When you think about a specific country, you always make a connection to its food. This is mainly because food is part of cultural identity. Gastronomy reflects the way of living, growing crops, raising livestock, and the whole tradition in every country.
People in each region have created their own cuisine as a way of showing their authenticity. And these food peculiarities are recognized by everybody everywhere. Some countries are only identified for their unique food.
For this reason, when you see sushi you know it comes from Japanese cuisine, pasta immediately makes you think about Italy; and guacamole belongs to Mexican gastronomy.
Learning about Mexican cuisine
Traditional food has unique ingredients that clearly distinguish it from other cultures. It reflects not only the ingredients but also the way of cooking and eating them.
Mexican cuisine is the result of cultural heritage, ancient cooking techniques from pre-hispanic era, such as Aztec and Mayan. Iconic dishes from Mexico are a mixture of tasty, spicy, and fresh flavors, so colorful that you feel you are eating a whole fiesta.
Mexican dishes express all about its culture. All their dishes are a mix of ingredients; you cannot get bored with them since you will find distinctive and authentic flavors each time.
There is not a unique and emblematic meal that could represent the entire Mexican culture. Dishes vary by region, and they can have a slight difference in their ingredients and cooking process.
Among the huge variety of Mexican food, you may have a list of those you have already tasted, those you would want to eat, and even the dishes you’d want to cook. So, the best approach to Mexican cuisine is to get familiar with its main ingredients.
That typical Mexican flavor
Mexican food is characterized by a strong and fresh taste. Most of these preparations include ingredients such as rice, corn, beans, chilies, tomatoes, and potatoes. They also have more traditional ingredients such as huitlacoche (corn mushroom), huauzontle (a leaf vegetable called lambsquarters in the US), and nopal (cactus).
You can find delicious combinations of flavors in full meals, side dishes, entrées, and desserts. People enjoy them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
In everyday cooking, Mexicans use a wide variety of these ingredients and create delightful meals each time. One of the most used products in Mexican cuisine is rice. This is a staple food found in each Mexican house as a typical accompaniment for countless preparations.
Rice can be normally used as a side dish in tacos, picadillo, cheese enchiladas, chile verde, baked tacos, chile colorado, shrimp tacos, and so much more.
The most popular rice dish is Mexican Rice. It is also known as red rice because it is orange- or red-colored rice with tomatoes, garlic, onions, cooked in chicken broth. Learn how to cook a perfect Mexican rice checking this recipe and other useful tips at mahatmarice.com/recipes/traditional-mexican-rice/
If you want to cook rice as truly Mexican, you can use it as the main ingredient in dishes like burritos, rice bowls, taco rice salad, casserole rice, and others.
Casserole rice made with ground beef requires rice, beef, several diced vegetables, canned black beans, chicken broth, and a mix of Mexican spices. Its preparation is very easy. You only need to cook beef with vegetables, add the spices, rice, beans, and broth. Stir it very well. And when rice is ready, add some cheese and enjoy.
Another common dish is the taco rice salad. It includes yellow rice, beef, Mexican species, lettuce, tomato, corn, onion, and canned beans. Sour cream, hot sauce, chili powder, and cumin can be added as seasonings. First, cook beef and rice. Then add vegetables and species. Let it cool, and incorporate the rest of the vegetables, season, and serve with tortillas.
