hispanic food culture essay

Food Is a Cultural Connection for Hispanics – Especially When It’s Homemade

Related Topics: Research Articles , Diversity & Inclusion , U.S. Hispanic , Lifestyle , Hispanic to Latinx , US

Hispanic culture is diverse, yet united through four cultural pillars: food, family, faith, and music. In our Hispanic to Latinx study, we delved into these topics through a survey of Hispanics aged 13 to 49 as well as in-depth interviews.

We looked at the roles of family and faith in earlier posts. And our research showed that that food is second only to family togetherness among the traditions Hispanics want to pass along to their children . In our interviews, participants told us that love is an essential ingredient in Latino foods. As Jorge from Miami told us, “American food is more plastic. It’s not handled with as much care and love and attention as my own cultural dishes.”

What else did we learn?

Hispanic foods are what they like best. When asked their favorite food, 59% named a Hispanic dish without prompting.

There’s nothing like homemade. While restaurants have their place, meals made at home are special. The majority of Hispanics (82%) said the most delicious food comes out of their family’s kitchen.

Cooking is an essential cultural connection. Authentic recipes and dishes are a link to their countries of origin; 75% said cooking keeps them connected to their culture.

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American latino theme study: food, coming home to salsa: latino roots of american food.

This American Latino Theme Study essay explores the history of Latino foods in the U.S. in the 19th and 20th centuries and their growth and popularity in the U.S. food industry

 by  Jeffrey M. Pilcher

Latino foods are the historical product of encounters between peoples from many lands. Some of these meetings took place in the distant past; for example, Spanish settlers and missionaries were exchanging foodstuffs and recipes with Indian women in New Mexico and Florida decades before the first Pilgrim Thanksgiving at Plymouth. Other encounters have been more recent, as with the arrival of Afro-Caribbean and Chinese-Cuban migrants to New York City, who imparted Latino influences to the "soul food" of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and 1930s. Latino foods thus grew out of the migrations of diverse people from the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Their history has been shaped by the common experience of Iberian culture that spread widely in the centuries after Columbus. But despite these global trajectories, Latino foods have taken root in particular places and nourished communities of people in the territory that is now the U.S. This nation and its foods are products of the fusion between the global and the local, and Latinos form a significant chapter in that history.

Economic imperatives have been a central driving force in the emergence of new cuisines. Columbus first landed in the Americas while searching for spices, and many Latino foods took shape during a regional economic boom of the late eighteenth century. In a similar fashion, Mexican American cooking was influenced by the availability of new ingredients from the U.S. food processing industry. Moreover, many of the leading agricultural industries in the U.S. have Latino origins. Spaniards planted citrus and nut orchards in Florida and throughout the Southwest, founded cattle ranches in Texas, and built wineries in California. The "three sisters" "maize, beans, and squash "staples of the American Indian diet, were domesticated in what is now Mexico. Markets and restaurants are important centers of culinary innovation, particularly as tourists seek out new dining experiences. By the 1990s, Mexican food became one of the top three varieties of ethnic restaurants and salsa (a spicy tomato-based sauce) famously surpassed catsup as the bestselling condiment in the United States.

Changing fashions for Latino food also reflect shifting ethnic and national identities. Despite their long history and contemporary popularity, Latino foods were seen as foreign and dangerous by earlier generations, many of whom defined "American" food narrowly as the product of New England kitchens. The strong flavors of chile peppers, garlic, spices, and olive oil came as a shock to prim palates accustomed to boiled meat and potatoes with white sauce. Encounters of the 19th century, framed by the U.S.-Mexican War and subsequent conflicts over land, left enduring stereotypes of Latina women as eroticized and dangerous, just as their cooking became associated with "Montezuma's revenge." Attitudes toward spicy foods therefore became associated with patterns of racial thinking that worked to exclude Latinos from full citizenship. Nevertheless, businessmen sought to profit from widespread interest in these foods by selling chili powder, canned tamales, and other ersatz products, which advertisers claimed were more wholesome than the originals. After decades of canned chili, many people did not even recognize the Mexican roots of chili con carne (chili with meat). The arrival of fast food restaurants took Latino foods even further from their ethnic roots. Only the spread of migrant family restaurants across the U.S. in the final decades of the 20th century has started to reclaim Latin American cooking from these stereotypes.

The encounters that have shaped ethnic foods, while centered largely in the marketplace, took place at many levels. Often times cross-ethnic eating also crosses lines of class; whereas early 20th century Bohemian diners went slumming in Spanish restaurants, today they are more likely to patronize taco trucks. Yet historically, culinary cosmopolitanism has been just as likely to emerge from within the lower classes. Single, male migrant workers have long sought out tasty and economical meals with little regard for ethnic origins. Cooks likewise are constantly exchanging recipes with their neighbors, whether they were born across the street or across the world. Successive waves of migration have given the U.S. a diverse and innovative food culture.

Yet narrow views of Latino foods as being only Mexican or Tex-Mex are a pervasive misunderstanding. Although the term Tex-Mex has been used commonly as a marker of inauthentic foods, it more properly refers to the regional cooking of Mexicans living in Texas. Such borderland specialties as carne asada (grilled beef) and wheat flour tortillas established the initial images of Mexican food in the U.S. More recent migration has introduced a much wider range of recipes from throughout Latin America. Restaurant goers with a taste for carne asada can also sample the diverse cuts of grilled meat that are called parrilla in Argentina and Uruguay or churrasco in Brazil. Connoisseurs likewise have learned to distinguish the regional tamales of Mexico and the Caribbean basin, not to mention Bolivian, Ecuadoran, and Peruvian humintas (baked corn tamales), Salvadoran pupusas (stuffed tortillas), Venezuelan and Colombian arepas (maize griddlecakes), and countless other dishes that are now available in the U.S.

Because of its emotional bonds, food has been a metaphor for citizenship. The melting pot formerly symbolized the process of immigrant acculturation to the national culture. More recently, the image of a salad bowl in which ingredients are combined without losing their character has gained favor to indicate the acceptance of cultural diversity within a pluralistic democracy. Nor are these culinary metaphors exclusive to the U.S.; in Latin America, as well, foods have provided ethnic and racial markers. In Cuba, for example, the combination of black beans and rice is referred to as moros y cristianos (Moors and Christians). Cultural contact inevitably results in blending, as cooks incorporate the foods of their neighbors into their own culinary repertoires and thereby transform those dishes. Whatever the preferred metaphor, food has an important role in achieving the ideal of cultural citizenship, the belief that all people have the right to determine their own cultural practices.

Latino foods reflect the enormous social diversity resulting from Latin America's history of settlement and intermarriage. The indigenous inhabitants of the Americas domesticated three highly productive and nutritious staples: corn, potatoes, and manioc, which are now eaten widely around the world. Iberian conquistadors introduced to the region the Mediterranean cuisine of wheat, wine, and olives, along with livestock. Subsequent histories of migration further enriched these cuisines, as African slaves, Asian indentured servants, and Middle Eastern arrivals brought new flavors and culinary techniques. The regional cuisines of Latin America demonstrate the everyday genius of cooks in transforming often-limited ingredients into tasty and nutritious meals.

Maize, a sturdy grain that grows prolifically in diverse climates and terrains, was the dietary staple of Mesoamerica, the densely populated cultural region extending from the central highlands of Mexico through Central America. Because maize is deficient in niacin, cooks discovered an alkaline treatment process to make nixtamal, which could be eaten as a stew called pozole or ground into dough to make tortillas and tamales. Pueblo Indians of the Southwest made a thin nixtamal batter and cooked it into thin blue wafers of piki bread on a heated stone. Yet another version of nixtamal, called hominy, was invented independently near Cahokia in Illinois, and allowed the Woodland Indians to spread across eastern North America. Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean and South America also ate corn, but because it was less central to their diet, they had no need to prepare nixtamal. They simply popped the corn, grilled it on the cob, or, in the Andes Mountains, brewed it into an alcoholic beverage called chicha.

Potatoes and related root crops are grown in thousands of varieties in the Andes, in contrast to the meager selection found in U.S. supermarkets. They generally come in two varieties, sweet and bitter, and both are well-rounded nutritionally, with protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. The indigenous people learned to freeze-dry potatoes, taking advantage of night frosts and sunny days, a process that also made bitter potatoes more edible. Other tubers added variety to the diet or were cultivated in extreme mountain environments where ordinary potatoes would not grow. The sweet oca, for example, could be dried into a fig-like substance to sweeten dishes. Andean Indians ate the greens as well as the roots of many species.

Manioc, also known as cassava and yucca, was the staple food of the Caribbean and South American lowlands. Like other root crops, there were sweet and bitter varieties. Sweet manioc grows quickly and can be eaten without elaborate preparation, but it is susceptible to rotting. The bitter variety, which can be stored underground for lengthy periods, contains prussic acid that must be removed before consuming. The Indians learned to grate the root, soak away the toxic chemicals, and then bake the resulting pulp into flat breads on a griddle. Alternately, the processed manioc could be dried into a coarse meal called farofa, which is used widely in Brazil to thicken stews and to add a tasty crust to meats and vegetables.

Indigenous peoples domesticated a wide range of other plants in addition to these basic staples. Frijoles (beans) added protein to native diets, especially when eaten with maize; the complementary amino acids within the two foods magnified their nutritional value. Native fruits and vegetables included tomatoes, squash, avocados, cactus paddles and fruit, pineapple, papaya, guava, and mamay. Chile peppers and achiote seeds added flavoring to an otherwise starchy diet, as did chocolate and vanilla which were also domesticated in the Americas. Although their diets were largely vegetarian, Native Americans also consumed many different kinds of fish and game.[1]

If the indigenous cultures gave local variety to Latino foods, Iberian traditions provided a measure of continuity across the region. Wheat, wine, and olive oil, staples of the Mediterranean diet since antiquity, were eagerly planted by settlers and missionaries wherever possible. This desire to reproduce European foods was driven not only by a desire for familiar tastes, but also by social and religious imperatives. Food was an important status marker in the hierarchical society of early modern Europe and conquistadors were determined to eat like nobles back home. When particular environments were not conducive to growing foods, for example, wheat in the Caribbean, the settlers paid great sums to import the grain from elsewhere. Moreover, the Mediterranean culinary trinity was essential for religious sacraments; according to medieval Catholic doctrine, only wheat could be used to prepare the Eucharist.[2]

European settlers also transplanted livestock to the Americas to ensure access to meat and cheese. Sheep was the most highly valued livestock in the Iberian peninsula, a reflection of Jewish and Muslim dietary influences during the Middle Ages. While wealthy Spaniards ate mutton, the lower classes consumed beef from the vast cattle herds of Castille and La Mancha. Horse-mounted cattle ranching skills were carried from Spain to the gauchos of Argentina and Uruguay as well as the vaqueros of northern Mexico. European livestock reproduced at a tremendous rate in the plains of the Americas, since there were few predators and little competition from humans or other herbivores. Because the animals roamed with little supervision, except during annual roundups, they had a tendency to overgraze the landscape, causing widespread erosion, and in many places they converted fertile grasslands to scrubby deserts.[3]

The role of Franciscan missionaries in establishing California's wine and olive industry is well known thanks to the efforts of historic preservationists, who sought to encourage tourism in the early 1900s with picturesque images of a Spanish pastoral era. Nevertheless, the work of ordinary settlers in making wine throughout the southwest has gone largely unrecognized. El Paso del Norte, present-day El Paso, Texas, for example, was praised by visitors for the quality of its wines. Both friars and settlers planted an Andalusian grape variety known as the mónica. Fortified sweetened wines, similar to Spanish sherry, became known in California as Angélica.

In addition to Native American and Iberian traditions, Latino foods bear tastes from around the world. African slaves were imported to work on plantations in tropical lowlands of the Caribbean, Brazil, and along the Pacific. Many of the inhabitants of those regions still have a taste for starchy main dishes of plantains, rice, yams, or couscous, and flavored with greens, okra, malaguetta peppers, and palm oil. Middle Eastern influences are also apparent in the wealth of sweetened desserts, including flan and other custards, which were reproduced in the convents of Latin America. The presence of complex spice mixtures in dishes such as Mexican mole sauce as well as pickled dishes known as escabeche also derived from medieval Arabic cooking. Finally, Asian tastes arrived by way of the colonial Manila Galleon, which traversed the Pacific each year carrying silver and other trade goods between Acapulco and the Spanish colony of the Philippines. Nineteenth-century plantation owners employed indentured servitude after the abolition of the African slave trade, thereby reinforcing Asian culinary traditions with stir-fries and curry sauces.

Latin America became a hub of globalization during the early modern era through a process that has been called the Columbian exchange. Although Iberian settlers preferred European foods, particularly wheat bread and meat, they acquired a taste for many indigenous foods, including frijoles, chile peppers, and chocolate. Cultural mixture, known in Spanish as mestizaje, has become so complex in Latin America that at times it is hard to tell exactly where particular traditions originated. Rice, for example, was consumed in Spain, Western Africa, and Asia before 1492. Moreover, foods such as corn, potatoes, and tomatoes spread so widely during the early modern era that many people do not realize they were domesticated in what is now Latin America.

Despite this long history of cultural blending, many of the Latino foods that Anglo Americans first encountered in the 19th century were of relatively recent origin. A late-18th century economic boom transformed subsistence societies of the Spanish Caribbean and northern New Spain into thriving commercial centers. The beneficiaries of this wealth began to consume more luxury foods, while the working classes struggled to maintain a nutritious diet even as they lost their land to export crops. Oblivious to historical change, 19th century Anglos applied their attitudes of manifest destiny to foods as well as people, and looked down on these cuisines as relics of the past, created by "savage" Aztecs, Caribs, and Africans. This racist attitude colored early cross-cultural interactions and long impeded Latinos from achieving full citizenship.

Late colonial prosperity allowed settlers on the northern borderlands to replace the sturdy, indigenous staple maize with European wheat, although they prepared it in the hybrid form of flour tortillas. Beleaguered by arid climate and Indian raids, rural Hispanic families generally sold their wheat to urban markets and fed themselves corn, either as tortillas or as pozole. When the Spanish Crown finally made peace with the Apaches and Comanches in the 1780s, however, settlers quickly expanded their irrigated fields, producing a surplus they could consume at home. The origins of wheat flour tortillas are unknown. Oral tradition in the borderlands often attributes them to Jewish settlers, who supposedly ate them during Passover, but such flatbreads were common throughout the Mediterra­nean. Wheat tortillas may also have been invented independently by Indian women who adapted familiar techniques to a novel grain. Regardless of their origins, these tortillas allowed rural folk to raise their status by eating Hispanic wheat, even if they could not afford the ovens and fuel for baking bread. Enormous, thin tortillas became a particular marker of the regional cooking of Arizona.[4]

A similar economic boom likewise stimulated a Hispanic culinary renaissance in Spain's Caribbean colonies, although not everyone shared in the windfall. The local sugar industry began to revive when the British occupied Havana in 1762, importing slaves and technology. The spread of abolition, beginning with the Haitian slave revolt of 1791, reduced competition for Spanish sugar. Coffee also became a significant export crop in the 19th century, particularly in the highlands of Puerto Rico. As historian Cruz Miguel Ortiz Cuadra has observed, the growth of Antillean plantations displaced local rice cultivation along with a range of indigenous root crops. Wealthy planters and merchants used the profits from sugar and coffee to import rice and other prestigious foods such as wine, olive oil, capers, and salt cod, which they prepared using Spanish recipes such as the soupy Valencian rice dishes, which became known in Puerto Rico as asopao de pollo (rice with chicken). Slaves and poor farmers ate more imported rice as well, although the machine-milled grain was less nutritious than the varieties they had formerly milled by hand. Unable to afford the meats and condiments of the rich, they fell back on the relatively monotonous although basically sound combination of rice and beans, the moros y cristianos of Cuba or red beans called habichuelas in Puerto Rico.[5]Whether on the borderlands or in the Caribbean, the localization of European foods gave residents new opportunities to demonstrate their ties with Hispanic civilization.

These connections remained strong even after the U.S. annexed the northern half of Mexico in 1848. Although Mexican residents of the San Francisco bay area were soon overrun by '49ers, more isolated settlements in southern California, south Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona preserved their cultural autonomy. Anglo newcomers to these areas often married into elite families, thereby acquiring a taste for Mexican food. Cookbooks also helped to preserve cultural ties, and over time they became treasured family heirlooms. Encarnación Pinedo published El cocinero español (The Spanish Cook, 1898), perhaps the first Latino cookbook, as a tribute to California-Mexican cookery. A manuscript volume by Refugio de Amador, preserved in the Rio Grande Historical Collections at New Mexico State University, contains recipes for torta de cielo (heavenly cake), turrón de Oaxaca (nougat), and jamoncillos de almendra (fudge squares).[6]

Latino culinary traditions also took root in port cities along the Atlantic seaboard and the Gulf of Mexico. Antillean communities were founded by merchants in commercial hubs such as New York City and New Orleans, as well as by the children of wealthy planters who studied in American schools. By the 1850s, they were joined by working-class Cubans and Puerto Ricans employed in garment and cigar factories of New York City and Ybor City, near Tampa, Florida. Bodegas (grocery stores) and restaurants catered to the immigrants' desire for familiar foods.

