Mexican Food

We have visited Mexico three times in the last 6 years and each time we get to sample regional dishes as well as those that are served everywhere in the country. In this blog entry, I thought I would explore what I like about Mexican food. Flavour immediately jumps to mind as does freshness of the fruit and vegetables. Most people think of hot peppers when speaking of Mexican cuisine but there is that and much more.

Nothing is fresher than the simple salsa that is served with Mexican tortilla chips. It uses three ingredients, tomatoes, onions, and cilantro, and yet is a burst of flavour. The chips themselves are robust and rarely salted. They are not referred to as nachos since those, though technically Mexican in origin, are more associated with Tex-Mex cuisine.

Chicken in Mexico has more flavour than I've tasted anywhere else. I'm not sure what they feed their birds but no matter how it's prepared, you soon learn what chicken is supposed to taste like. Pollo pibil, a dish where chicken is marinated in sour orange juice (they also use pork), is delicious whenever it is served and yes, I have had it for breakfast.

Often chicken is added to another breakfast dish called chilaquiles. This is made by frying leftover tortillas in oil to which one adds salsa verde, red chili, or tomato sauce. Depending on your appetite you can add eggs, chicken or pork, then cover with a white cheese like Monterey Jack or in Mexico, they most often use Oaxaca cheese.

Another dish using this stringy, mozzarella-like cheese is one in which they stuff it into poblano chile peppers. I enjoyed this as an appetizer in the Casa Natalia in San Juan del Cabo.

Of course, tortillas are a staple in Mexican cooking but I don't think I've had the same kind twice. Some are much like what we can buy in Canada but others are almost doughy in nature and reminds one more of pita bread. Initially, the corn is soaked in lime water which releases niacin and tryptophan and allows for the removal of the skin of the corn kernels then it is ground and pre-cooked before kneading into a dough. This pressed flat into cakes and fried on a hot griddle.

Limes are also used in cerviche. In this seafood dish fish, shrimp, octopus, clams are marinated in lime juice to 'cook' them. Peppers and cilantro enhance the flavour.

Mexican beer is usually served with a wedge of lime. No one knows when or why this tradition began but a traditional drink called michelada seems to be the source. It is a drink of beer mixed with lime juice, sauces, and tomato or clamato juices. We enjoyed many different brands of Mexican beer and even sampled some tequilla although we aren't hard liquor drinkers.

At the Mayaland Resort, I tried a new vegetable called jicama. It was served in a salad and someone told me it tasted like a radish. It didn't. The texture is the same but the flavour is very mild.

Breads served at dinner in most Mexican restaurants are tasty morsels that melt in the mouth. They are smaller versions of bolillo, a traditional Mexican bread. They are often made with sourdough or a variety of savoury additions such as tomatoes and peppers. Bolillo was used to make our sandwiches when we enjoyed a box lunch on our ride from Cancun to Chichen Itza.

Avocados are another fruit which seems tastier in Mexico. It is served as guacomole, of course, but also in salads and in soups and is always perfectly fresh, unlike the rock-hard versions we see in Canada.

As with any cuisine, the number of delicious dishes depend on creative cooks who use the basics of Mexican cuisine to prepare food that excites the taste buds. Only a visit to this friendly country would satisfy a craving for authentic dishes made in new and different ways.