Delicious Foods in Mexico You Must Try

If tacos and burritos are the only things that spring to mind when you think of Mexican food, we’ve got news for you: There is so much more to food in Mexico than the conventional “Mexican” cuisine you’ll find at Tex-Mex restaurants in the US.

In fact, Mexico’s food was the first ever to acquire UNESCO culinary heritage title. This nation surely needs to be at (or near!) the top of any foodie’s bucket list!

If you have the chance, we would highly recommend taking a cooking lesson or a culinary tour while in Mexico (we’ve done both numerous times in Mexico!). We’d even go so far as to say that attending a culinary lesson is one of our top things to do in Mexico!

It’s one of the finest ways to enjoy real Mexican cuisine and discover how food plays a part in the lives of people. Plus, you get to come away with recipes you can duplicate at home, which may well be the finest keepsake ever!

Fun Facts About Cuisine In Mexico

1. Tomatoes Come From Mexico

Sure the Italians are famed for their tomato sauce. In reality, tomatoes are a popular component over the world. However, they originated in Mexico.

During the 16th century, when the Spanish invaded this region of the continent, they discovered the Aztecs producing little wild tomatoes and utilizing them in their food.

2. Caesar Salad Was Originated In Mexico

I don’t know about you but I always kind of believed Caesar Salad came from Italy. Maybe I was thinking Julius Caesar, the famed Roman, had anything to do with the name. Anyways, I was startled to find out that Caesar Salad was originally originated in Mexico, although by an Italian immigrant.

Caesar Cardini, born in Northern Italy in 1896, emigrated to California in the 1910’s. While seeking to avoid the laws of Prohibition he built a restaurant just across the US border in Tijuana, Mexico. According to history, the restaurant was low on ingredients so Cardini put the salad together.

Although it was immensely popular in Tijuana when developed, the Caesar Salad is not normally regarded as a Mexican meal as it’s inspirations are likely more Italian.

3. Traditional Mole Comprises As Much As 30 Individual Elements

Yes, you read that right… 30 components in a sauce.

Traditionally cooked, moles can take hours, even days to finish. The sauces often feature a fruit, nut, chili pepper and combination of spices. Other components can include maize, pork stock, plantains, and even chocolate. The many components are frequently cooked in various ways then mashed together in a paste that produces a richness of tastes.

There are two states in Mexico that claim to be the birthplace of mole; both Oaxaca and Puebla want to take the honor. Regardless, the greatest moles originate from both these places.

4. Tacos Are A Lunch Meal

While many admirers of this iconic Mexican cuisine may eat tacos at any time of day, the name taco generally translates to mean “light lunch”. Tradition would have you that tacos are a lunch time dish and can only be eaten for supper if you are enjoying antojitos, known as “street tacos”.

You may be shocked to learn that many taco establishments in Mexico close in the afternoon and don’t stay open for supper.

5. Mexican Food Is Built On A Well-balanced Diet

In the US, we frequently equate Mexican food with loads of cheese and beef and maybe some carbohydrates thrown in there in the shape of rice or tortillas. However, real Mexican cuisine give a well-balanced diet with plenty of veggies, varied meats, grains and legumes. The country is a wonderful site for agriculture and harvests plenty of healthful veggies and fruits.

Read Also: Foods For A Strong Uterus

6. Mexican Delights Aren’t For Everyone

You may be shocked to find that Mexican food incorporates several elements that other cultures choose to shun. Insects are not uncommon cuisine in Mexico. In truth, chapulines are a famous street snack of roasted grasshoppers, frequently seasoned with garlic lime and salt.

Huitlacoche is a Mexican delicacy and also a fungus that develops on ears of corn. It may be found in meals like as omelettes, succotash, or as a stuffing in tacos and tamales.

Gusanos de Maguey (Maguey worms) are really a parasitic caterpillar that comes from the agave plant (which is used to manufacture tequila and mezcal). It takes a few years for the plant to grow enough to have worms and even then only a few worms can be obtained from each plant making these little fellas rather uncommon and pricey in Mexico.

7. Nachos Were Created In Mexico For Americans

Back in 1943, a group of US military spouses were visiting a restaurant in the Mexican border town of Piedras Negras. The proprietor of the restaurant, Ignacio Anaya Garcia, known as “Nacho” to his pals, mixed together some items to delight his visitors. He cooked up some tortillas and served them with cheese and jalapeño peppers on top and dubbed the dish “Nacho’s especialies”.

8. Traditional Quesadillas Were Provided As Dessert

The word quesadilla literally translates to “little cheesy thing”, but before the meal received its name and primary component, the Aztec people in central Mexico were filling their corn tortillas with squash and pumpkin, baking them in clay ovens and eating them as a sweet treat.

It wasn’t until 1521 when the Spanish colonizers brought their animals, introducing dairy products like cheese to the region. The indigenous people added cheese to their packed tortillas and therefore became known as the quesadilla.

9. Tamales Have Existed For Millennia

Tamale stems from the term tamalii meaning “wrapped food” in the Nahuatl language used by the Aztec people millennia ago. Today we know of tamales as a classic food from Mesoamerica consisting of masa, a maize dough, occasionally packed with minced pork and cooked in a corn husk or banana leaf.

10. Chocolate Also Hails From Mexico

The name chocolate also stems from the Aztec language of Nahuatl. The original name was Xocolatl, and was used to describe a bitter liquid combined with spices, manufactured from cacao seeds, which are native to Mexico.

It is reported that in the early 1500’s the famous Aztec Emperor, Montezuma II, sipped an iced chocolate beverage combined with vanilla and honey. The early foundation of today’s renowned milkshakes.