Many early Latino restaurants tried to attract a crossover clientele, but Anglos often refused to equate Spanish or Mexican cuisine with fine dining. With the completion of the Southern Pacific Railroad in the late 1870s, Mexican entrepreneurs in San Antonio, Texas, and Los Angeles, California, appealed to the growing tourist trade by opening elegant restaurants with names such as El Cinco de Mayo (The Fifth of May) and El Globo Potosino (The Balloon), located in San Luis Potosí, a famously rich mining town. These establishments offered Hispanic and Mexican favorites such as albóndigas (meatballs) and mole de guajolote (turkey in chile sauce), along with French and American dishes. Within a few years, however, most had disappeared from city directories, to be replaced by restaurants with French names.[7]

When Mexican food became the subject of culinary tourism, Anglos sought out exotic street food, not elegant restaurants. Many working-class Mexicans supplemented their household incomes by selling food during civic and religious festivals, and the growth of tourism made their occasional stands into a nightly pageant in streets and plazas. Vendors in San Antonio were gendered female in the popular imagination, as "Chili Queens," while in Los Angeles they were more often associated with masculine tamale pushcarts, although men and women of diverse ethnic groups sold chili and tamales in both cities. Stereotypes of Mexican food as painfully hot and potentially contaminating were conflated with the supposed sexual dangers of the "Chili Queens." Anglo journalists meanwhile accused tamale vendors of criminality and labor activism. Although a popular tourist attraction, vendors were constantly harassed by police and urban reformers, who sought to restrict them to segregated locations such as San Antonio's Milam Plaza.[8]

By the end of the 19th century, Latino foods had become firmly established in the national consciousness with an image of "safe danger." They represented an exotic experience for tourists to test their manhood by flirting with "Spanish" women and risking the strong flavors of chile peppers, garlic, and oil. Yet the food appealed not just to Bohemian slumming but also to working-class ethnics, who learned that they could find a tasty and inexpensive meal in Latino restaurants. Thus, Latino foods soon spread beyond their ethnic and geographical origins; for example, black vendors carried tamales from San Antonio all the way to the Mississippi delta. Cross-cultural exchanges, often based on unequal power relations, continued with the growth of the food processing industry.

Industrialization

Food processing was one of the largest industries in the U.S. during the Gilded Age, as it remains today, and then as now, migrant workers performed the difficult and poorly paid labor in fields and factories that made these businesses profitable. Yet Latino contributions to industrial food have scarcely been limited to manual labor. Historian Donna Gabaccia has noted the paradox that although immigrant entrepreneurs developed culinary icons ranging from hamburgers and hotdogs to Fritos and tacos, national markets for these products generally have gone to corporations with little connection to the communities of origin.[9]Because corporate advertising has had such a prominent role in the mainstream marketing "if not in the technological innovation" of Latino and other ethnic foods, exotic and often disdainful stereotypes from the 19th century have persisted.

The history of chili con carne illustrates the industrial appropriation and distancing of foods from their Latino origins. Businessmen such as Willam Gebhardt capitalized on the popularity of Mexican vendors by marketing chili powder made from imported peppers mixed with spices. Chicago meatpackers added chili con carne to their line of canned products in order to disguise inferior cuts of meat. Chili con carne acquired new forms and flavors as it spread across the country. African American cooks in Memphis put it on spaghetti as "chili mac," while in Ohio and Michigan hot dogs with chili became known as "coneys." In the 1920s, Macedonian immigrant Tom Kiradjieff added cinnamon and other spices to his recipe for "Cincinnati chili," which he served on spaghetti with optional cheese, onion, and beans. Chili with beans became a national staple during the hard times of the Great Depression. Some Anglo Texans eventually denied the Mexican origins of chili con carne, although the cowboy cooks credited with the recipe also learned their ranching skills from Mexican vaqueros.

The well-known story of chili has tended to obscure a parallel history of food processing innovation and entrepreneurship within Latino communities. Labor migrants traveling out of the Southwest to work in Midwestern railroads, factories, and agriculture skillfully improvised familiar foods in makeshift kitchens. By the 1920s, Mexican merchants in cities such as Chicago and St. Louis offered a range of fresh and dried ingredients, kitchen utensils, and prepared foods. Some of these items were imports from Mexico, including the Clemente Jacques line of canned chiles and sauces. Others were manufactured in the U.S. by companies such as the Los Angeles-based La Victoria Packing Company. Fabian García, a Mexican-born graduate of the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, established the first scientific breeding program devoted to chiles, providing the basis for the commercial agriculture in the state. Mexican merchants in San Antonio, who congregated along Produce Row, organized the shipping of tropical fruits and vegetables to the U.S.[10]

Mexicans and Mexican Americans also pioneered the mechanization of tortilla making, although it remained a cottage industry for decades due to the cultural insistence on freshness. By the turn of the century, steel mills had replaced the burdensome daily labor of grinding corn dough, at least in urban areas of Mexico and the Southwest. In 1909, San Antonio corn miller José Bartolomé Martínez patented a formula for dehydratednixtamal flour called Tamalina. Although the local market was not yet ready for a dried product, Martínez's Aztec Mills did a brisk business in daily deliveries of fresh tortillas. Martínez also transformed the leftover masa de maíz (corn dough) into the first commercial corn chips, called tostadas, which he sold in eight-ounce wax bags beginning around 1912. Some scholars have claimed that Elmer Doolin used his recipe as the basis for Fritos brand corn chips. Although Martínez's legacy was usurped by others, Latino food businesses continue to prosper throughout the Southwest. The Sanitary Tortilla Company, for example, remains to this day a San Antonio institution with legions of customers still loyal to cantankerous 1920s machines.[11]

The growing influence of Puerto Ricans also stimulated food commerce and industry in New York City. Along with Cuba and the Philippines, the island had become an American colony following the Spanish-American War in 1898. With the Jones Act of 1917, Puerto Ricans gained U.S. citizenship and also became liable for military service, both of which spurred migration. Historian Virginia Sánchez Korrol has observed that restaurants with names like El Paraiso (Paradise) became important community centers in Spanish Harlem, comforting newcomers with familiar favorites including arroz con gandules verdes (rice with green pigeon peas), codfish fritters, and the plantain dishes known as mofongo and tostones. La Marqueta, an open-air market in the neighborhood, supplied shoppers with Antillean fruits and vegetables.[12]  Histo­rian Frederick Douglass Opie has argued, moreover, that Latino migrants from the Caribbean also had a significant influence on the development of African American foods as early as the Harlem Renaissance.[13]

The most prominent Latino merchant, Prudencio Unanue, migrated as a young man from his Basque homeland to Puerto Rico and ultimately built a Caribbean food empire called Goya. By the late 1920s he was importing foods for the Spanish colony in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City, but the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) disrupted his source of supply, forcing him to diversify. His decision to market Caribbean food instead proved a profitable one in the postwar era with the tremendous growth of migration from Puerto Rico and then neighboring islands. Goya soon began opening packinghouses and supplying local markets in the Caribbean as well.[14]

Fast food restaurants emerged as another important segment of the Latino food market in the postwar period. Taco Bell has become so dominant in this field that even many Latinos may believe the company website, which claims that the taco shell, a tortilla pre-fried in a U-shape, was invented in the early 1950s by a San Bernardino, California hotdog vendor named Glen Bell. This account of the origins of the fast food taco also fits with critics of "McDonaldization," who argue that modern technology and corporate standardization by outsiders has destroyed the authentic flavor of peasant cuisines. Nevertheless, a search of U.S. Patent Office records reveals that the original taco shell patent was filed in the 1940s by Juvencio Maldonado, a Mexican migrant who operated a successful New York City restaurant called Xochitl from the 1930s to the 1960s. Bell built his fortune not by employing modern technology but rather by franchising ethnic exoticism and allowing Anglo consumers to sample Mexican food without crossing informal lines of segregation in the postwar era.[15]

Despite the availability of Latino brands such as Goya, for decades most American consumers seemed to prefer Taco Bell, Frito-Lay, and Old El Paso. These companies not only transformed the flavors of Latino foods "Glen Bell based his salsa on chili dog sauce "but also used racially charged advertisements such as the Frito Bandito of the 1960s or the Taco Bell dog of the 1990s, which compared Latinos to criminals and animals. Yet consumers have become increasingly knowledgeable about and favorable toward foods that are actually made by Latinos, largely because of the recent spread of migrant restaurants and bodegas across the country.

By the late 20th century, Latino foods were achieving unprecedented diversity in the U.S. Before that time, Latinos were primarily migrants from northern and central Mexico, if their families had not already lived in Florida, the Southwest, or Puerto Rico before those territories were acquired by the U.S. The arrival of people from throughout Latin America came not from the Immigration Reform Act of 1965, which actually imposed restrictive quotas for the first time on people born in the Americas, but rather from Cold War involvement in the region. Each new conflict brought displaced populations to the U.S., from the Cuban Revolution of 1959 to the South American military dictatorships of the 1970s and the Central American civil wars of the 1980s. Political exiles and economic migrants introduced new restaurant cuisines at the same time that Latin American food processing firms began making inroads into domestic markets, including basic staples (Maseca tortillas, Bimbo bread), fast food (Pollo Campero), and alcoholic beverages (Chilean wines, Corona beer). Thus, the growing demographic importance and rising professional status of Latinos has contributed to a mainstream recognition of and desire for Latino foods.

Newly arrived migrants wasted little time in recreating their national cuisines. In the 1960s, Cuban exiles transformed Miami into Little Havana, centered on the nostalgia-filled restaurants, cafes, and street vendors of Calle Ocho (Eighth Street). Middle-class housewives meanwhile consulted treasured copies of Cocina al minuto (Cooking to the Minute, 1956), even though the author, Nitza Villapol, was widely considered to be a traitor for having remained behind in Cuba after the end of the Cuban Revolution. A decade later, Dominicans established a presence in the Washington Heights area of New York City, and bodegas were soon filled with dried shrimp and live chickens to satisfy Dominican tastes. When the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC, became home to Central American migrants in the 1980s, restaurants began selling pupusas and gallo pinto ("spotted rooster," a Nicaraguan and Costa Rican version of rice and beans). Mexican regional cuisines have also became more diverse, with Zapotec and Mixtec mole sauces available in Oaxacan restaurants in Los Angeles, while chain migrations have brought Mayan salbutes (tostadas) from the Yucatán to San Francisco.

One promising change in recent times has been a growing acceptance of Latino foods as fine dining. The 1960s counterculture prompted a skeptical attitude toward industrial processed foods and new interest in the peasant cuisines of the Global South, including Latin America. Although the desire for more authentic foods has at times exoticized Latinos, sophisticated diners have flocked to upscale restaurants serving Peruvian, Caribbean, Brazilian, Mexican, and other Latin American cuisines. Diverse national favorites have also come together in "Nuevo Latino" restaurants, which feature eclectic combinations of such foods as ceviche (marinated fish), plantains, grilled meats, and salsas.

Despite these gains, working-class Latinos still suffer pervasive discrimination. Many taco truck owners confront the same forms of harassment suffered a century earlier by the "Chili Queens," even when these vendors are U.S. citizens.[16]Health officials meanwhile target Latino foods as contributing to a supposed epidemic of obesity and diabetes. While it is true that poor Latinos suffer disproportionately from these conditions, as do the working classes more generally, stigmatizing "unhealthy behaviors" has been a longstanding theme of middle-class reform efforts toward the poor and foreigners. A century ago, migrant diets were criticized for excessive whole grains like maize and not enough fat and protein, exactly the opposite of advice given today. Sociologist Airín Martínez has found that migrant Latino mothers have basically sound ideas about comiendo bien (eating well) and that they often go to great lengths to provide healthy food for their families. But like 19th century migrants, their efforts are undermined by the structural constraints of poverty and limited access to fresh foods.[17]

Latino cooks have clearly made significant contributions to the potluck that constitutes the national cuisine. Latin America's mestizo cuisines offer unique combinations of foods from around the world. They feature not the costly ingredients and elaborate techniques of French haute cuisine but rather hearty dishes with vibrant flavors. First shunned by Victorian diners and later imitated by the food processing industry, Latino foods have recently gained acceptance at the center of the table. If we are what we eat, then the U.S. is becoming an increasingly Latino nation.

Jeffrey Pilcher, Ph.D., is a Professor of History at the University of Minnesota. He specializes in the history and culture of Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean, and the history and culture of food. His major works include Planet Taco: A Global History of Mexican Food; Food in World History; The Sausage Rebellion: Public Health, Private Enterprise, and Meat in Mexico City; and ¡Que vivan los tamales! Food and the Making of Mexican Identity. He received his Ph.D. in History from Texas Christian University.

[1]  Sophie D. Coe, America's First Cuisines (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994), chapters 2-3.

[2]  Jeffrey M. Pilcher, ¡Que vivan los tamales! Food and the Making of Mexican Identity (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998), chapter 2.

[3]  Elinor G. K. Melville, A Plague of Sheep: Environmental Consequences of the Conquest of Mexico (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997).

[4]  Jeffrey M. Pilcher, Planet Taco: A Global History of Mexican Food (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), chapter 2.

[5]  Cruz Miguel Ortiz Cuadra, Puerto Rico en la olla, ¿Somos aún lo que comimos? (Aranjuez, Spain: Ediciones Doce Calles, 2006), 58-64.

[6]  Rio Grande Historical Collections, New Mexico State University Library, Las Cruces, Amador Family Papers, MS 4, box 7, folder 1, Refugio Ruiz de Amador manuscript cookbook.

[7]  Victor M. Valle and Mary Lau Valle, Recipe of Memory: Five Generations of Mexican Cuisine (New York: The New Press, 1995), 131; Pilcher, Planet Taco, chapter 4.

[8]  Jeffrey M. Pilcher, "Who Chased Out the 'Chili Queens'? Gender, Race, and Urban Reform in San Antonio, Texas, 1880-1943," Food and Foodways 16, no. 3 (July 2008): 173-200.

[9]  Donna R. Gabaccia, We Are What We Eat: Ethnic Food and the Making of Americans (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998).

[10]  Margarita Calleja Pinedo, "Los empresarios en el comercio de frutas y hortalizas frescas de México a Estados Unidos," in Empresarios migrantes mexicanos en Estados Unidos, ed. M. Basilia Valenzuela and Margarita Calleja Pinedo (Guadalajara: Universidad de Guadalajara, 2009), 307-43.

[11]  Vanessa Fonseca, "Fractal Capitalism and the Latinization of the U.S. Market" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas, Austin, 2003), 28-43.

[12]  Virginia E. Sánchez Korrol, From Colonia to Community: The History of Puerto Ricans in New York City, rev. ed. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994), 55-56, 63-65.

[13]  Fredrick Douglass Opie, Hogs and Hominy: Soul Food from Africa to America (New York: Columbia University Press, 2008), 139-53.

[14]  Joel Denker, The World on a Plate: A Tour through the History of America's Ethnic Cuisine (Boulder, CO: Westview, 2003), 147-62.

[15]  Pilcher, Planet Taco, chapter 5.

[16]  Vicki Ruiz, Citizen Restaurant: American Imaginaries, American Communities," American Quarterly 60, no. 1 (March 2008): 1-21.

[17]  Airín Martínez, Comiendo Bien: A Situational Analysis of the Transnational Processes Sustaining and Transforming Healthy Eating among Latino Immigrant Families in San Francisco" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, San Francisco, 2010).

The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the opinions or policies of the U.S. Government. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute their endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Part of a series of articles titled American Latino/a Heritage Theme Study .

Previous: American Latino Theme Study: Sports

Next: American Latino Theme Study: Labor

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Last updated: July 10, 2020

Introduction to Mexican Food History (And What that Means for Nutrition)

Mexican food history is fascinating! The story of Mexican food history and culture is fundamentally about colonization, agriculture, geography, and even philosophy!

There are many reasons you may want to learn more about how Mexican food has changed over time. Maybe you want to learn more about your culture. Maybe you’re a history buff! Or maybe you’re a foodie who wants to know why Mexican food today is the way it is. 

Personally, I’m a Mexican-American dietitian. I found learning about Mexican food history really helped heal my relationship with food. It helped me break away from black and white thinking about nutrition. 

Ever since, I’ve been incorporating mini history lessons into my work with my clients.

In today’s blog post, we’ll go over major influences on Mexican food, a rough timeline of Mexican cuisine throughout history, and finally compare and contrast Mexican food today vs back then. 

So let’s get started!

Why learn about the history of Mexican cuisine?

First I want to address the big question: if I’m a dietitian why talk about food history? I have slightly different answers depending on who you are. 

(Of course learning about it just because history is cool is also fair!)

For dietitians/healthcare providers

For dietitians, understanding history helps make us more compassionate providers. It helps us understand why food customs may be the way they are, and encourages us to focus on the right issues. 

Let’s talk about sodas, for example. Mexico has the highest soda consumption in the world ( 1 ). A dietitian who doesn’t understand the history behind this would just think this is due to cultural preferences. They would focus on getting their client to “learn to like” water. 

On the other hand, a dietitian who knows the history behind this would know that soda consumption is so high in Mexico due to historical issues with water safety. They would then ask questions to make sure their client has adequate access to safe water at home. 

As you can see, two dietitians with the same credentials and the same client can take very different paths if one knows their history. 

For individuals

For Mexican-American individuals, knowing how long our cultural foods have been around can really help us tune out diet culture noise!

It’s a lot easier to dismiss the latest fad diet as nonsense, when it’s telling you to eliminate a food you know has been nourishing your ancestors for thousands of years. Knowledge is power!

Major influences on Mexican food culture

To start the discussion on the history of food in Mexico, let’s talk about all the different cultures and people that have made Mexican food what it is today. 

Indigenous Food

The first group is the Indigenous people of Mexico and Central America. There were many Indigenous groups of people across Mexico, with their own traditions and foods. 

When discussing Indigenous food in Mexico, we have the most historical data on the Aztecs and the Maya. So for our purposes we’ll mostly discuss Aztec and Mayan food. 

Indigenous Mexican food is responsible for many of the hallmarks of Mexican food today: corn, beans, squash, tomatoes, avocados, chocolate, chilies, the list goes on and on (and on). 

