A Beginner’s Guide to Mexican Food

It’s too bad people generalize about things they’ve never tried before. This can be especially true of Mexican cuisine, So many times I hear the same things from people. Mexican food is too spicy. It’s nothing but tacos and burritos and food wrapped up in tortillas. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Mexican food as it is today is a marriage between foods of the Aztecs and those of the Spanish and Europeans. Beef, pork, rice, onions and cheese are among those foods brought over by the Spanish. Today, those foods are integral to the cuisine. Just as integral as the tomato, chocolate, chile pepper and corn the Aztecs were already using.

The first flavor of Mexican food for me is the chile pepper. Chiles do show up in a lot of dishes. From the earthy flavors of the Anaheim or poblano to the fiery jalapeno or serrano, chiles aren’t always a source of heat. They’re diced up and added to salsas, soups and stews. They’re dried, roasted and rehydrated to make delicious sauces. Larger ones are held over a flame, roasted and peeled before being used.

Tomatoes are often roasted as well to help remove the skins, deepen the tomato’s flavor and add a hinto f smokiness. Many recipes call for whole cloves of garlic to be put in a skillet or comal without grease and cooked over medium heat until the husk starts to blacken. This deepens and intensifies garlic’s flavor before being added to a dish. Flavors of tomato, onions and garlic are often intensified further by running them through a blender and sauteeing the blended fruits and vegetables. The result is a thick, intense sauce that can be the base for many dishes.

I find it fascinating that corn is an essential part of the diet without being cooked and eaten the way we do in North America. There aren’t many dishes calling for corn on the cob or niblets in the Mexican repertoire. Corn is mostly ground into flour. From there it goes into tortillas or tamales. Leftover corn tortillas sometimes show up in soups and casseroles.

Lime juice also shows up quite often. Sometimes it marinates fish to create the popular dish ceviche. It can freshen guacamole’s flavor and help keep the avocado from going brown too quickly. Oregano, bay leaves, cilantro and epazote are among the more common herbs used in Mexican cooking. Sometimes cinnamon will show up in a dish to flavor a picadillo, stew, flan or even a morning coffee.

There are a couple final ingredients and dishes common to Mexican cuisine. First, raisins, pine nuts and plantains. I have seen many stews calling for some or all of these fruits. They add remarkable flavor to the dish without making it seem overly fruity because they get balanced by the earthiness of the dried chiles or the intensity of the pan roasted garlic.

And don’t forget soup and rice. Many times it isn’t considered a meal unless accompanied by a bowl of soup. something with a thin broth, some meat, some vegetables and some fresh herbs to make it taste good. Also, rice shows up as a meal’s side dish quite often. Anything from the red Spanish rice to rice cooked with green chiles to plain old steamed rice.

Well, I could go on all day. It should go without saying that Mexican cuisine is broad and complex. the only advice I can give is to just jump in and try it. If you live in any large city or have access to the Internet you shouldn’t have any trouble finding ingredients. If you want a cookbook that can bring you Mexico’s authentic flavors, anything by Diana Kennedy will give you what you need. So, when you thing about it there’s really no excuse not to start experiencing the joys of Mexican cuisine.