History of Food in Mexico - Research Paper Example

Mexico has an extensive and varied food culture history. Meals are opportunities for bonding among people. Mayan Indians-2000 BC to 900 AD-are thought to be sole source of the authentic Mexican food. Thus modern food culture has been largely influenced by ancient civilizations. The climax of visiting Mexico is partaking of the delicious Mexican cuisine.The first foods included corn, tortillas, fish, and beans taken by the Mayans and Aztecs whom most of the modern foods like Salsa can be traced to (Long and Vargas. 2005 p.31).

The Aztec also prepared ubiquitous tortilla, tomatillo, tamale and enchilada. They are also the ones who introduced chocolates to the Spanish. Regionally, north of Mexico is known for arrachera cut, carne asada dishes. The south part of the country is known for conchinita pibil. Generally, other vegetables and chicken based dishes (Mexico Adventure, 1999).Spain civilization in 1521 brought about fusion of Spanish foods such as pigs, garlic, dairy products and spices with the Mexican traditional cuisine.

This was later followed by assimilation of several other cuisines like Portuguese, South Americans and French. In addition, various regions in the country experience different climatic conditions and are of different ethnicities. These are among the reasons why today Mexican foods vary with regions and are a variety (World-food-and-wine. n.d.).Despite the food variety and influence of Mexican dishes there has been the dominance of traditional spices like oregano, cumin and chill powder. The objective of meals being leisurely shared and enjoyed has still remained intact.

Furthermore, there are foods mostly taken during various religious and holiday celebrations.Work citedLong Towell and Vargas Luis. 2005. Food culture in Mexico. Greenwood Publishing Group, Mexico Adventure. 1999 .Mexican Food . Retrieved from http://www.mexicoadventure.com/mexican-food.html Accessed on 29 October 2011.World-food-and-wine. n.d. Mexican food history .Retrieved from http://world-food-and-wine.com/mexican-food-history Accessed on 29 October 2011.