Also, a lot of the tools we associate with Mexican food like the metate and the molcajete were originally part of the Indigenous tradition. 

Spanish Food

The Spanish introduced most of the common proteins you see in Mexican food today, including beef, pork, chicken, and goat. 

Spanish colonization is also responsible for dairy in Mexican food, as well as almost all use of added fats and oils. 

Other major influences

Of course Mexican food is more than just Indigenous and Spanish food. Many other cultures have influenced Mexican cuisine throughout history.

Middle Eastern Food

Middle Eastern food contributed sugar, coffee, and (my personal favorite) al pastor to Mexican food. 

French and German Food

You can thank France and Germany for pan dulce and Mexican beer, respectively. 

African Food

While rice originated in Asia, Mexican rice is strongly influenced by African cooking techniques. The use of plantains in Mexico is also strongly influenced by African food. 

Timeline of Mexican Cuisine

Mexican food culture has been constantly evolving for thousands of years. Here’s a brief summary of the major dates in Mexican food history. 

Pre-Hispanic Era

Pre-Hispanic Mexican food was also strongly influenced by the rest of Mesoamerican cuisine. The Aztec and Mayan empires had strong trade routes across the continent. 

This means there’s some overlap between Mexican food, Central American food, North American food, and even South American food. 

Food from this era used many of the same staple ingredients we see in Mexican food today. Corn, beans, squash, tomato, chiles, and avocado were the main staples. 

Of course there were many fruits and vegetables native to Mexico that were also eaten. Examples include nopales, jicama, pitaya, guava, chayote, and many more. 

Proteins from this era included small wild animals like birds, fish, small mammals, and insects. Plant-based proteins were also common, such as chia seeds, beans, pumpkin seeds, and more. 

Importantly, turkey was especially common in Mayan food at this time. Turkey is still one of the most authentic foods to serve with mole . 

Most Ancient Mexican Dishes

Your favorite Mexican dish may trace its roots back to this era. Examples of popular Mexican dishes from this era include:

• Corn tortillas

Spanish Colonization

Immediately after Spanish arrival in the Americas, the Latin American food system changed drastically. 

The Spanish colonizers were very adamant about bringing Spanish food with them and cultivating Spanish food in the Americas.

This includes most livestock we know today: pigs, cows, chicken, goats, and sheep. It also includes all dairy products.

The Spanish were very intentional about introducing wheat to Latin America for their own religious and health purposes. 

Perhaps most interestingly, the Spanish introduced the concept of frying food in oil to the Americas. Prior to this, oils were used rarely if at all in Mexican food. This means olive oil was also a Spanish introduction. 

This is when we start to see Indigenous Mexican food start to look a little more like the Mexican food we recognize today. Some foods that represent this fusion of Mexican and Spanish cuisine include:

• Tostadas (fried in oil)
• Refried beans (sautéed in lard)
• Flour tortillas

It’s also important to point out the ways that Spanish colonizers disrupted Indigenous foodways, in addition to simply introducing Spanish foods to the Americas. 

Spanish colonizers forced Indigenous people to grow wheat, diverting Indigenous land and labor away from corn and toward Spanish crops like wheat. Certain Indigenous foods were outlawed for religious reasons . 

Post Revolutionary Period

After the Mexican revolution, many immigrants arrived in Mexico. This period is responsible for Mexican foods like:

• Mexican beer
• Mexican cheeses

Modern Period

Don’t forget that history is still happening!

The modern period of Mexican food history is characterized by a shift in labor. More people are moving into cities and fewer people work in agriculture. 

This means we are seeing more processed and convenience foods as there is less time to prepare meals at home. (Note: I’m NOT saying this is a bad thing. This happens to most societies over time). 

There’s also been an increase in trade with the United States and other countries. Mexican foods that come from this era include:

• Processed snacks (like chips, Cheetos, etc.)
• Instant masa harina (“maseca”)

Mexican Food Then vs Now

One of the coolest things about Mexican food is how much it still resembles its ancient origins. 

But, like all cuisines, Mexican food has evolved over time. Changes in Mexican food are due to social and economic changes over time, as well as exposure to other cultures and their foodways. 

Here are some of the major changes we’ve seen in Mexican food over the years. 

Cooking methods

Prior to colonization, Mexican cooking methods mostly included:

• Cooking on a comal (griddle) – note this technique does not use oil
• Baking in an underground oven or pit
• Boiling (including making soups and stews)

The biggest difference here is that cooking prior to European contact didn’t involve frying or oil. 

While pre-Hispanic Mexican food contains fats (from fish, seeds, and avocado), extracting oil from plants was very rare. This means all frying techniques, olive oil, and lard were all introduced by the Spanish. 

Ingredients

Many of the core pre-Hispanic ingredients are still common in Mexican food today. This includes:

• Chiles 

There are also some pre-Hispanic Mexican ingredients that are not as common as they used to be, including spirulina and insects . You will still see these ingredients in Mexican food, but not to the same degree as before. 

Ingredients that have been more recently introduced to Mexican food include:

• Certain fruits like coconut, mango, limes, tamarind and more

Processing and Labor

Many pre-Hispanic cooking tools are still common today. Think of the molcajete and the metate. These were used in pre-colonial Mexico to grind foods. 

Since foods were ground by hand, Indigenous people developed processing techniques to soften grains like corn and make it easier to grind. This process is a signature of Mexican food and carries its own unique health benefits. 

Since colonization, mills have been introduced and are much more common now. Although you will still see plenty of hand grinding on the metate or molcajete. 

Like most other countries, Mexico has seen a lot more industrialization of its food system. This is due to changes in the labor force and economic system. 

Regional Differences

It’s important to point out how large Mexico is and how many different climates and terrains are present in Mexico alone. 

While many ingredients are common across Mexico (like corn, beans, and squash), there are distinct regional differences in Mexican food.

Northern Mexico places more emphasis on wheat flour, red meat , and dairy, for instance. Yucatán has a distinct cuisine that closely resembles its Mayan origins. And of course, coastal areas of Mexico will have more seafood, etc. 

How can I learn more?

We’ve gone over a lot in this post but trust me when I say we’ve just scratched the surface!

If you would like to learn more about Mexican food history I have some books and trainings I recommend. 

Recommended Reading

(Note: these are affiliate links. If you click them and make a purchase I’ll earn a small commission. I’m only recommending books I’ve personally read.)

The Body of the Conquistador by Rebecca Earle

Chilies to Chocolate: Food the Americas Gave the World by Nelson Foster

America’s First Cuisines by Sophie Coe

Eating NAFTA by Alyshia Gálvez

The Columbian Exchange by Alfred Crosby

Trainings and Webinars

I offer training on the link between Mexican History and Nutrition! We’ll go even more in depth than we did in this blog post, and connect what we learn with building nutritious meals today. 

Check out my pre-recorded trainings below:

Mexican History and Nutrition Workshop

Mexican History and Nutrition Workshop – for Health Professionals

How did Mexican food evolve?

Mexican food has a foundation in Indigenous Latin American foods like corn, beans, and squash. Colonization by the Spanish introduced livestock animals like beef, pork, and chicken, as well as dairy. 

Colonization also disrupted certain native foods like corn and amaranth in favor of wheat. 

Other regions also influenced Mexican food like France, Germany, and the Middle east (among others). 

Today, globalization and economic changes are shifting Mexico toward a more industrialized and processed food system. 

What foods are originally from Mexico?

Many foods are originally from Mexico. These include corn, many beans, squash (including pumpkin and zucchini), tomato, avocado, chile, guava, chocolate, vanilla, chia seeds, spirulina, and more. 

Final Thoughts

As you can see, Mexican food history is rich and fascinating. 

Today we’ve covered basic staple ingredients and cooking methods from different eras of Mexican history. My goal is for you to see that while Mexican food has changed a lot over time, a lot of the Mexican food we know and love today is fundamentally Indigenous food. 

As a dietitian, I teach food history to help my clients (and other dietitians) understand the big picture. It’s so much easier to focus on what actually matters and tune out the fad diet noise when we understand just how long our cultural foods have been nourishing us.  

Want to learn more about Latin American food history? Get my full reading list. 

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Latino Food

Iconic Latino food dishes featuring diverse ingredients and cooking techniques have influenced the United States’ food culture for many years. These foods come from a rich history and culture, often the result of centuries of indigenous, European, and African influences. Over time, these foods have transcended borders and are created and served across the world. The rich blend of influences has developed flavors that inspire popular and vibrant culinary traditions.   With a blend of core ingredients like corn, meat, beans, and rice, traditional Latino cuisine is prominently featured alongside mainstream dishes. Latino food has always had a presence in the United States and is responsible for many cultural favorites, like Tex-Mex-style restaurants. These restaurants first gained popularity in the 1800s, with entrepreneurs, chefs, and restaurant owners like Adelaida Cuellar migrating to the United States. Since then, Tex-Mex has been a staple in American culture and has been behind many favorite food and drinks, like the margarita. These culinary influences continue to shape the culture of our nation.  

Recipes and History

From the Cuban sandwich to arepas, Latino foods have grown in popularity and influenced American cuisine with new fusions and interpretations. You can discover and create many of the iconic Latino foods yourself with these recipes:

• Mofongo – A classic dish from Puerto Rico and popular in many countries, Mofongo is made from fried green plantains mashed together with other ingredients like garlic and crackling pork rinds.
• Ropa Vieja – This Cuban shredded beef dish is often cooked with ingredients such as onions, peppers, olives, and tomato sauce. Like many Latin American recipes, this food has Spanish origins and made its way to Cuba through colonization.
• Cuban Sandwich – While there is some debate about how the Cuban Sandwich came to be introduced, variations of it make for a frequent favorite meal. The sandwich traditionally consists of roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard.
• Tamales – This Mesoamerican dish is made of mesa wrapped in a corn husk or banana leaves. Common fillings include various meats, beans, and cheese.
• Arepas – These grilled corn cakes have seen a rise in popularity in recent years. For instance, Venezuelan arepas are commonly stuffed with different fillings, such as cheese, meat, or beans.
• Chupe de Res – This Peruvian soup is often made with ingredients such as beef, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, and pumpkin.
• Salvadoran Pupusas - This traditional dish from El Salvador is made of thick corn tortillas and stuffed with savory ingredients, such as cheese, pork, beans, and peppers.
• Chimichurri - Often used on grilled meat, this multipurpose sauce is made from ingredients such as parsley, oregano, garlic, vinegar, and red pepper flakes.   

Special Events

Similar to most holidays and events frequently celebrated in the United States, Latino foods are at the heart of many special traditions. From Pascuas to weddings to quinceañeras, food takes center stage during many special occasions. Many families look forward to gathering each year to make signature dishes that add to their celebrations and milestones.

El Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) , for example, is a day of celebration for many in the Latino community. The day honors and remembers the lives of loved ones and welcomes the return of their spirits. Many traditions are a fundamental part of this day, including food such as pan de muerto. Pan de muerto is a sweet bread that often has a sugar topping and is commonly included in Day of the Dead festivities. While not eaten, sugar skulls, or calaveritas , are often seen on this day, placed on altars to represent both death and the sweetness of life. As the name suggests, sugar skulls are molded to represent a human skull. They are frequently very colorful and feature elaborate designs.

The winter holiday season is another example of how food is an integral part of Latino culture and traditions. The season often features signature dishes like:

• Hallaca – A traditional Christmas dish, this cornmeal dough wrap is stuffed with stewed meat and other ingredients, such as olives, raisins, and capers.
• Pozole – Often made in the holiday season, pozole is a Mexican soup made with hominy, meat, and broth.
• Cola de mono – This traditional Chilean holiday cocktail is a tradition for many families. The beverage consists of aguardiente, milk, coffee, and sugar and is often made with variations to include ingredients like vanilla and cinnamon.

A Culinary Journey Through Time: Exploring the Rich History of Mexican Food

Embark on a culinary journey through time as we delve into the rich history of Mexican food in “A Culinary Journey Through Time: Exploring the Rich History of Mexican Food”. From its humble pre-Hispanic origins to the colonial influences and modern-day innovations, Mexican cuisine is a vibrant tapestry of flavors, traditions, and cultural exchange. Join us as we uncover the secrets behind this beloved gastronomy and explore the diverse regional cuisines that make it a global treasure.

Key Takeaways:

Mexican cuisine is a harmonious blend of indigenous and Spanish influences that have evolved over time.

During the Mayan period, hunting and gathering formed the foundation of the cuisine.

The Aztec Empire’s rise in the 1300s introduced new staples, further shaping Mexican cuisine.

The Spanish conquest in the 1500s brought an influx of ingredients and cooking techniques, leading to a vibrant fusion of cultures.

Today, Mexican cuisine boasts a diverse range of traditional dishes, each showcasing unique flavors and ingredients, making it a beloved global culinary treasure.

Table of Contents

History of Mexican Food

Mexican cuisine, a vibrant tapestry of flavors and textures, boasts a rich and diverse history deeply rooted in ancient civilizations, colonial influences, and modern innovations. Let’s embark on a culinary journey through time to explore the evolution of this beloved gastronomy.

Pre-Hispanic Foundations

Mexico’s culinary heritage finds its genesis in the diverse cultures that thrived in the region before the arrival of the Spanish. The ancient Maya, known for their sophisticated civilization, subsisted on a diet centered around hunting, gathering, and agriculture. Maize (corn) emerged as a staple crop, along with beans, squash, chili peppers, and tomatoes, forming the foundation of what would become the iconic flavors of Mexican cuisine.

The Aztec Empire’s Culinary Legacy

The Aztec Empire, which emerged in the 14th century, further shaped Mexican cuisine with the introduction of new ingredients and culinary techniques. The Aztecs cultivated a vast array of crops, including amaranth, chia seeds, and cacao, which were incorporated into their daily diet. They also developed elaborate cooking methods, such as nixtamalization, a process of treating corn with lime that enhances its nutritional value and flavor.

Spanish Influences and the Colonial Era

The arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century marked a turning point in Mexican cuisine. European ingredients, such as wheat, rice, and various spices, were introduced, blending with indigenous staples to create a unique fusion of flavors. Spanish cooking techniques, like frying and stewing, also influenced traditional Mexican dishes, giving rise to beloved creations like enchiladas, tacos, and tamales.

Modern Mexican Cuisine: A Culinary Symphony

Today, Mexican cuisine stands as a vibrant and dynamic culinary expression, reflecting the country’s rich history and cultural diversity. Regional variations abound, with each state showcasing its unique specialties. From the hearty barbacoa of the north to the seafood-rich cuisine of the coastal regions and the mole sauces of the central highlands, Mexican cuisine offers a symphony of flavors that captivate palates worldwide.

Mexican Food Timeline

The history of Mexican food is a testament to the enduring power of culinary traditions. From its ancient roots to modern-day innovations, Mexican cuisine continues to captivate hearts and taste buds worldwide, embodying the rich cultural heritage of a nation that embraces flavor, diversity, and culinary excellence.

Looking to explore the culinary journey of Mexico? Delve into the history of Mexican Cuisine and uncover the fascinating evolution of Mexican dishes, from ancient roots to the modern-day explosion of flavors. Or embark on a journey to discover the history of Mexican dishes , where each ingredient, each recipe tells a story of tradition, innovation, and cultural diversity. Don’t miss this chance to savor the rich tapestry of Mexican cuisine through the ages!

**Regional Diversity: A Celebration of Mexico’s Diverse Culinary Traditions**

Mexico’s regional diversity is truly a culinary adventure, with each region boasting unique flavors and dishes that reflect their diverse geography, climate, and cultural influences. Join us as we embark on a culinary journey through Mexico’s culinary regions!

**Exploring the Gulf Coast’s Seafood Bounty**

The Gulf Coast, with its close proximity to the sea, is a haven for seafood lovers. Here, you’ll find an array of dishes that showcase the freshest catches of the day, from ceviche to seafood cocktails. Don’t miss the opportunity to savor the flavors of the sea in this region.

**Central Mexico: A Fusion of Indigenous and European Flavors**

Central Mexico, including Mexico City, is a melting pot of indigenous and European influences. This region is renowned for dishes like tamales, pozole, and barbacoa, which blend traditional ingredients with European cooking techniques. Experience the harmony of flavors that define this culinary region.

**Northern Delights: A Culinary Blend of Two Worlds**

In the north, the influence of neighboring states in the United States is evident in the use of corn and wheat. Here, you’ll find dishes like burritos and enchiladas, which have gained popularity and become emblematic of Mexican cuisine. Discover the unique culinary fusion that has emerged in this region.

**Pacific Coast: A Seafood Paradise with a Coastal Twist**

The Pacific Coast, with its vast coastline, offers an abundance of seafood, including fish, shrimp, and octopus. These treasures of the sea are often grilled or fried, resulting in dishes that capture the essence of the ocean. Indulge in the flavors of the Pacific in this culinary haven.

**Southern Flavors: Rooted in Indigenous Traditions**

The southern region of Mexico is deeply rooted in indigenous cultures, and its cuisine reflects this rich heritage. Here, you’ll find dishes like black bean soup and enchiladas, which showcase ingredients like beans, corn, and squash. Explore the authentic flavors of this region, where tradition meets taste.

**Key Takeaways:**

• Diverse Regions, Diverse Flavors: Mexico’s regional diversity is reflected in its cuisine, with each region offering unique dishes and flavors influenced by geography, climate, and culture.
• Seafood Delights: The Gulf Coast is a seafood paradise, with dishes like ceviche and seafood cocktails showcasing the bounty of the sea.
• Central Fusion: Central Mexico blends indigenous and European flavors, resulting in iconic dishes like tamales, pozole, and barbacoa.
• Northern Influences: The north showcases a culinary fusion, with dishes like burritos and enchiladas reflecting the influence of neighboring states in the United States.
• Pacific Coastal Cuisine: The Pacific Coast offers a variety of seafood dishes, grilled or fried to perfection, highlighting the region’s coastal heritage.
• Southern Traditions: The southern region of Mexico features dishes like black bean soup and enchiladas, rooted in indigenous cultures and showcasing traditional ingredients.

