Mexican cuisine - Page three - By food author Howard Hillman

Mexican cuisine
characteristics
- national

National characteristics
of Mexican cuisine

Stimulating

Mexican dishes stimulate the taste buds in exciting ways. This I learned firsthand at an early age (I lived in Mexico for a year as a kid and have revisited Mexico dozens of times since).

Chili

Mexican cuisine wouldn't be the same without the chili, a native New World fruit. There are many varieties. The chili poblano is large, green and mild. The chipotle, pequin and jalapeno are examples of hot chilies.

Other popular flavoring agents

They include cumin, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, oregano, onions, garlic, and lemon or lime juice.

More favorites

Red and green tomatoes, avocados, plantains, bananas, and other fruits play a prominent role in Mexico's cuisine. Other Mexican cuisine favorites include the chayote (a large, sweet squash often served as a fruit), nopales (an edible cactus leaves), jicama (a starchy vegetable), cherimoya (often eaten raw with cinnamon and lime juice).

Eggs

They are widely used in cooking. Huevos rancheros ("ranch eggs") is a popular dish.

Tortillas

They are the bread of Mexico - and appear in almost every meal. Tortillas can be made of wheat or corn. In the north, where rainfall is insufficient for growing reliable corn crops, the tortilla is often made with wheat flour. The rest of Mexico uses the corn-based tortilla, just as the Aztecs did more than a half-millennium ago.