1397) with the vegetable dish huauhtzontles, Ozolt (1397-1411) with enchidalike chilaquiles, and Tilhuatzin (1437-1442) with herb stuffed quiltamales” (Pilcher, 139). The Revolution in Mexico is considered to be the first social revolution of the time. With the primary cause being the 30-year presidency of Porfirio Díaz, other reasons included the seizure of the property of indigenous lands by wealthy hacendados and the growing inequality between the

First, I remember the day I tried my aunt’s Mexican style rice, and I instantly fell in love. I had never tasted something so delicious. A delicious blend of white rice with a tomato base. To this day, it remains my favorite food. Not to mention, I discovered the many drinks you can make out of fruits and plants. In particular, a drink popularly known as “Agua de Jamaica” was a gift sent from heaven. I was with my Aunt and Mother one night, and I noticed them making some sort of red liquid. I reluctantly asked “what is that?”, my mother then replied with “agua de jamaica” or hibiscus tea in English. I had a taste and I was instantly hooked on it. Last, something that many of us have already heard of is flan. An open, spongy pastry, flan is one of the most well-known Mexican desserts. I first tried it when I was 10 years old and it was such an amazing treat made by my Aunt. I was able to try these authentic dishes in that house. Every Time I eat those foods again, it takes me back to what that house used to be.