**Sources:**

Modern-day innovations: an examination of contemporary trends and innovations in mexican cuisine, including the rise of celebrity chefs, fusion cuisine, and the globalization of mexican food..

In the ever-evolving world of Mexican cuisine, innovation is the spice that keeps things sizzling. From the rise of celebrity chefs to the fusion of flavors and the global reach of Mexican food, let’s explore the modern trends that are shaping this culinary landscape.

Celebrity Chefs: The New Rockstars of the Kitchen

In the culinary world, celebrity chefs have become the rockstars of the kitchen, captivating audiences with their charisma and culinary prowess. These culinary maestros, like rockstars on a stage, command attention with their innovative dishes and larger-than-life personalities. They’re not just cooking; they’re creating edible masterpieces, inspiring home cooks, and revolutionizing the way we perceive Mexican food.

Fusion Cuisine: A Culinary Symphony of Flavors

Fusion cuisine, like a musical symphony, blends the best of different culinary traditions, creating harmonious dishes that burst with flavor. Mexican fusion cuisine, in particular, is a testament to the country’s rich culinary heritage, as it seamlessly merges本土ingredients and techniques with global flavors. From Asian-inspired tacos to European-influenced moles, fusion cuisine is a culinary adventure that takes taste buds on a global journey.

Globalization: Mexican Flavors Conquering the World

The globalization of Mexican food is a testament to its universal appeal. Like a contagious melody, Mexican cuisine has captivated taste buds worldwide, becoming a global phenomenon. From taco trucks in New York to enchilada stands in Tokyo, Mexican flavors have found a home in the hearts and stomachs of people across the globe. This culinary conquest is a tribute to the versatility and deliciousness of Mexican food, proving that its flavors transcend borders and cultures.

• Celebrity chefs are revolutionizing Mexican cuisine with their innovative dishes and captivating personalities.
• Fusion cuisine blends本土ingredients and techniques with global flavors, creating a culinary symphony of tastes.
• Mexican food’s globalization is a testament to its universal appeal, conquering taste buds worldwide.
• Mexican Cuisine: A History of Innovation and Fusion
• The Globalization of Mexican Food

Mexican Cuisine: A Global Treasure

Mexican cuisine as a global treasure: A reflection on the global recognition and appreciation of Mexican cuisine, its influence on international gastronomy, and its designation as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Over centuries, Mexican cuisine has captivated hearts and taste buds worldwide, earning its well-deserved recognition as a global treasure. Its rich tapestry of flavors, diverse ingredients, and unique cooking techniques have secured its place in the culinary pantheon.

A Culinary Symphony: History and Evolution

The culinary journey of Mexican cuisine began thousands of years ago with the indigenous civilizations that called this land home. The Maya, Aztecs, and other pre-Hispanic cultures laid the foundation for this extraordinary cuisine with their mastery of ingredients like maize, beans, squash, and chili peppers.

The arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century marked a significant turning point, introducing new ingredients and techniques that blended seamlessly with the existing culinary traditions. This fusion gave birth to iconic dishes like enchiladas, tacos, and tamales, which have become symbols of Mexican cuisine worldwide.

UNESCO’s Acknowledgement: A Culinary Milestone

In 2010, UNESCO bestowed upon Mexican cuisine the prestigious title of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This recognition serves as a testament to the enduring power and global significance of this culinary tradition, highlighting its role in shaping cultural identity and community celebrations.

Global Influence: A Culinary Force

The influence of Mexican cuisine extends far beyond its borders, leaving an indelible mark on international gastronomy. Mexican flavors have permeated cuisines worldwide, from California to Tokyo, with dishes like burritos, tacos, and guacamole becoming beloved staples in kitchens and restaurants around the globe.

Mexican cuisine’s influence is not limited to food alone. It has also inspired culinary techniques, cooking styles, and even entire restaurants dedicated to celebrating its flavors. From trendy taquerias to high-end Mexican restaurants, the world has embraced the vibrant spirit of this culinary haven.

Mexican cuisine is recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, a testament to its cultural significance.

The fusion of indigenous and Spanish culinary traditions has shaped the unique flavors and dishes that define Mexican cuisine.

Mexican cuisine has a global reach, influencing international gastronomy with its distinct flavors and iconic dishes like tacos and burritos.

The designation of Mexican cuisine as an Intangible Cultural Heritage highlights its role in shaping cultural identity and community celebrations.

Mexican cuisine continues to evolve and adapt, captivating taste buds worldwide with its vibrant flavors and culinary innovation.

UNESCO – Intangible Heritage Home Mexican gastronomy – a world intangible cultural heritage

Q1: What were the primary influences on the development of Mexican cuisine?

A1: Mexican cuisine is a blend of indigenous and Spanish influences, with the Mayan period relying on hunting and gathering, the Aztec Empire introducing various staples, and the Spanish conquest bringing new ingredients and techniques.

Q2: How did the Spanish conquest impact Mexican cuisine?

A2: The Spanish conquest introduced new ingredients like wheat, dairy, and spices, as well as cooking techniques like frying and stewing, leading to a fusion of indigenous and European culinary traditions.

Q3: What are some of the most popular traditional Mexican dishes?

A3: Traditional Mexican dishes include tamales, pozole, barbacoa, ceviche, enchiladas, and burritos, each with its unique flavors and ingredients, reflecting the diverse regional cuisines of Mexico.

Q4: How is Mexican cuisine recognized internationally?

A4: Mexican cuisine was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010, recognizing its cultural significance and the fusion of farming, ritual practices, culinary techniques, and community celebrations.

Q5: What makes Mexican cuisine unique and beloved worldwide?

A5: Mexican cuisine’s unique blend of indigenous and Spanish influences, coupled with its diverse regional variations, vibrant colors, and rich flavors, has made it a beloved cuisine globally, enjoyed for its culinary heritage and cultural significance.

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The Hidden Story of Mexican Food

Taking in tastes beyond the burritos.

By Google Arts & Culture

Xita del maíz (2017) by Carlos Antonio Gordillo Muñoz Secretaría de Cultura

The cuisine of Mexico is a worldwide sensation. The popularity of dishes like burritos, guacamole, salsa, and tequila is universal.

But the food, drink, and culinary culture of Mexico is deep, rich, and thousands of years old. If you think you know Mexican food, think again. Scroll on to discover dishes and learn secrets beyond the burrito...

Chile en nogada (2017) by Juan Orozco Castellanos Secretaría de Cultura

1. Chile en Nogada: the dish that's an identity

Did you know that one of Mexico's national dishes is the Chile en Nogada? To create this dish, which hails from the Puebla region, a grilled poblano chile is stuffed with a picadillo mix, then topped with a walnut-based sauce and pomegranate seeds.

Chile en Nogada (capedado con ingredientes decorativos) by Fundación Casa del Mendrugo A.C. Museo Casa del Mendrugo

The ingredients mirror the colors of the Mexican flag - green, white, and red - giving the dish a strong national identity. Its use of native ingredients and traditional preparation methods are what makes the dish so dear to Mexico's heart, particularly in Puebla.

Chichen Itza forest (2005) by CyArk CyArk

2. Ancient origins

Mexico's cuisine is old. It has roots in ancient cultures, such as the Mayan civilization which built and lived in Chichen Itza. Scroll on to travel there...

Pre-Columbian cultures in Mexico, including the Aztecs and Mayans, were sophisticated, spiritual peoples. They were also great chefs! Here you can explore the site of Chichen Itza. Nearby is the marketplace, where Mesoamerican food may have been found.

El maíz es la raíz by Fernando Óscar Martín Secretaría de Cultura

Chocolate, chillies, and fruits all have their origins in Mesoamerican societies, and to this day this practice of "milpa" - cultivating corn, beans, squashes, and other crops together on ancestral land - is at the core of Mexican cuisine.

Mercado San Juan Ernesto Pugibet (2021) by Adrián de Ita, Alejandro Rodríguez Alcaldía Cuauhtémoc

3. Unexpected ingredients

Did you know that a Mexican dish called 'quesadilla de huitlacoche' is made using a fungus that grows in corn? Mexican cuisine also includes a range of edible insects like 'jumiles' (a field bug).

Balmori (2021) by Adrián de Ita, Alejandro Rodríguez Alcaldía Cuauhtémoc

4. Contemporary fine dining

The incredible popularity of Mexican staples like tacos and beans means that Mexican fine dining often goes overlooked. But contemporary cooking in Mexico has flair and finery galore! Watch as the chefs at Balmori, Mexico City, make a grilled octopus dish.

Janal Pixan by Trasher

Historia de la restauración de La Casa del Mendrugo

Museo casa del mendrugo, cyark's story, jahuacatas (bean tamales): michoacán recipe with cornfield ingredients, secretaría de cultura, salón tenampa, alcaldía cuauhtémoc, a journey along the qhapaq ñan, "nahua siwameh itech tlekuille": the nahuatl woman at the campfire, amos por siempre: el misterio de los cráneos zapotecas., one place, many stories, stitches of history: tlaquilpa's legacy, mercado martínez de la torre.

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Article contents

Taste, smell, and flavor in mexico.

• Jeffrey M. Pilcher Jeffrey M. Pilcher Department of Historical and Cultural Studies, University of Toronto, Scarborough
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.013.260
• Published online: 03 March 2016

Mexican cuisine is often considered to be a mestizo fusion of indigenous and Spanish foods, but this mixture did not simply happen by accident; it required the labor, imagination, and sensory appreciation of both native and immigrant cooks. In turn, diverse regional and ethnic expressions of domestic cooking, street food, festival dishes, and haute cuisine provided affective foundations for rival attempts to define a Mexican national identity. To understand these processes of historical change, food studies scholars have begun focusing on the embodied sense of taste as an important complement to discursive studies of social construction that formerly predominated in the scholarship. Research from around the world has suggested the rise of sweetness as the predominant sensory experience of the modern dietary transition from peasant cuisines dominated by complex carbohydrates and vegetable proteins to industrial diets based on sugars and fats. This was certainly true of Mexico, but historical sources reveal a far more complicated picture of changing tastes. Although the arrival of sugar cane with the Spanish conquest did begin to shift the sensory balance from pre-Hispanic bitterness (chile peppers, cacao) toward sweetness, the introduction of other new foods brought complementary increases in sourness (lime, tamarind) and savory tastes (from the meat of domesticated animals), as well as new fragrances from spices (cinnamon, clove, pepper). New imagined communities arose with 18th-century creole patriotism among Spaniards born in the Americas and explicitly nationalist ideologies in the 19th century, but these were largely overlaid onto sensory and social understandings that assigned elite status to European flavors. Only in the 20th century did the unique taste of the corn tortilla become identified with the national community, and by that time, industrial production had fundamentally changed the tactile, olfactory, and taste sensations evoked by tortillas.

• material culture
• sensory studies
• nationalism
• dietary transition

The renowned composer and musician Agustín Lara once declared himself to be “as Mexican as epazote and tequila” (un ingrediente nacional como el epazote y la tequila). 1 These two particular “national ingredients” provided a fitting match for Lara’s risqué image as a womanizer and for his rough voice, which seemed to vocally embody the scar on his cheek left by a jilted lover. Although top-shelf tequilas now compete with French cognac or bourbon whiskey, in the 1930s, at the peak of Lara’s popularity, the drink was still considered a rustic moonshine appropriate for bricklayers (albañiles) or, at best, singing cowboy movies (rancheros). Likewise, epazote, an herb believed to reduce flatulence from beans, has an astringent taste reminiscent of weeds and soap. In addition to their harsh flavors, both ingredients conveyed distinctive regional and ethnic associations: epazote is widely thought of as a native Maya food of the Yucatán, while residents of the town of Tequila, near Guadalajara, claim a pure Hispanic heritage unsullied by the race mixture common elsewhere in Mexico. These examples demonstrate both the power of food and drink to evoke visceral affiliations and the historically changing and contested nature of regional and national identities in Mexico.

The Spanish conquest of Mexico was a battle of tastes as well as civilizations; wheat and maize, wine and pulque (fermented sap of the agave) were not just dietary staples and evocative sensory experiences; they also symbolized rival religions, the Catholic Eucharist and indigenous deities. Although tastes for food gradually merged through a process parallel to race mixture (mestizaje), the result was not a homogenous national cuisine but rather endless regional, class, ethnic, and gendered distinctions. Nationalist ideologues of the 19th century sought to create unity within the Mexican menu, even while cultivating social distinction through the pursuit of fashionable French cuisine. Only in the mid-20th century did indigenous ingredients gain social acceptance following a monumental social revolution and during a period of industrial modernization. As women’s kitchen labor was mechanized and commodified, peasant cooking acquired nostalgic cachet, especially when linked to the glories of ancient civilizations rather than still-marginalized living Indians. Yet despite the homogenizing effects of markets and state policy, Mexican cuisine continues to be divided by region, class, race, and gender.

Indigenous Cuisines

Food and drink, and the flavors they evoked, played a significant role in shaping pre-Hispanic societies, in both material life and cosmological belief. The physical geography of where crops could grow, particularly the staple grain, maize, influenced the contours of indigenous societies, although gendered technologies of cooking evolved in response to changing social needs as well as new food sources. Differing subsistence strategies and culturally specific flavors in turn created regional cuisines and civilizational identities that differed profoundly from the Mexican national identities that emerged long after the Spanish conquest.

The geographer Paul Kirchhoff divided pre-Hispanic Mexico into two broad cultural regions: Mesoamerica, a relatively fertile land in the central and southern parts of the country, where maize agriculture supported complex societies, and Aridamerica, encompassing the northern third of modern Mexico, where dry conditions limited populations to small foraging bands. The various peoples of Mesoamerica constructed highly productive terraced and irrigated fields to grow maize, beans, and squash. Cooks supplemented these basic staples with flavorful condiments including chiles, tomatoes, avocados, cactus fruit and paddles, and various tropical fruits. Although turkeys and small dogs were the only domesticated animals of Mesoamerica, a wide range of fish, game, and insects were also eaten. The foraging peoples of Aridamerica ate a higher proportion of animal protein from hunting, while still often planting maize as part of seasonal migrations. People throughout ancient Mexico, whether settled or nomadic, collected wild herbs and seeds as an important part of the diet. Cacao, which only grew in the southernmost parts of modern-day Mexico, was a valuable commodity traded all the way to what is now the southwestern United States.

In ancient Mesoamerica, the labor of producing maize was sharply divided by gender. Although migratory men and women often shared tasks such as gathering foods and trapping small animals, sedentary societies drew a line between the male field work and female domestic cooking. Women’s work was essential because maize must undergo a number of culinary treatments to achieve its full nutritional potential. As a vegetarian protein, it lacks essential amino acids and must be prepared with complementary foods such as beans to offset the relative lack of animal protein in the diet. Another nutritional deficiency of maize is that B vitamins become chemically bound as the plant matures. Ancient Maya cooks developed an alkaline treatment process of cooking the maize with slaked lime or wood ash to yield nixtamal (hominy). The next cooking step, grinding the nixtamal on a basalt metate (saddle quern), produced a nutrient-rich dough. Maya women steamed the dough in small husk-wrapped cakes called tamales, while cooks in central Mexico patted out round tortillas by hand and cooked them on earthenware griddles. Thus, ancient Mesoamerican civilization depended on the hard labor of female cooks, bent for hours each day over the metate.

The act of feeding was also foundational to pre-Hispanic cosmologies. According to the sacred Maya book, the Popol Vuh, a goddess created the first humans out of maize. Many indigenous myths recalled earlier versions of animal-like people who ate more primitive foods such as mesquite seeds, thus reinforcing the idea of civilizational differences between sedentary and migratory peoples. Another common religious belief advanced the notion that humans had to feed the gods through the sacrifice of blood in order to ensure abundant crops. Establishing a fundamental equivalence between human flesh and maize, they placed themselves in a cosmological food chain that recognized the inherent violence that humans perpetrated on the environment, even when eating a basically vegetarian diet.

Pre-Hispanic Mexico displayed a pronounced culinary regionalism. The Florentine codex recorded Aztec stereotypes about the food of their neighbors: for example, the Otomí living on the frontiers of Aridamerica supposedly picked their corn before it ripened, while the mountain-dwelling Toluca did not flavor their foods with chiles. These culinary stereotypes thus served to mark civilizational boundaries, although the Aztecs were themselves former nomads from Aridamerica, who rewrote their own history after establishing themselves as lords of the valley of Anáhuac. Maya cuisine was distinguished most notably by their preference for tamales instead of the tortillas that served in Central Mexico as the daily bread. 2 Culinary differentiation also marked social classes within societies. The Aztecs maintained complex sumptuary laws to prevent commoners from drinking chocolate or participating in elite banquets. Nevertheless, the great market of Tlateloloco, situated on the northern edge of the Aztecs’ island capital, offered street foods from all parts of the empire, thereby helping to preserve a popular cuisine based on the skilled labor of female cooks molding nixtamal into delicate confections rather than on exotic, and therefore expensive, ingredients such as chocolate.

