Mexican Food

Mexican Food — page 1 — Lee I can Cook Cooking is a rewarding and lifelong skill With some basic cooking knowledge a little practice and great recipes you can cook entire meals Cooking for your family and friends is a fun activity and a mouthwatering meal can take you to places that you have never been Are you ready to have fun cooking and eating A World of Food Every day people all over the world cook delicious and nutritious meals What they cook depends not only on the ingredients available to them but also on their country's food culture or cooking style A country s style of cooking is shaped over time by its culture economy climate and the land itself Cook Your Way Around the World You can explore the great cuisines of the world in your own kitchen The special flavors and wonderful aromas of a country s food culture come from fresh ingredients and particular spices or herbs which you can find in your local supermarket or a specialty store Share with your family and friends authentic dishes from different countries that look great and taste even better You can cook mouthwatering food from different countries by following a few simple steps Some recipes involve combining just a couple of

Mexican Food — page 2 — Mexican food Worldwide a Mexican Food Mexican food is popular around the world but especially in the United States U S which borders Mexico The U S Mexican food is known for its intense varied flavors wide use of spices and rich colorful ingredients It blends local cooking styles and ingredients with European ones Mexican food is just as fun to cook and eat as it looks and some other countries even have Mexican fast food chains Spicy or Sweet Mexico is the birthplace of chocolate vanilla and a whole range of chilies as well as corn beans and tomatoes Spain and France introduced their taste for meat garlic and onions to Mexico resulting in a vibrant cooking style that features simple snacks such as burritos and complex sauces called moles Cooking Mexican Food At Home Some Mexican dishes are very simple and can easily be made at home Guacamole for example needs hardly more than avocados and tomatoes This book has seven recipes that you can follow to cook a meal on your own or with a little help from an adult Some of recipes don't even involve cooking The recipes can be adapted to suit special diets too ASIA NORTH AMERICA EUROPE Mexico is located in North America immediately south of the United States MEXICO AFRICA SOUTH AMERICA AUSTR Corn is native to North and South America It is a favorite street food in Mexico eaten roasted and straight off the

Mexican Food — page 3 — Menrica Food Basics Traditions and Styles Mexican cooking traditions and styles developed from early civilizations such as the Maya 250 900 and Aztec 1100 1521 and were later heavily influenced by the Spanish Int Ol Corn top beans left and chilies right are three ingredients that are important in Mexican cooking Blending Vibrant cultures The most important Mayan foods were corn beans and pumpkins along with wild game fruit and fish with flavors from chilies chocolate and vanilla The Aztecs used the same foods particularly corn but added tomatoes and turkeys They also ate protein rich insects In the 1520s the Spanish and later the French and other Europeans who conquered Mexico in the 1500s brought new ingredients to the country such as wheat beef pork cheese garlic and onions Later influences came from the Caribbean and Portugal Today Mexican food is a vibrant blend of European and Native American cooking

Mexican Food — page 4 — Tortillas No Mexican meal is complete without tortillas which are made Regional Food Each Mexican region has a distinct cooking style and delicious specialties made from local ingredients cooked with native and introduced spices and flavorings The map below breaks Mexico up into six main regions and discusses the ingredients and special foods that are popular in each from wheat or ground corn Tortillas can be used to wrap tacos and enchiladas as plates for tostadas and as scoops for totopos They can even be dried and ground into four to make gorditas or dumplings Central Central Mexico's food combines Aztec ingredients such as corn pumpkin and chili with Spanish meat and wheat based cooking Shredded meat dishes include pork carnitas braised or roasted and barbacoa slow cooked meat Special occasions call for pozole pictured a soup or stew of dried corn and meal Yucatan Peninsula Many Yucatán baked chicken and pork dishes pictured use fruit based sauces rather than chili often flavored with annatto seeds oranges garlic and pepper The Maya here are traditionally beekeepers and make honey sweetened cakes including rosca de miel and honey based drinks such as balché UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NORTH Gulf of Mexico CUBA CENTRAL North WEST CATAN INSUI Northern Mexico's Spanish influenced food includes dishes made from local goat meat and beef such as carne asada thinly sliced spicy grilled beef pictured Large wheat based tortillas are used here to make burritos SOUTHEAST BELIZE OAXACA GUATEMALA HONDURAS EL SALVADOR West The mountainous state of Jalisco specializes in birria pictured a dish of goat meat in a spicy chili sauce Pacific Ocean Oaxaca Southeast Fiery Caribbean influenced recipes include spicy dishes such as arroz con pollo Irice vegetables and chicken Coastal Veracruz serves pescado a la Veracruzana pictured which is fish topped with a hot chili olive and tomato sauce Oaxaca is famous for its moles celebratory dishes cooked with complex sauces containing up to thirty ingredients including peanuts and cocoa Other Oaxacan specialties include tamales steamed snacks with meat wrapped in corn husks or leaves pictured I layudas crispy tortillas with refried beans shredded meat and salad and Oaxacan

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