Although it is difficult to recover with precision the historical flavors of ancient civilizations, certain tastes and aromas were clearly fundamental to daily life while others marked off festive occasions. The most everyday tastes among the Aztecs were corn tortillas, made savory through the process of nixtamalization. The fragrance of wooden fires further enhanced the flavor, although shortages of wood may have led to burning other substances, including perhaps dung. Beans, cooked tender in earthenware pots, added further savory notes to the daily diet. Chile peppers and, for the elite, chocolate were predominantly bitter rather than sweet. The Florentine Codex contains descriptions suggesting that stews, called molli in the Nahuatl language, offered simple flavor combinations of chiles, vegetables, and meats, for example, yellow chiles and tomatoes with white fish and fowl, or red chiles and ground squash seeds with dark fish. Turkey was consumed with many different sauces made with yellow, green, or red chiles. Salt was used to preserve various foods, and trade from coastal saltpans to inland cities was a bulwark of pre-Hispanic commerce. A sprinkle of salt might be the only flavoring added to everyday tortillas, heightening the savor of the nixtamal. Fermented foods such as pulque added sourness to the palate. The Maya also fermented their nixtamal at times to make a sour dough that heightened the nutritional value, like yogurt, and also changed the flavor. Sweetness entered the diet through the consumption of fresh fruits and honey. Texture was also an important component of the flavor profile. Tamales were probably rather dense, although tequesquite (mineral with sodium bicarbonate) could have been added to lighten their texture. Frothiness was considered important for chocolate, and cooks poured the liquid chocolate back and forth between tall earthenware containers. 3

Taste helped to imagine local communities in pre-Hispanic times, but they were quite different from the nation that Mexico would later become. Sharp social divisions existed between the nomads of Aridamerica and the farmers of Mesoamerica, as well as between diverse cultural groups such as the Maya and Nahuas of Mesoamerica. Yet those boundaries were frequently crossed, as the Aztecs themselves demonstrated. Social boundaries were rearranged more radically following European contact.

Culinary Blending in the Colonial Era

Spanish conquistadors introduced foods along with language and religion in their attempt to remake indigenous societies in the image of Europe, but although they renamed the colony New Spain, the culture continued to be fragmented along regional and ethnic lines. In many regions, particularly in the south, European ingredients added only a few new tastes to what remained a basically indigenous cuisine and society. Spaniards focused their colonizing efforts on the central highlands and the north, transplanting familiar foods, but the settlers also accepted new flavors such as the native chiles. Coastal areas, meanwhile, had further fusion cuisine with the introduction of new foods by African slaves and Asian migrants from Spain’s empire in the Philippines. Despite pervasive race mixture and culinary transculturation, enduring colonial hierarchies privileged European influences while disparaging indigenous tastes.

The Columbian exchange of plants and animals reshaped the landscape and food habits throughout New Spain. Wheat, wine, and olive oil were not only European dietary staples; they were also essential for the Catholic ritual of the Eucharist. Even while planting these new foods, missionaries sought to eradicate native foods such as maize and amaranth that were associated with local religions. The medieval Spanish economy was founded on pastoralism as well as agriculture, and meat was essential to the diet of European aristocrats. Fortunately for the conquistadors, although not for their indigenous subjects, cattle, sheep, and hogs bred prolifically in the new landscape, where they faced few natural predators and often grew fat on the natives’ crops. Numerous other Mediterranean domesticates took root, including citrus and stone fruit, walnuts and almonds, and aromatic root vegetables like onion, garlic, and carrots. Spanish officials also sought to transplant Asian spices to the New World, but while a few spices such as cinnamon, coriander, and ginger became naturalized, the spice trade proved largely unprofitable. By contrast, sugar, another Asian domesticate that had been introduced to the Mediterranean by Arab traders, became an important crop in the tropical lowlands of New Spain. Rice was likely introduced to Mexico by West African slaves, although African varieties of rice were later displaced by more productive Asian strains.

European colonialism also transformed the gendered labor of food production, while still preserving patriarchal distinctions. Wheat required a host of expensive new technologies, including plows, mills, and ovens. The production of alcohol likewise employed grape presses, fermentation vessels, and, beginning in the 17th century, copper stills for making brandy. Sugar mills were equally elaborate mechanisms, driven by animal and later water power and requiring elaborate boiling tanks to remove impurities within the cane. All of these industries were gendered male, although often performed by forced labor—slaves in lowland sugar plantations and Indian tribute workers and criminals in urban bakeries. Unlike native elites, who were fed by female cooks, European aristocrats employed male chefs using brick stoves (fogón) and frying pans. Domestic cooking, however, retained the indigenous technology of basalt grinding stones and earthenware griddles and cooking pots. Although universal in Spanish homes as well as the countryside, indigenous cooking technology was relegated to lower-class status.

Indeed, race as well as gender came to define culinary and social status in New Spain, even as mestizaje spread through society. Rebecca Earle has described the importance of food in differentiating Spaniards from Indians, not only in maintaining social hierarchies but in a corporeal sense as well. Colonists feared that their bodies would degenerate in the insalubrious New World environment, and they sought out wheat bread, wine, and meat to preserve their health. Urban artisans such as bakers and butchers therefore became important arbiters of colonial status, despite their low personal standing. In 18th-century Mexico City, the finest wheat bread was reserved for the colonial elite. Large commercial bakeries used lower quality wheat, maize, and other flours to produce coarse bread for the mixed-race castes. At the bottom of this hierarchy were Indians and the poorest plebeians living in slums around the city center, who consumed corn tortillas.

European foods were also fundamental to the urban commercial economy, as wealthy administrators, clergy, and merchants demanded foods appropriate to their rank. The devastation caused by European livestock to indigenous farmland prompted the viceregal authorities to limit grazing to peripheral coastal and northern regions of the colony. As a result, cattle and sheep were driven long distances to the urban markets in the central highlands. By the 18th century, grain markets had become similarly integrated throughout Mexico. Large quantities of both wheat and maize were required to feed the principal cities. These markets, in turn, led to heightened social inequalities, and famine became widespread among impoverished rural dwellers during a serious of poor harvests at the end of the 18th century. 4

The Spanish conquest seems to have shifted the indigenous sensory spectrum gradually away from bitter and heightened the emphasis on sweet and sour, while also adding savory meats and aromatic spices. The simple flavors of pre-Hispanic molli were transformed into far more elaborate moles. The tastes of chiles remained foundational to these dishes, and European almonds and sesame seeds were similar to the pumpkin and amaranth used to thicken indigenous stews. The introduction of Old World ingredients such as meats and spices, particularly cinnamon, clove, and black pepper, transformed the dish more radically, giving it a complex, baroque character. European ingredients also made inroads into indigenous diets. Although natives largely rejected the priests’ wheat bread, they did come to add pork fat to tamales, providing both a richer taste and also a lighter texture by allowing air to be beaten into the nixtamal dough. Sugar also spread through society and was used as a preservative to supplement salt. All sorts of fruits, vegetables, and seeds were candied, and sweet potato, pineapple, coconut, and amaranth remain popular desserts for all classes of Mexican society. Sugar came to be added to chocolate as well, replacing some indigenous flavorings. The proliferation of citrus trees from Spain and tamarind from the Philippines made sour flavors more common, and a squeeze of lime became ubiquitous on all manner of foods.

Spanish colonialism sought to establish a rigid hierarchy, with European settlers and culture at the top and all things indigenous below, but the social and culinary landscape became far more confused. Creoles, who were born in the Americas of Spanish lineage but were widely excluded from political power by the crown, began to adopt indigenous tastes as a sensory grounding of patriotic attachment to the land. A taste for chiles in particular came to separate creoles from their peninsular Spanish rivals, even as differences between the staples maize and wheat preserved social distinctions of race and class in Mexico, thus setting the stage for a conflicted national cuisine following independence.

Imagining a National Cuisine

Nationalist ideologues quickly perceived the value of culinary patriotism in helping to naturalize the imagined communities they sought to create, yet the diversity of regional and ethnic cuisines frustrated early attempts to unify the nation at the table. Elites sought to use foods as a means of building the modern, European nation they aspired to rule, and proclaimed their sophistication through a taste for French haute cuisine. They also adopted the newly emerging science of nutrition to explain the backwardness of the countryside by blaming it on the supposed deficiencies of the corn tortilla. Thus, wheat, the hallmark of Spanish colonialism, remained the ideal within nationalist discourse of 19th-century Mexico.

Cookbooks and other culinary literature helped shape the way that Mexicans imagined their new nation. Beginning in the 1830s, authors composed dozens of works exploring Mexico’s culinary heritage and introducing novel dishes from Europe. Although the first thick, leather-bound tomes were affordable only for the rich, by the 1860s the spread of literacy and the rise of a penny press brought paperback recipe collections to middle-class housewives and even servants. Many of these works advanced a clear patriotic agenda, naming dishes for national heroes such as Donato Guerra or, collectively, the Insurgents. Yet care must be taken in associating these supposed culinary novelties with the 19th century. The historian José Luis Juárez has debunked a popular origin myth of chiles en nogada, whose green stuffed chiles, white walnut sauce, and red pomegranate seeds were supposedly combined in honor of the new national flag. A common colonial dish, these ornate stuffed chiles were not actually attributed to the emperor Agustín Iturbide until the 1940s, and then by conservative intellectuals. 5 Moreover, the social and geographic scope of Mexican culinary literature was generally limited to creole urban dishes from Puebla, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Guadalajara, and Mexico City, thereby ignoring indigenous dishes and peripheral regions, particularly the Yucatán and the northern frontier. This usage reflected not only the perception of national elites but also international stereotypes. Many cookbooks were prepared by Parisian publishing houses and intended for a pan-American market that was more interested in the historic capitals of Mexican creole culture than in the actual diversity of village cooking. 6 Travelers by coach or train of necessity sampled rural foods, but a self-conscious culinary tourism among indigenous communities would not become fashionable until the late 20th century.

Nineteenth-century culinary tourists also pursued the national cuisine through a variegated urban geography of street foods, taverns, and restaurants. Then as now, the food trades provided entrepreneurial opportunities for newcomers, particularly French, Italian, German, and Chinese migrants, who introduced new culinary fashions. Although small in numbers, these migrants had a significant influence because of their perceived cultural capital. Until mid-century, foreign restaurants shared their preferred middle- and upper-class clientele with traditional fondas (Hispanic bistros), pulque shops, and street vendors. During religious festivals, rural dwellers made pilgrimages to urban centers for the spectacle of mass and to earn some cash by selling dishes both traditional and modern, including tamales, ice cream, and aguas frescas (fruit soft drinks) at Holy Week and chito (fried goat) for the festival of the Virgin of Guadalupe (December 12). During the second half of the 19th century, and particularly under the rule of Porfirio Díaz ( 1876–1911 ), exclusive social clubs and French restaurants became centers of elite sociability.

This reorganization of public space also reshaped the gendered labor of the home. The increasing adoption of imported gendered ideology, the Victorian “cult of true womanhood,” isolated middle-class women in the home. Wealthy Porfirians employed male chefs to produce French haute cuisine using imported stoves and other kitchen appliances. Elite women, or those who aspired to such status, acquired domestic manuals to learn the decorum of Victorian entertaining. While this labor imposed emotional demands on aspiring elite women, the burden was even heavier on maids pressed into reproducing foreign delicacies on the metate and fogón of the colonial kitchen. Preserved and canned foods such as pâté, ham, and sausage, along with wines, could be purchased from migrant grocers to provide a European touch for middle-class housewives who could not afford to employ a foreign chef. At least the maids were on more familiar ground in preparing traditional moles, stews, and tamales for secluded, domestic meals. Social conventions also allowed the elite to sample enchiladas and other street foods on evening paseos through Mexico City’s Alameda Park and its provincial counterparts. Thus, the basis for a common national cuisine based largely on indigenous dishes was established in the affective economy of the elite, but it was not acknowledged publicly until social changes of the 20th century.

Class-based divisions between the fine dining and street foods were paralleled by declining nutritional access for the rural poor. Although the chaos of the wars of independence actually benefited many campesinos around the time of independence by allowing them to retain more of their harvest for subsistence, mid-century reform laws increased the commercialization of food supplies and heightened inequalities. Haciendas catering to profitable urban and export markets appropriated land from villages that had formerly fed themselves with maize and beans. 7 Mexican elites were aware of the growing nutritional problems, but rather than allow more equal access to land, they attributed rural backwardness to cultural causes. Using the newly developed science of nutrition, they argued that the inferiority of a maize-based diet prevented the poor from improving their situation. The answer, according to this “tortilla discourse,” was not land reform but rather a European diet based on wheat.

Cookbooks and other evidence suggest that flavors were slow to follow the social and cultural changes that swept Mexico in the 19th century. New foods spread unevenly, further contributing to the regional differentiation of Mexican cuisine. European fine dining restaurants and imported luxuries were limited to wealthy urban consumers, or, in the case of bottled beer, perhaps to factory workers. Migrants did introduce new regional specialties; for example, Welsh miners brought pasties with them in the 1820s when they came to work in the silver mines of Real del Monte, in the present-day state of Hidalgo, northeast of Mexico City. Agricultural colonists scattered new varieties of European cheese across the countryside, while Chinese migrants brought stir-fry to northern Mexico, particularly the state of Sonora, as a consequence of U.S. racial exclusion laws. Yet even these new dishes were often Mexicanized through the incorporation of chile peppers and other local ingredients.

If the actual tastes of Mexican foods changed relatively little over the 19th century, on the role of cookbooks in the construction of a national cuisine grounded in regional differences but united in spirit. Thus, the creation of a Mexican national cuisine, and indeed the modernization of the Mexican kitchen, was more apparent than real in the 19th century. Cookbooks did contribute to an ideological unification of the nation through the acknowledgement and at times exploration of regional differences—culinary patrias chicas . Thus, the dissemination of recipes, like the development of a regionally inflected Mexican songbook, provided concrete sensory expression to the imagined community of the nation. But new culinary fashions and food technologies were relatively limited in scope. The indigenous cuisine of maize tortillas, beans, and chiles, augmented during the colonial period by occasional meats and condiments, remained the dietary staple of the vast majority of the population. Nevertheless, the changes suggested during the first hundred years of independence would become widespread during the 20th century.

Industrial Cuisine

The agrarian uprising that swept Mexico beginning in 1910 confirms the anthropologist David Howes’s observation that social revolutions entail sensory revolutions as well. 8 Intended to guarantee access to land so that campesino communities could feed themselves corn tortillas, the Mexican revolution brought profound transformations to the nation’s dietary staple. The introduction of mechanical nixtamal mills and tortilla machines revolutionized the lives of countless rural women, who no longer spent hours each day grinding corn on the metate and cooking tortillas. The mid-century origins of a dehydrated tortilla flour industry, and of industrial agriculture more generally, further changed the taste and social life of maize, while making it more difficult for communities to support themselves through subsistence agriculture. As ordinary Mexicans came to depend on commodity maize for their daily meals, the elite claimed social distinction by consuming handmade tortillas, after having spurned the indigenous grain for hundreds of years. The sensory transformations and social ironies of maize were repeated throughout the Mexican food system as 20th-century industrialization and urbanization served to standardize a national cuisine while preserving and reformulating hierarchies of region, gender, race, and class.

Efforts to industrialize Mexican food were split between conflicting political agendas that sought both to integrate local agriculture into global commodity chains and to maintain the country’s food self-sufficiency. In the 1920s and 1930s, after a decade of civil war, governments encouraged the reconstruction and expansion of Porfirian commercial farms to help feed the cities, even while granting communal lands to strategic peasant constituencies such as Emiliano Zapatista’s followers in Morelos. Land distribution reached a peak under the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas ( 1934–1940 ), but small farmers ultimately lost out to the more pressing political demands for cheap urban food. Mexican agriculture was further diverted from subsistence production during World War II to grow strategic crops needed for the Allied war effort, including seed oils, grains, sugar, and even poppies to make morphine to treat wounded soldiers. The so-called Green Revolution, developed with the assistance of scientists from the Rockefeller Foundation, further consolidated Mexican commercial agriculture based on monoculture seeds and chemical inputs. Unable to compete with these commercial and infrastructural advantages, millions of small farmers migrated to the cities in the postwar era, providing a labor reserve that further subsidized national industry. The tortilla industry benefited from both the government subsidies and maize monoculture, favoring particular varieties suited to large-scale milling. 9 Commercial agriculture also specialized in basic staples such as wheat, corn, and beans; high value fruits and vegetables including avocados, tomatoes, and citrus; and livestock, all intended for urban or North American markets.

The modern Mexican diet was likewise shaped by new commercial channels for delivering food. Urban reformers of the late Porfirian era built covered municipal markets and slaughterhouses to replace the seeming disorder and unhygienic conditions of open-air markets (tianguís) and livestock corrals. From the beginning, these new institutions struggled both to provision a rapidly growing population and to contain vendors who were accustomed to ambulant work routines. Around mid-century, supermarkets modeled on the United States began to open in affluent neighborhoods, resulting in a growing privatization of food provisioning. North American food processing companies also encouraged the rise of the Mexican junk food industry. At times, firms catered to local tastes by hiring food engineers from New Jersey to devise industrial formulas for adding chicharrón (pork crackling) flavor to grain pellets. Other new tastes came through international migration, such as peanuts with crunchy soy coating called cacahuates japonés , which were invented in Mexico by a Japanese immigrant.

The industrial kitchen also had profound consequences for gendered labor in Mexico, helping draw women into the workplace. The introduction of mechanical nixtamal mills in the first half of the 20th century was described by one villager as a “revolution of the women against the authority of the men.” 10 No longer bound to subsistence food production, rural women could supplement household income through artisanal crafts or petty trade. By mid-century, economical tortilla factories were spreading throughout the country, further mechanizing the dietary staple. As blenders became standard equipment for grinding sauces and other dishes, the age-old metate was finally retired from the Mexican kitchen for all but the most festive of occasions. Pressure cookers, gas stoves, and refrigerators further transformed cooking, although the acceptance of new technologies and foods did not eliminate women’s domestic skills. Instead, they learned to adapt new items to traditional favorites, for example, boiling cans of condensed milk to make the popular caramel dessert cajeta . The historian Sandra Aguilar-Rodríguez has observed that these new kitchen technologies were one of the principle ways in which both rural and urban women experienced modernity at mid-century.

Food also became one of the political foundations of Mexico’s one-party state for most of the 20th century. The historian Enrique Ochoa has examined the growth of an elaborate food welfare bureaucracy that began under the Cárdenas administration and intended to prevent social unrest. Rather than seeking to ensure basic dietary adequacy, the bureaucracy responded haphazardly to successive social crises while pursuing the basic objectives of forestalling political unrest and repressing union wage demands. The establishment of a National Institute of Nutrition led to studies repudiating the Porfirian tortilla discourse, but the recognition of corn’s basic value did nothing to resolve the widespread poverty that stunted the growth of so many children. Nutritional reformers continued to emulate North American dietary advice, campaigning for the increased consumption of powdered milk, despite the lack of pure water and widespread lactose intolerance. 11 Perhaps the most significant change to popular diets came through indirect policies, particularly government subsidies to the junk food industry. Already in the early 1990s, Dr. Adolfo Chávez identified a dietary trap in which poor Mexicans were acquiring the health problems of the rich world, including obesity and heart disease, while still suffering the dietary problems of the poor world such as anemia due to the lack of basic nutrients. 12

As the diet became increasingly commercialized and industrialized, a nostalgic concern for preserving traditions came to define the public expressions of Mexican cuisine. The taco and the torta (sandwich), although seemingly age-old folk foods, were commercial products of urbanization, first appearing in the archival record in late-19th-century Mexico City, as migrants from the countryside served up their regional culinary traditions to neighbors on an inexpensive tortilla or bolillo (flat roll). Continued migration through the 20th century served to nationalize these invented culinary traditions, even while helping spread local variations such as specialty tacos. 13 Regional cuisines themselves became standardized through culinary tourism, from Sonora’s carne asada, served up in 1950s Hermosillo as part of nostalgia for the rancho, to the codification of Oaxaca’s diverse local cooking traditions into an iconic “seven moles” as a convenient weekly round of restaurant specials. 14 Alcohol provided further opportunities for the commercial production of folklore through media at mid-century. The Sauza family of Jalisco supported radio programs and ranchero movies that wove together romantic comedy, popular music, and rural settings to promote the region’s tequila, thereby cementing the acceptance of a regional beverage as a national icon. 15

The 20th century brought the most profound changes in Mexican taste since the conquest, if not since the domestication of agriculture. The peasant diet of complex carbohydrates and vegetable proteins was largely replaced by an industrial one based on sugar and fats. Sweetness, already growing in importance since the colonial era, became the predominant flavor of industrial soft drinks and snack foods. Yet other changes could be quite subtle, as peasants described the difference between corn ground on the basalt metate, which acquired a particular flavor because of the bits of stone impregnated in the nixtamal dough, and corn ground by the steel blades of a mechanical mill. The particular flavors of cooking over a wood fire were also lost during industrialization; as one village connoisseur explained, the newfangled tortillas “tasted like electricity.” 16 These changes in food were not experienced as taste alone; the transformation of the tortilla also brought new textures due to dehydrated nixtamal, creating what journalist Alma Guillermoprieto called “the rounds of grilled cardboard that at present constitute the nation’s basic foodstuff.” 17

The tortilla gained acceptance within the Mexican national cuisine during the social revolutions of the 20th century, even as the taste of this staple dish was degraded by industrialization. Tortilla mechanization, and related changes in the Mexican food system, facilitated radical social changes of urbanization and female movement into the labor market. As working-class women turned to factory-made tortillas of dehydrated corn flour, the wealthy sought out artisanal tortillas made of fresh nixtamal as a form of social distinction. 18 Thus, the Mexican national cuisine preserved social hierarchies, even while embracing a pre-Hispanic staple.

Reflections on Taste and Nation

Commensality has always been one of the basic foundations of human communities at all scales, and nationalist ideologues were quick to employ food in their efforts to imagine a national community. As a preverbal form of culture, tastes for food reach deep into both individual and collective consciousness. Although scholars have contended that tastes for food are the most resilient of cultural expressions, historical evidence demonstrates dramatic changes in Mexican tastes over time. Using the Spanish conquest as a convenient historical benchmark, although without assuming uniform or fixed pre-Hispanic tastes, it is possible to distinguish two significant periods of change, the early colonial formation of mestizo cuisines and the 20th-century introduction of industrial food processing. By contrast, the revolutions of the 19th century appear to have brought little significant change in the nation’s diets and tastes. The arc of Mexican culinary development seems to run from pre-Hispanic emphasis on bitterness to a colonial cuisine marked by increasing sweet and savory flavors to a 20th-century triumph of sweetness.

The role of outsiders in constructing the imagined community through food likewise becomes clear from this brief survey of food and the senses. Mexican cuisine was constructed through successive waves of migration, starting with the arrival of “indigenous” peoples more than ten thousand years ago. Moreover, claims that particular foods exemplify Mexico—whether European wheat bread beginning with the colonial era or artisanal corn tortillas with the contemporary fashion for indigenous culinary tourism—served as a form of culinary diplomacy intended to gain status for Mexican elites in the eyes of outsiders. Many global representations of Mexican food were actually disseminated by outsiders, including North American food processing firms such as Taco Bell and Old El Paso. Although nationalists have decried chili con carne and taco shells as inauthentic bastardizations of Mexican regional cuisine, these dishes were actually created by Mexican Americans living in border regions that were once part of Mexico. Thus, attempts to define authenticity, whether based on geographical or ethnic origins, are often politicized attempts to erase the cultural contributions of marginalized peoples, whether the indigenous people of Mexico or Mexican Americans. 19

Contemporary changes in diet and cuisine, although at times seemingly radical, have in many cases culminated long-term trends. The recent globalization and privatization of the Mexican food system, marked by the remarkable predominance of Walmart in food and other retailing, is at another level simply the continuation of commercializing trends reaching back to the 19th century and even the colonial era. 20 Meanwhile, the rise of a restaurant haute cuisine, referred to as the nueva cocina mexicana , with its imaginative attempts to recreate Aztec and Maya dishes, confirms the importance of nostalgia as a form of social distinction. European and increasingly Asian influences within this nueva cocina recall the culinary fashions introduced by 19th-century migrants. And yet, although industrialization has certainly brought an unheralded standardization of Mexican regional cuisines, differences persist in the practices of home cooks. The culinary imagined community in Mexico thus remains largely a product of the imagination.

Discussion of Historical Literature on Food and Taste

Although historians have long taken seriously the production of distribution of food through the analysis of agriculture, food riots, and nutrition, it is only since the late 20th century that the field of food studies has begun to take seriously the labor of home cooking as well as cultures of consumption. The French Annales school, led at mid-century by Fernand Braudel, is rightly seen as a pioneer in the study of food and nutrition as one of the basic structures that determined standards of living through a Malthusian balance between production and population levels. 21 In Mexican history, the interdisciplinary Berkeley school was another early advocate of these quantitative methods, particularly with demographic studies by Sherburne F. Cook, Lesley Byrd Simpson, and Woodrow Borah, who suggested that the terrible mortality of the Conquest actually improved the diets of survivors, thereby adding a new twist to the debates about the Black Legend of Spanish colonialism. 22 But as the French-trained historian Enrique Florescano showed through the documentation of maize price histories, by the 18th century the Malthusian balance had shifted once again, and the severe food shortages of the late colonial era contributed to the crisis of independence. 23

The rise of the new cultural history in the 1980s added emphasis on consumption and identity to previous studies of food production and distribution. The pioneering cultural history of Mexican food, Sonia Corcuera de Mancera’s Entre gula y templanza ( 1979 ), revealed the deep civilizational values attached to indigenous maize and Spanish wheat as well as the widespread culinary mestizaje that took shape over the centuries since the Conquest. More recent works by Arnold Bauer, Robert Weis, and Sandra Aguilar-Rodríguez have examined more fully the importance of the gendered labor of food processing. Enrique Ochoa’s history of 20th-century food politics demonstrated the success of the one-party state in creating an elaborate welfare bureaucracy to manipulate food markets and forestall urban unrest, without ever addressing the poor nutrition of the general population. Kristen Appendini’s research has carried this story forward through the contemporary neoliberal restructuring of the food system.

National cuisines have been an important focus of recent historical research around the world, thereby demonstrating how food has served to naturalize the imagined communities of nationalist ideologues. 24 My first book, ¡Que vivan los tamales! Food and the Making of Mexican Identity ( 1998 ), examined the attempts of Mexican elites to eradicate maize, the foundation of indigenous societies, and replace it with the commercial crop wheat. The effort failed in large part because women, as organizers of family consumption, used their own resources as the basis for an alternative vision of the national identity. José Luis Juárez has written a trilogy documenting in meticulous detail the rise of a Mexican national cuisine from reluctant creole patriots of the late colonial era to bombastic culinary professionals of the contemporary era. An innovative study by Steffan Igor Ayora Díaz documented culinary nationalism in a separatist region among Yucatecans who sought to forge an autonomous gastronomic culture, only to see their project subsumed within a hegemonic national culture. My book Planet Taco: A Global History of Mexican Food ( 2012 ) explored the limits of a national perspective in food history by showing the importance of outsiders, particularly Mexican Americans, in shaping global images of Mexican cuisine.

Sensory histories of Mexican food have only begun to be written, although the field holds great potential for future research. 25 Two recent works in Mexican history illustrate the methods and possibilities, as well as the archival challenges for pinning down the ephemeral experiences of physical taste. Marcy Norton’s history of chocolate upended traditional accounts of Spanish imperialism by showing how indigenous practices and technologies of production and consumption were incorporated into European medical beliefs and taste preferences. José Orozco, meanwhile, described how tequila manufacturers sought to use modern distilling technology to remove the sour taste and rank odors of the indigenous pulque. These two sources point in opposite directions, suggesting both the potential hegemonic and counterhegemonic power of food. Continued research on Mexicans’ evolving tastes could help to clarify the role of food in the nation’s history.

Primary Sources

Food is everywhere and nowhere in the archive. The codices, largely written in the 16th century by indigenous scribes under Spanish direction, provide information in great detail on culinary practices of pre-Hispanic peoples. Supplemented with archaeological sources and records of material culture, they provide an important historical baseline for the development of Mexico’s national cuisine. Colonial archives also contain rich sources on culinary mestizaje, although the scattered references made it difficult to assemble a coherent picture. Fortunately, digital finding aids for Mexican archives are now readily available, thanks largely to the work of Linda Arnold, and future scholars will have a much easier time in their research.

Sources for the national period are likewise voluminous and scattered. The best collections of historic cookbooks and culinary literature can be found at the Centro de Estudios de la Historia de México CARSO (formerly Condumex) in Mexico City; the Mandeville Special Collections library at the University of California, San Diego; and the Rare Book Collections at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Traditional documentary repositories such as the Archivo General de la Nación, municipal and notarial archives, and more specialized sources such as the ministries of education, health, and the economy contain rich materials for those diligent enough to plow through them. Newspapers, increasingly digitized, complement these sources, yet all of the above tend to privilege the foods of the elite. Numerous travel accounts such as Fanny Calderón de la Barca’s Letters from Mexico provide another rich source on foods, particularly of the lower classes, which are largely invisible in culinary literature. Folk songs and sayings are perhaps the best source for the voices of the popular classes. Particularly valuable collections are Aline Desentis Otálora, El que come y canta , and Herón Pérez Martínez, Refrán viejo nunca miente . 26

Links to Digital Materials

La Cocina Histórica . Recipes from the Mexican Cookbook Collection at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

La Cocina Mexicana . Recipes and biographies of exemplary cooks compiled at the University of Guadalajara.

Comida Mexicana: La Mejor Cocina del Mundo . Includes links to recipes, restaurants, stores, and cooking schools.

Mexico Cooks! Blog by Cristina Potters.

Mexico in My Kitchen: Traditional Homestyle Mexican Recipes . Blog by Mely Martínez C.

The Mija Chronicles . Blog by Lesley Téllez.

Pati’s Mexican Table . Blog by Pati Jinich.

RickBayless.com . Website of leading restaurateur.

Top 49 Mexican Cooking Blogs .

Traditional Mexican Cuisine: Ancestral, Ongoing Community Culture, the Michoacán Paradigm . Official inscription of Mexican regional cooking into the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Further Reading

• Aguilar-Rodríguez, Sandra . “Cooking Modernity: Food, Gender, and Class in 1940s and 1950s Mexico City and Guanajuato.” PhD Diss., University of Manchester, 2008.
• Appendini, Kirsten . De la milpa a los tortibonos: La restructuración de la política alimentaria en México . 2d ed. Mexico City: El Colegio de México, 2001.
• Ayora Diaz , Steffan Igor . Foodscapes, Foodfields, and Identities in Yucatan . New York: Berghahn, 2012.
• Bauer, Arnold J. Goods, Power, History: Latin America’s Material Culture . Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
• Coe, Sophie D. America’s First Cuisines . Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994.
• Corcuera, Sonia . Entre gula y templanza: Un aspecto de la historia mexicana . Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1981.
• Crosby, Alfred W., Jr. The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492 . Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1972.
• Earle, Rebecca . The Body of the Conquistador: Food, Race, and the Colonial Experience in Spanish America, 1492–1700 . Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
• Fitting, Elizabeth . The Struggle for Maize: Campesinos, Workers, and Transgenic Corn in the Mexican Countryside . Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2011.
• García Acosta, Virginia . Las panaderías, sus dueños y trabajadores: Ciudad de México, siglo XVIII . Mexico City: Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores de Antropología Social, 1989.
• Juárez López , José Luis . La lenta emergencia de la comida mexicana, ambigüedades criollas 1750–1800 . Mexico City: Editorial Porrúa, 2000.
• Juárez López , José Luis . Nacionalismo culinario: La cocina mexicana en el siglo XX . Mexico City: Conaculta, 2008.
• Juárez López , José Luis . Engranaje culinario: La cocina mexicana en el siglo XIX . Mexico City: Conaculta, 2012.
• Long, Janet , ed. Conquista y comida: Consecuencias del encuentro de dos mundos . Mexico City: UNAM, 1996.
• Norton, Marcy . Sacred Gifts, Profane Pleasures: A History of Tobacco and Chocolate in the Atlantic World . Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2008.
• Ochoa, Enrique C. Feeding Mexico: The Political Uses of Food since 1910 . Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 2000.
• Pierce, Gretchen , and Aurea Toxqui , eds. Alcohol in Latin America: A Social and Cultural History . Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2014.
• Pilcher, Jeffrey M. ¡Que vivan los tamales! Food and the Making of Mexican Identity . Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998.
• Pilcher, Jeffrey M. The Sausage Rebellion: Public Health, Private Enterprise, and Meat in Mexico City, 1890–1917 . Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2006
• Pilcher, Jeffrey M. Planet Taco: A Global History of Mexican Food . New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.
• Warman, Arturo . Corn and Capitalism: How a Botanical Bastard Grew to Global Dominance . Translated by Nancy L. Westrate . Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003.
• Weis, Robert . Bakers and Basques: A Social History of Bread in Mexico . Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2012.

1. Andrew Wood , Agustín Lara: A Cultural History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014).

2. Karl A. Taube , “The Maize Tamale in Classic Maya Diet, Epigraphy, and Art,” American Antiquity 54.1 (1989): 31–51.

3. Brian Stross , “Food, Foam and Fermentation in Mesoamerica,” Food, Culture, and Society 14.4 (December 2011): 477–501.

4. Amílcar Eduardo Challú , “Grain Markets, Food Supply Policies, and Living Standards in Colonial Mexico,” Journal of Economic History 69.2 (2009): 533–568.

5. José Luis Juárez , Engranaje culinario: La cocina mexicana en el siglo XIX (Mexico City: Conaculta, 2012).

6. Sarah Bak-Geller Corona , “ Los recetarios ‘afrancesados’ del siglo XIX en México: La construcción de la nación Mexicana y de un modelo culinario nacional ,” Anthropology of Food S6 (December 2009): 3, 9.

7. John Coatsworth , “Anotaciones sobre la producción de alimentos durante el Porfiriato,” Historia Mexicana 26.2 (1976): 167–187.

8. David Howes , “Introduction: Empire of the Senses,” in Empire of the Senses: The Sensual Culture Reader (Oxford: Berg, 2005), 11.

9. Felipe Torres et al., eds., La industria de la masa y la tortilla: Desarrollo y tecnología (Mexico City: UNAM, 1996).

10. Oscar Lewis , Life in a Mexican Village: Tepoztlán Revisited (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1951), 108.

11. Sandra Aguilar-Rodríguez , “Nutrition and Modernity: Milk Consumption in 1940s and 1950s Mexico,” Radical History Review 110 (Spring 2011): 36–58.

12. Rolando Cordera and Ciro Murayama , eds., La nutrición en México y la transición epidemiológica (Mexico City: Instituto Nacional de Nutrición, 1993).

13. Domingo García Garza , “Una etnografía de los ‘tacos’ en México. El caso de Monterrey,” Estudios Sociales 19.37 (January–June 2011): 32–63.

14. Ernesto Camou Healy , “La nostalgia del rancho: Notas sobre la cultura urbana y la carne asada,” in Sociedad, economía y cultura alimentaria , ed. Shoko Doode and Emma Paulina Pérez (Hermosillo, Mexico: Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo/Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social, 1994), 421–429.

15. José Orozco , “Tequila Sauza and the Redemption of Mexico’s Vital Fluids, 1873–1970,” in Alcohol in Latin America: A Social and Cultural History , ed. Gretchen Pierce and Aurea Toxqui (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2014), 185–209.

16. Jeffrey M. Pilcher , “Industrial Tortillas and Folkloric Pepsi: The Nutritional Consequences of Hybrid Cuisines in Mexico,” in Food Nations: Selling Taste in Consumer Societies , ed. Warren Belasco and Philip Scranton (New York: Routledge, 2002), 222–239.

17. Alma Guillermoprieto , “In Search of the Tortilla,” New Yorker (26 November 1999): 46.

18. Ivonne Vizcarra Bordi , “The ‘Authentic’ Taco and Peasant Women: Nostalgic Consumption in the Era of Globalization,” Culture and Agriculture 28.2 (Fall 2006): 97–107.

19. Jeffrey M. Pilcher , Planet Taco: A Global History of Mexican Food (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012).

20. James J. Biles et al., “Globalization of Food Retailing and Transformation of Supply Networks: Consequences for Small-scale Agricultural Producers in Southeastern Mexico,” Journal of Latin American Geography 6.2 (2007): 55–75.

21. Fernand Braudel , The Structures of Everyday Life: The Limits of the Possible , vol. 1 of Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century trans. Siân Reynolds (New York: Harper & Row, 1979).

22. Sherburne F. Cook and Woodrow Borah , “Indian Food Production and Consumption in Central Mexico Before and After the Conquest (1500–1650),” in Essays in Population History: Mexico and California (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979).

23. Enrique Florescano , Precios de maíz y crisis agrícolas en México, 1708–1810 (Mexico City: El Colegio de México, 1969).

24. See Alison Smith , “National Cuisines,” in The Oxford Handbook of Food History , ed. Jeffrey M. Pilcher (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 444–460.

25. See Gerard J. Fitzgerald and Gabrielle M. Petrick , “In Good Taste: Rethinking American History with Our Palates,” Journal of American History 95.2 (September 2008): 392–404.

26. Aline Desentis Otálora , El que come y canta . . . : Cancionero gastronómico de México , 2 vols. (Mexico City: Conaculta, 1999) ; and Herón Pérez Martínez , Refrán viejo nunca miente: Refranero mexicano (Zamora, Mexico: El Colegio de Michoacán, 1993).

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Mexican-American Cuisine

Introduction, general overviews.

• History and Trends
• Mexican-American Food Studies, 2011–2012
• Mexican-American Cuisine and Identity
• Women’s Food Voices
• Historical Cookbooks and Regional Cookbooks
• Studies of Regional Latino Cuisines
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Mexican-American Cuisine by Sarah Portnoy LAST REVIEWED: 27 March 2014 LAST MODIFIED: 27 March 2014 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199913701-0076

“Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are,” quipped Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, author of The Physiology of Taste , in 1825. While nearly two centuries have passed since his meditations on gastronomy, in the 21st century food remains just as closely linked to one’s identity and social status. One’s culinary practices continue to identify religious, national, and regional origins. For the diverse Latino population of the United States, food has always been and still remains a valuable affirmation of identity. Latino cuisine has been a part of United States food habits for centuries, but the representations of Latino cuisine found in most major cities were once far fewer and much more standardized than they have become in 21st-century American cities. The recent growth of the Latino population in the form of documented and undocumented immigrants and refugees has given rise to a rich and flavorful pan-Latino cuisine across the United States, with a concentration in cities such as New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and Houston. Despite several generations of immigration, United States Latinos have maintained their heritage by simultaneously preserving the food culture of their homeland and adapting to the available ingredients and culinary practices in the United States. Given the diversity of nations represented by Latino immigrants in the United States, as well as the fact that the population includes a mix of both recent immigrants and families that have resided in the United States for multiple generations, Latino cuisine cannot be categorized as homogeneous or uniform.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2011 Hispanics made up 16.7 percent of the population, an estimated 52 million people. Of the overall Latino population, persons of Mexican origin form the largest Latino population group, 63 percent. Therefore Mexican cuisine is an essential component of Latino cuisine, and a general overview of Mexican cuisine along with its historical background is vital to understanding the development of Mexican food and Latino food in general in the United States. Long-Solis and Vargas 2005 offers a general overview of Mexican food culture, while Pilcher 1998 examines the cultural history of Mexican cuisine in a study that explores the food-related conflicts between Europeans and Mexican natives. Albala 2012 compares Mexico’s culinary history, key ingredients, and cooking tools with those of China and Italy. Janer 2008 offers a broad overview of the foods of all the different Latino groups in the United States, along with chapters on foods for special occasions, eating out, etc. Gabaccia 1998 provides a broad discussion of ethnic foods in the United States, while Anderson 2005 discusses how to define cuisines by nationality or region and makes references to the exchange of food and culinary traditions that has historically taken place between the United States and Mexico.

Albala, Ken. Three World Cuisines: Italian, Mexican, Chinese . Lanham, MD: AltaMira, 2012.

Albala discusses the parallel culinary histories of Italy, Mexico, and China. While Latino cuisine in the United States is not the focus of his work, Albala’s study provides important historical background to understanding the contributions of Mexico to global cuisine today. He briefly discusses the incorporation and adaptation of Mexican cuisine into mainstream American cuisine in the final decades of the 20th century.

Anderson, E. N. Everyone Eats: Understanding Food and Culture . New York: New York University Press, 2005.

Anderson’s study, particularly the chapter “Foods and Borders,” (chapter 12, pp. 186–208) discusses defining cuisines by nationalities or even regions and the value of food in representing the identities of ethnic groups. He analyzes the development of the United States’ culinary landscape and the influence of the United States-Mexico border on this evolution and discusses why Mexicans in California have preserved their culinary culture for centuries.

Gabaccia, Donna. We Are What We Eat: Ethnic Food and the Making of Americans . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998.

Discusses how food choices reflect American consumers’ evolving identities, how Americans are willing to “eat the other,” (p. 9) as well as the history and development of popular ethnic foods, such as Tex-Mex, and early entrepreneurs of these foods.

Janer, Zilkia. Latino Food Culture . Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2008.

Janer provides a broad historical overview of the diverse Latino groups; their presence in the United States; and their cuisine, including Mexican, Caribbean Latino, Central American, and South American. She includes chapters on major ingredients, eating out, diet and health, and special occasions, as well as a useful glossary of terms.

Long-Solis, Janet, and Luis A. Vargas. Food Culture in Mexico . Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2005.

Although the focus is Mexico and not the United States, this book gives a historical overview and introduces readers to the major foods and ingredients, regional differences, etc. Provides readers with a background vital to understanding Mexican cuisine in the United States.

Pilcher, Jeffrey. ¡Qué Vivan los tamales! : Food and the Making of Mexican Identity . Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998.

Pilcher’s cultural history of food in Mexico traces the influence of gender, race, and class on food preferences from Aztec times to the present and relates cuisine to the formation of national identity. He describes the “tortilla discourse”—the colonial conflict between the Mexican natives’ use of corn and the Europeans’ use of wheat—and how that influenced regional and socioeconomic differences in Mexican cuisine.

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About Traditional Hispanic Food

This essay about traditional Hispanic cuisine examines its historical evolution from ancient civilizations like the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas to modern influences from Spanish colonization. It discusses key ingredients such as maize, beans, and rice, which are central to the diverse and emblematic dishes like tacos al pastor and paella. The text highlights the profound cultural significance of food in Hispanic communities, emphasizing its role in social gatherings, family traditions, and religious ceremonies, thereby underscoring the deep connection between Hispanic culinary practices and cultural identity.

How it works

Hispanic cuisine represents a colorful and flavorful tapestry that embodies the profound cultural legacy of Latin America and Spain. This essay explores the historical roots, essential ingredients, emblematic dishes, and the significant cultural role of food within Hispanic communities.

The culinary traditions of Hispanic societies have their origins in the ancient civilizations of the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas, who domesticated crops like maize, beans, squash, and chili peppers. These foundational foods were dramatically altered when Spanish colonizers introduced livestock, wheat, rice, and an array of spices in the 16th century.

This intermingling of native and Spanish elements gave rise to the distinctive fusion of flavors that today typifies Hispanic culinary arts.

At the heart of traditional Hispanic cooking are key staples that, despite regional variations, are universally recognized within Hispanic gastronomy. Maize, or corn, is revered and utilized in various forms—tortillas, tamales, and masa-based creations like pupusas and arepas. Beans, including black, pinto, and kidney varieties, are integral, enriching dishes like refried beans and feijoada with protein and substance. Rice is another cornerstone, serving as a foundational side in many meals, from arroz con pollo to the elaborate saffron-infused paella.

Hispanic cuisine’s variety is showcased in its wide range of signature dishes. In Mexico, the streets come alive with the scent of tacos al pastor, featuring marinated pork and pineapple, while mole poblano offers a rich blend of chili peppers and chocolate, typically served during special occasions. In Spain, paella is a visual and flavorful feast synonymous with Valencian cuisine, and gazpacho offers a cool, creamy respite during the sweltering summer months.

In Hispanic cultures, food is much more than sustenance; it is a vital element of social life, family, and religious observances. Cooking and meal-sharing epitomize hospitality and nurture familial bonds, ensuring cultural practices and values are passed down through generations. Significant events from quinceañeras to Dia de los Muertos are marked with specific foods like pan de muerto, highlighting food’s role in celebrating and honoring life.

Exploring traditional Hispanic cuisine is to traverse a rich landscape of history, culture, and community spirit. From the nutrient-rich soils of Latin America to the Mediterranean coasts of Spain, the dynamic array of dishes not only showcases the ingenuity and spirit of its people but also acts as a profound expression of cultural identity. Engaging with Hispanic cuisine allows us to experience a rich heritage that connects the past with the present, nourishing both body and soul and celebrating the enduring human spirit across generations.

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The Flavors Of Mexico: What Makes Mexican Food So Unique?

Mexican Food is a unique blend of Spanish and indigenous Mexican cuisines. It’s loaded with unique ingredients, making it unlike any other food you’ll find around the world.  In fact, traditional Mexican food has earned recognition by the UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage contribution to humanity.

Traditional Mexican cuisine is one of the main attractions captivating the hearts (and stomachs) of its people and its visitors.

What Makes Mexican Food So Great?

One of the main factors making Mexican food so irresistible, is that it is a blend of different cultures. Its distinct blend of spices, seasonings and vibrant colors create a beautiful presentation. Many of the traditional Mexican dishes still represent their deep, pre-hispanic origins, making them truly unique.

Mexican cuisine also represents diversity and pride by different geographic territories. Distinct ingredients and cooking styles are used among the different states across the country. Mountainous regions, coastal states, and desert regions all prepare their dishes differently due to the cultural diversity and ingredients available.

Corn Is Everywhere, And In Everything

From tortillas to tamales to enchiladas, to large kernels of Hominy, corn seems to be found in everything when it comes to Mexican Cuisine. You’d be amazing how the people of Mexico are able to process this seemingly bland ingredient into some of the most delicious and beautiful food creations.

Tortillas are the most dominant form of corn you’ll find in Mexican food. They are the building blocks of Mexican staples like taquitos, tostadas, quesadillas, enchiladas, flautas and more! Tacos, however, are everywhere. They are available everywhere you look in central and south America, from restaurants to beaches to street food. They are eaten at every meal and are an absolute staple in Mexican food.

Spices Dominate

Mexican food presents some of the most delicious and unique flavors. Some of the most commonly used ingredients in Mexican cooking are garlic, onions, cilantro, oregano, cumin and chilies. Believe it or not, over 100 different chili varieties are used in Mexican cooking. Cinnamon, cloves and cocoa are also used in ways we typically do not see in North American or European dishes.

Epazote is a very unique, traditional Central American herb that has been used in Mexican Food since ancient times. Used in bean, fish, and corn dishes, it presents a strong, musky flavor that contributes highly to the exceptional flavors of Mexico.

The history, variability and unique spices are just a few of the things that make Mexican Food so irresistible. While it’s best to experience this distinct cuisine in the heart of Mexico, you can have it all right here in Texas. For an authentic taste of traditional Mexico, visit Benitos Mexican Restaurant. 

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Essay on Hispanic Culture

Students are often asked to write an essay on Hispanic Culture in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Hispanic Culture

Introduction to hispanic culture.

Hispanic culture is rich and diverse. It includes the traditions of Spanish-speaking countries, mainly from Latin America and Spain. This culture is known for its colorful celebrations, tasty food, and strong family values.

Language and Communication

Family traditions.

Families are very important in Hispanic culture. Many generations live together and share meals, stories, and life lessons. Big family gatherings are common and full of joy.

Festivals and Music

Festivals are huge, with music, dance, and food. They honor history, religion, and community. Salsa, merengue, and tango are popular dances that everyone enjoys.

Food and Cuisine

250 words essay on hispanic culture.

Hispanic culture is rich and colorful, with roots in Spain, Mexico, Central America, and South America. It includes the traditions, languages, and celebrations of many people and countries. Each place adds its special touch to what we know as Hispanic culture today.

Spanish is the main language spoken by Hispanic people. It’s one of the most spoken languages in the world. When Hispanic people talk, they often use hand gestures and are very expressive with their faces. Respect is very important, so they use polite forms when speaking to elders.

Family Values

In Hispanic culture, family is everything. Big families often live together, with grandparents, parents, and children sharing homes and lives. Family gatherings are common, with food, music, and stories bringing everyone closer.

Festivals and Celebrations

Hispanics love to celebrate. They have festivals for many occasions, like the Day of the Dead, when they remember family who have passed away. There’s also Cinco de Mayo, which is a big, joyful party with dancing, food, and parades.

Hispanic food is known for its flavors and variety. Dishes like tacos, empanadas, and paella come from different Hispanic countries. People often gather to cook and share meals, making food a central part of their culture.

Arts and Music

500 words essay on hispanic culture.

Hispanic culture is a rich and colorful tapestry woven from the people of many different countries such as Mexico, Spain, Cuba, and Argentina, among others. This culture is known for its lively music, tasty foods, and strong family values. It’s like a big umbrella that covers a variety of traditions and practices that have been passed down from generation to generation.

One of the most exciting parts of Hispanic culture is its festivals. Imagine streets filled with music, people dancing, and bright colors everywhere. These celebrations often honor religious figures or important dates in history. For example, Cinco de Mayo is a day when Mexicans remember a famous battle they won, and Día de los Muertos is a time when families remember loved ones who have passed away with offerings, food, and colorful skulls.

Delicious Foods

Music and dance, language and literature.

Spanish is the main language spoken in Hispanic cultures, and it’s more than just words; it’s a way to share stories, express feelings, and connect with others. Many famous writers and poets come from Hispanic backgrounds, like Gabriel García Márquez, who wrote magical tales, and Pablo Neruda, who penned beautiful poems. These works help people around the world understand the depth and beauty of Hispanic life.

Family and Community

Arts and crafts.

Hispanic culture is a vibrant part of our world, filled with joyous music, delicious food, and a strong sense of family. It’s a culture that teaches us the value of coming together to celebrate life’s moments, big and small. By learning about Hispanic culture, we can appreciate the diversity and richness it brings to our global community.

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Food and Family in the Hispanic Culture

Introduction, hispanic cultural background, family as a nuclear notion of hispanic culture, food as an integral constituent of hispanic culture, works cited.

The definition of culture has always been one of the most controversial discussion subjects due to the variety of aspects that create a cultural paradigm for an individual with a certain ethnic and social affiliation. Some people perceive culture as a notion that stands for particular behavioral patterns predetermined for a social group. Others, on the other hand, perceive it as a term used to denote the scopes of national heritage. Culture itself is an umbrella term for all the aforementioned notions, as it encompasses both diachronic and synchronic aspects of human development – individual and within a social group. This development is a priori influenced by various external factors in symbiosis with a personal reflection on the environment.

Over the past years, despite the already existing dissonance over culture perception, the globalization process has greatly modified the cultural aspect in terms of its ethnic identity. Globalization, standing for the process of building an interrelated worldwide network, has become a subject for continuous discussion due to some people being afraid of it eradicating the cultural variety. In fact, according to Pieterse, the cultural difference could be regarded from three major perspectives: “cultural differentialism, cultural convergence, and cultural hybridization” (42). Hence, all these different constituents are now somehow juxtaposed to each other to reach a consensus on global culture perception.

The major issue here, however, lies in the fact that people often miscomprehend the idea of the world “becoming smaller” for the desire to create a universally equal cultural interpretation. Thus, it is of significant importance nowadays to draw attention to the peculiarities of certain cultures to raise people’s awareness of it, along with showing respect to the ethnic unit that had been guarding its values for centuries. One of the prime examples of such complex and multi-dimensional units is the Hispanic culture.

The Hispanic cultural segment is one of the most diverse and rapid-growing in the world. However, Hispanic history is replete with various precedents of suppressing its cultural value to make people follow the cultural patterns of the colonizing lands. The very cultural group of Hispanics is quite diverse due to the presence of various countries, races, and historical backgrounds, which makes it even more challenging to define the cultural aspects that unite them as a community. Researchers claim that while Hispanics vividly represent the socioeconomic gap within the community, they still share practically identical beliefs and values as a culture (Ruiz). To examine the genesis of such a regularity, scholars have identified cultural scripts and values, important to the representatives of Hispanic culture:

• Collectivism. Hispanics perceive major accomplishments as dependent on a collective effort instead of taking individual credit for it;
• Simpatia. Hispanic people significantly value interpersonal relationships both within and outside the community, making it natural to communicate a lot;
• Personalismo. Despite being culturally interrelated, the notion of personal dignity and self-identification is crucial for the community;
• Respeto. The idea of mutual respect is valid in terms of both legislative and interpersonal relationships, highly evaluating the peculiarities of communication between family members;
• Familismo. Finally, the most important and extensive aspect of Hispanic culture implies an absolute priority of family in one’s life that remains relevant regardless of any external factors.

Hence, considering the aforementioned aspects of the Hispanic culture hierarchy, it might be outlined that the family is one of the most crucial indicators that contribute to developing a sense of community. To take a closer look at the issue, it is of significant importance to dwell upon the genesis of the familismo aspect of the Hispanic culture.

In the course of history, ethnicities that were to be discriminated against or mistreated quite often managed to find their home and family the things that gave them the power to live in this world. As a result, the cultural distribution patterns in the world vary greatly, making developed countries replete with individualists who refuse to see themselves as a part of a community. However, the nations that are to act together to stay strong feel a great deal of attachment to the family. When it comes to the Hispanic culture, Ruiz claims that the loyalty and solidarity within a family unit could be reflected in the following ways:

• A moral obligation to support family members both financially and emotionally;
• Relying on the family’s support;
• Defining family members as role models in terms of lifestyle and behavior.

Hence, the family unit serves as a nucleus of culture formation that later secures the development of all the other external cultural aspects.

Speaking of the basic principles of self-actualization, crucial for one’s cultural identification, it is important to mention the significant role family connection plays in its development. First, self-actualization stands for one’s adequate assessment of his or her capabilities, environment, and values that later define the individual’s identity. One’s adequate perception of belonging and abilities contributes a lot to the overall cultural structure of a community. In the case of the Hispanic culture, the process of self-actualization is influenced greatly by the family that teaches basic values and morals from early childhood (Ortiz). Moreover, the notion of self-actualization is essential in the context of the Hispanic culture being surrounded by other cultures willing to impact the Hispanics and affect their self-identification. Being raised in a friendly and respectful environment, Hispanics then manage to secure their cultural dignity despite any attempts of interference.

The patterns of relationships within a family are, by all means, beneficial in terms of creating an extensive hierarchy of cultural interconnections. Being multi-dimensional, Hispanic culture consists of a variety of smaller ethnic communities that later define the whole cultural segment. The initial communities, however, are still formed with the help of extended families maintaining healthy relationships with each other. However, it was mentioned at the beginning of the essay that the culture itself is identified and embraced through a long and demanding journey of discovering the traditions of one’s ancestors, along with the behavioral patterns of peers who become affected by modern reality. Hence, inside of each family unit, there exists a series of rituals that serve as cultural heritage and unite the family on an emotionally deeper level. In the case of Hispanic culture, one such sacred aspect is food.

Food and nutrition have always been irreplaceable in the context of everyone’s lifestyle. Figuratively speaking, the things that allow people to stay alive physically are the ones that encourage them to develop spiritually as well. However, the notion of food has become so profoundly integrated into people’s daily routine that people rarely reflect on their relationship with it. It is capable of influencing cultural development both within and outside any culture, including the Hispanics.

To begin with, it goes without saying that when a person wants to obtain a better understanding of another culture or separate ethnic group, the national food and eating habits are one of the most widely used tools to establish this connection to the culture. For instance, when traveling to Japan or Italy, there is no way a person would refuse to try sushi or traditional Italian pasta. Even if they refuse, however, the overall cultural impression would be significantly distorted. However, the irony of the situation lies in the fact that Italian or Japanese natives do not dwell upon the significance of this food in their lives. The same dilemma could be related to Hispanic culture.

Speaking of traditional Hispanic food, practically every person can come up with a couple of dishes typical for the culture, whether it is Dominican or Mexican. However, barely anyone thinks of how these dishes ended up being the national symbol in the 21st century. The worldwide known recipes are being passed from generation to generation with the help of communities that cherish their heritage. Previously, however, those recipes kept together families that, as it was already established, formed the ethnic communities in the first place. The dishes themselves, thus, were created as a part of traditional family gatherings, as families had to find a precedent to establish the meetings’ frequency.

To define the correlational patterns between cultural development and food, researchers decided to dwell upon the role it plays in individuals’ daily lives. As a result of the meticulous researches, it was established that food habits define the ways people communicate with each other, claiming their moral values to a community (Counihan and Penny). For instance, the Hispanic regions that struggle with economic or food scarcity issues have a greater sense of community, as their food habits bring them together to be satisfied with life.

Furthermore, the patterns of Hispanic culture are also contributed by the diet. According to Lindberg,

Culture is intimately tied to diet. It has been suggested that there is perhaps no better way to understand a culture, its values, preoccupations, and fears than by examining its attitudes toward food. Food not only provides daily sustenance but also provides a core element that bonds families and communities and provides a common component to mark rites of passage and celebrations (1).

Bearing this assumption in mind, it becomes clear that the “core element” in this structure presupposes the direct influence on the Hispanic lifestyle. The most vivid example to reflect on the statement would be to analyze the eating habits of most Hispanic ethnic groups. Hispanic traditional food is quite nutritious yet sometimes contains a high-fat rate, which greatly affects one’s cardiovascular system. As a result, Hispanics are to control their eating patterns in order not to harm themselves.

Quite frequently, when people try hard to lose weight, some of them cannot restrain from eating a specific food, no matter how hard they try. While many people consider this fact a lack of will, it might be the impact of the eating habits culturally developed for centuries. Food culture predetermines one’s genetic predisposition to certain types of flavor, average amounts of the meal taken per day, and even modifies one’s taste buds (Lindberg). Since people of different cultures bear a different attitude to the food, they inevitably feel closer to their families or community, as they feel understood by these people. The same applies to the Hispanic culture, who cannot imagine family gatherings without dinner with a variety of traditional food. In such a way, they have the opportunity to feel the attachment to their roots. Researchers also claim that family and food serve as the central elements of the Hispanic culture, as the family members’ attitude towards their relative’s eating habits is an indicator of cultural affiliation.

Culture has always been one of the most controversial research subjects, as, throughout history, scholars did not even manage to reach a consensus in terms of its definition. In terms of this essay, the complexity of cultural elements was examined in the example of Hispanic cultural development. This particular culture, while embracing a variety of ethnicities and races, seems to agree on the significance of the family and food in its life. As it was assumed in the aforementioned essay, the notion of family is crucial to the Hispanic culture due to its encouraging idea of interdependence and belonging, which was formed over the centuries. The food, in its turn, became an integral part of family gatherings and Hispanics’ lifestyles. However, even though these elements are of significant importance to the culture, the richness of the Hispanic community should never be limited to these two notions.

Counihan, Carole, and Penny Van Esterik, eds. Food and culture: A reader . Routledge, 2012.

Lindberg, Nangel M., et al. “Weight-Loss Interventions for Hispanic Populations: The Role of Culture.” Journal of Obesity , 2013, pp. 1–6.

Ortiz, Fernando A. “Self-Actualization in the Latino/Hispanic Culture.” Journal of Humanistic Psychology , vol. 60, no. 3, 2017, pp. 418–435.

Pieterse, Jan Nederveen. Globalization and Culture: Global Mélange . Rowman & Littlefield, 2019.

Ruiz, Elizabeth. “Hispanic Culture and Relational Cultural Theory.” Journal of Creativity in Mental Health , vol. 1, no. 1, 2005, pp. 33-55.

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126 Hispanics Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

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• Hispanics: Scholarly Culture Paper Duran, notes that the absence of information about Hispanics contributes largely to the unavailability of competitive healthcare services of the same.
• Hispanic Americans Opinion Takeyuki Tsuda The book Immigration and Ethnic Relations in the U.S.speaks on the theme of reshaping the face of the United States during the period of the past few decades.
• A Portrait of Hispanics Living in California The originality of the Hispanic population in the US can be traced to different ethnic groups comprising of Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cubans.
• Educational Disparities: Non-Hispanic Whites vs. Blacks The segregation set up the course for disparities in the education sector because the black schools mainly in the south were poor and thus could not afford to provide adequate facilities for the students.
• Hispanic Males in the 19th-21st Centuries This change in the family setup has led to the change in the role of the Hispanic male. The family’s security was in the hands of the Hispanic male while the woman acted as the […]
• Norms, and Characteristics of African American and Hispanic Living in Florida The two minority groups selected for my research are African American people and Hispanic groups with whom I am familiar from my locality.
• African Americans and Hispanics in New Jersey In fact, “African-American history starts in the 1500s with the first Africans coming from Mexico and the Caribbean to the Spanish territories of Florida, Texas, and other parts of the South”.
• Hispanic Nation: Brief Retrospective The number of the baby born to Hispanics in comparison to other groups is very high. Another threat is of the low skill set of the Hispanics and their ability to learn new skill for […]
• Health Effects of Tobacco Smoking in Hispanic Men The Health Effects of Tobacco Smoking can be attributed to active tobacco smoking rather than inhalation of tobacco smoke from environment and passive smoking.
• Hispanic American Diversity and Conventions According to the analysis in these countries majority of these people are catholic, that is 70 %, the Protestants are 23%, and 6% have no affiliation.
• Immigration, Hispanics, and Mass Incarceration in the U.S. This article evaluates the effect of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, that led to the legalization of approximately 3 million immigrants had on the crime rates in the U.S.
• Human Papillomavirus Vaccination in Hispanic Women The study is justified because establishing the level of HPV, cervical cancer, and HPV vaccine knowledge among Hispanic women would pave the way for the formulation of strategies on patient education on the issue.
• National Association of Hispanic Nurses: Importance of Involvement The official website of the organization, http://nahnnet.org/, stipulates that the primary purpose of the organization is to unite the nurses and make sure that they provide the Hispanic population with adequate care.
• Hispanic Women’s Stereotypes in the USA Importantly, the single-story related to Hispanic females refers to the representatives of the entire continent since people pay little attention to the origin of the Latino population.
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Hispanic Teenager Family dynamics and social withdrawal do not seem to have affected the client’s academic history; her grades are good and she has no history of behavioral problems.
• Perception of Diabetes in the Hispanic Population Diabetes is also defined as one of the leading causes of death among the citizens of the United States. Despite the possibility to create certain measurements of this nursing research project, it is also required […]
• Gonorrhea and Chlamydia Reduction in Hispanic Women Its purpose is to reduce STI’s Gonorrhea/Chlamydia among Hispanic women in Michigan and to plan a culturally appropriate intervention to address this area of health. The final data is also inclusive of the ethnic and […]
• Anti-Obesity Program for Hispanic Children It is expected that the successful implementation of the program will lead to a subsequent 15% drop in the levels of obesity among Hispanic children in the target community.
• Hispanic Student’s Cultural and Ethical Issues Unfortunately, there is a lot of evidence supporting the fact that the educational experience for Hispanics in the United States is one of the most pressing problems.
• Hispanic and Asian Americans’ Mobility Factors As for me, I believe that the level of discrimination and assimilation have a critical impact on the socioeconomic flexibility of the immigrants due to the ability of the society to create stereotypes while the […]
• Obesity in Hispanic Adolescents and Fast Food Most of these, however, describe the relationship existing between the prevalence of diabetes in the population and the consumption of fast foods.
• Hispanic Patients and Dietary Approaches (DASH) As to sugars, the DASH diet limits the sweets intake to the daily servings of fructose from fruit and additional 5 servings of sugar per week.
• African, Caribbean, Hispanic, Pakistani, Dutch Cultures In addition, Nigerians are believed to speak their own Nigerian pidgin, which is not true since the official language of the country is English, and many people speak it fluently.
• Counseling and Mentorship Program for Hispanic Children The purpose of the mentorship program was to educate and widen their learning skills of the targeted children. The program also targeted to inform these individuals about the relevance of schooling in the Hispanic society.
• The Hispanic Project” by Nikki S. Lee One of the most complicated and at the same time the most essential problems of the modern world, the racial segregation, and the racial hegemony is to be considered because of the growing number of […]
• The Hispanic Community Concept: History and Characteristics It could refer to the current Spain; it can also be used to refer to the Spanish language, or the term can be used to refer to the communities in the world that speak the […]
• Hispanic Childhood Poverty in the United States Importance of the Problem The problem of childhood poverty in Hispanic groups in America is important to this study and to the social studies in America.
• Ethnic Stratification, Prejudice, Discrimination: Hispanics The author of this paper discusses the effects of ethnic stratification on the Hispanics/Latinos, and how prejudice and discrimination are relevant to this ethnic group.
• Hispanic Americans: Roles Played in the American Society. In the first place, it is necessary to remember that Hispanic Americans constitute about 15 % of the entire American population, which makes them the second largest ethnic group in the USA.
• Hispanic Americans: Racial Status Starting the discussion with the identification of the Hispanic Americans and their place in the population of the USA, the author says that some cities inhabit more Hispanic Americans than Americans.
• The US Ethnic Groups: the Hispanic Americans Of all the Hispanic Americans ethnic groups in the US, the Mexican is the largest, followed by Puerto Ricans, and then Cubans. The population of the Hispanic Americans has increased rapidly and is now the […]
• The Role of Hispanic Americans in Counseling Family structure and gender roles Family commitment in different cultures is an indispensable characteristic, which involves loyalty, a strong support system, the behavior of a child, which is associated with the honor of the family, […]
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Sexuality in the Hispanic Culture Men are the breadwinners of the family, a duty that requires men to play the father figure role in the family.
• Overview and Analysis of Hispanic & Latino Theology The Hispanic theology is shown as a representation of the religious and theological inflections of the Hispanic people staying in the United States.
• Assessing the Challenges in Treating Substance Abuse Among Members of Hispanic Families In this respect, it is necessary to define the peculiarities of Hispanic culture in terms of family structure traditions, gender role distributions, and influence of family problems on members’ substance abuse.
• Mexican American, Chicano, Latino, Hispanic Cultural Variations in Childrearing Most of the Mexican Americans lived in areas in the USA that once belonged to Mexico that is areas such as California, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and others and in the regions that they […]
• Immigration bias on Hispanics in North Carolina Immigration bias against the Hispanics has been witnessed in the State of North Carolina based on implementation of Section 287 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
• The Hispanic Population in the United States The Hispanic population represents the largest minority group in the United States. Around one half of Hispanic residents in the United States were born in a foreign country.
• The Ethnic Issues of the Hispanic American People In the article, it is evident that the population of people from the Hispanic American origin has risen over the years, and currently, they contribute to approximately fourteen percent of the entire population of the […]
• Economic and Social Inequalities in the United States Between Whites, Asian Americans, Hispanics and African Americans Although, there are similarities in the wellbeing of whites and Asian American, Asian Americans are still seen as foreigners. However, to further isolate them, they are indentified with a tag inclined to the origin of […]
• The Aspects of Hispanic History and Culture S history emphasize on how the British colonies of North America were found and their subsequent growth, their gaining of independence in 1776 and the east to west growth of the U.S.
• Annotation Of: Hispanics and the Death Penalty It also identified several manifestations of racial discrimination between the whites and non whites by comparing Asian Americans and Hispanics marriages with the whites and discovered that the Asian Americans and Hispanics had higher chances […]
• African Americans and Hispanics of Mental Health Facilities
• Assimilation and Health: Linked Birth Records of Second and Third-Generation Hispanics
• Background Knowledge Immigration Hispanics From the United States
• Blacks, Hispanics, and White Ethnic Groups: Are Blacks Uniquely Disadvantaged?
• Bragging About Online Purchases: Comparing Consumer Word-Of-Mouth Among Hispanics and Non-Hispanics Groups
• Brain Amyloid Burden and Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Late Middle-Aged Hispanics
• Cancer, Respiratory and Cardiovascular Diseases: Mortality Rates Among African-Americans and Hispanics
• Gender Disparity in Automobility Among Hispanics in the U.S
• Child Sexual Abuse Among Hispanics and TF-CBT
• Comparing Modernity Between Hispanics and Tibetans in Baltimore
• Considering the Economic Status of Black Americans and Hispanics
• Contextual Factors and Weight Change Over Time: U.S. Hispanics and Other Groups Comparison
• Diversity Analysis: The Impact of Hispanics in the Workplace
• Domestic Violence Against Hispanics and Latinas in Louisiana
• The Problem of Domestic Violence Among Hispanics
• Educational Disparities Among Black and Hispanics
• Racial Discrimination and Hispanics in the United States
• Ethnic Stratification, Prejudice, Discrimination: Hispanics
• Overview of Healthcare Disparity Among the Hispanics
• The Case of Direct Marketing Advertising for Hispanics
• The Problem of Teenage Pregnancies Anong Hispanics
• Hispanics and the American Dream: Analysis of Hispanic Male Labor Market Wages
• The Problem of Alcoholism Among Hispanics
• Hispanics and Their Contribution to America’s Human Capital
• Analysis of Hispanic Health Care Issues in Texas
• Hispanics, Black, Substance Abuse, and Multicultural Counseling
• Legal and Social Justice for Hispanics and Women
• Looking Through the Eyes of Undocumented Hispanics in the United States
• Hispanics’ Habits and Attitudes Towards Drinking
• Marital Assimilation Among Hispanics: Evidence of Declining Cultural and Economic Incorporation
• His Panic: Why Americans Fear Hispanics in the U.S
• Mind, Body, and Culture: Somatization Among Hispanics
• Minority Groups: African Americans, Women, and Hispanics
• Mortality Among Elderly Hispanics in the USA: Past Evidence and New Results
• Operant Conditioning and Parenting Practices Between Hispanics and North Americans
• Police Brutality Against Hispanics and African Americans
• Racial and Ethnic Inequality of Hispanics in the USA
• Self-Selection, Prenatal Care, and Birthweight Among Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics in New York
• Racial Prejudice and Bias Against Hispanics
• Police Brutality: Hispanics, Asians, and African American
• International Studies Ideas
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IvyPanda . "126 Hispanics Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." February 29, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/hispanics-essay-topics/.