Quite honestly, I'm not sure what to blog about. For the past week since hearing about this project, the idea of what to write about ethnicity and what it has to do with modern Mexico has continuously been difficult. I've always been focused on my own ethnicity but the amount of attention I gave it was minimal; I was more concerned with what I could do as a person rather than what I was. But I realized that people were not like me (a fortunate thing) and cared very deeply about their ethnicity.
Ethnicity, as I talked more with people and observed, very much defined a person, despite how distant some people can be from it. For most of my life, I wasn't proud of my heritage or anything that came with it. College life came around and I had a Latino roommate who was extremely proud of where she came from and would give me interesting tidbits of her life. Previously, I'd lived in a large Latino community but never paid much attention to it, just having idle thoughts from time to time acknowledging a different culture from mine. It always amazed me at how much she embraced her background. There was so much excitement and passion every time she talked about it. Never was she ashamed of it and encouraged me to get involved in Latin holidays and festivities. I enjoyed them immensely and from that year on, had a higher appreciation and understanding of Latin culture.
Ethnicity, as I talked more with people and observed, very much defined a person, despite how distant some people can be from it. For most of my life, I wasn't proud of my heritage or anything that came with it. College life came around and I had a Latino roommate who was extremely proud of where she came from and would give me interesting tidbits of her life. Previously, I'd lived in a large Latino community but never paid much attention to it, just having idle thoughts from time to time acknowledging a different culture from mine. It always amazed me at how much she embraced her background. There was so much excitement and passion every time she talked about it. Never was she ashamed of it and encouraged me to get involved in Latin holidays and festivities. I enjoyed them immensely and from that year on, had a higher appreciation and understanding of Latin culture.
Though I was quite familiar with the Mexican food, if being familiar meant having tasted burritos and enchiladas as school lunches, it expanded immensely more when she made them. It started with the basic things like quesadillas, a fast but simple dish of a pan-fried tortilla folded in half with cheese inside. It was then, I realized, that anything mass produced could never replace anything that was freshly made. She introduced me to more homemade Mexican meals such as enchiladas and burritos that were so filling and satisfying that I was unsure I could eat anything else for a good week.
So, even though in the beginning I thought I wasn't able to find something to blog about, here I am completing this introduction with a tiny story about my friend and former roommate and her intense pride as a Latino.
So, even though in the beginning I thought I wasn't able to find something to blog about, here I am completing this introduction with a tiny story about my friend and former roommate and her intense pride as a Latino.
My parents taught me not to be picky about food
After much consideration, I've decided on understanding Mexico by exploring a subject I quite enjoy: food. Food, I've been finding out, come in many forms and does tell a lot about a person. Lately, I've been having a growing interest in trying new different recipes from around the world, from Japan to Korea, and lately, Latin America. I was aware of the enchiladas and the burritos and the churros and as I grew older and expanded my taste palette, I began appreciating the different spices and flavors Mexico had to offer.
Though corn was the main staple of the Mexican diet, they also relied on other fruits and vegetables available to them from the surrounding region. Corn was used in almost every aspect of their meals from its raw form to being ground up, made as tortillas. Other main ingredients of the Mexican cuisine include beans and tomatoes. Fruits and vegetables available were thick skinned but contained thick moist flesh such as squash, tomatillos and papayas. Chiles, from the well-known jalapenos to the smoky flavor of chipotle peppers, grew abundantly and were also included in their cuisine. Cocao trees in Mexico produced the rich chocolate that is favored around the world, though previously it was only used in beverages. Another plant much used by the Mexicans was nopales, a prickly pear cactus. Any meat they ate came from the surrounding wildlife, ranging from fish to boa constrictors to tropical birds and even the mighty jaquar. Most of these were widely available before the arrival of the Spaniards in the 1520’s.
To my surprise, much of the ingredients that I’d thought would be associated with the Mexican cuisine were imported from the Spaniards. Cheese wasn’t part of the Mexican diet until the Spanish introduced domestic cattle, sheep, and goats to the region. Before the Spanish arrived, Mexico was mostly agriculture with little animal domestication. Rice was another grain that was also imported from the Spanish. Numerous other spices not available in the Mexican region were introduced along with olive oil. These additions added new flavors and combinations to what will be widely known as Mexican food.
Recipes both traditional and modern
Growing up in America, the only Mexican food I've been exposed to were the numerous Taco Bells and other big chain "Mexican" restaurants. Though I lived in an area with a large Mexican community, I had little idea of what foods Mexico had to offer. The burritos I had were from school cafeterias and frozen foods from the grocery. Enchiladas I tasted once and fell in love with. The creamy taste of the sauce baked into tortillas wrapped around a mix of meat and spices; forever to this day, I have been trying to find the perfect enchilada recipe.
During that year living with my Latina roommate, her infectious passion for her culture continued to influence me and open my eyes to try more Mexican foods. Through our meager student budgets she introduced me to menudo, a hearty stew consisting of beef tripe and hominy topped with cilantro and a squeeze of lime, and made from scratch (aside from the tortillas) salsa verde enchiladas. When we were tired of what the University dining hall had to offer for dinner, instead of hitting the pizza or burger joints, we would go out to the nearest Mexican restaurant, Carmela’s, and order huge platters of burritos accompanied by steaming sides of rice and beans. Though she and I no longer live together, I still beg for her enchiladas.
Years pass and currently I have a new Latina roommate who was as equally in touch with her ethnicity as my former roommate. For the first time, I learned and watched how tamales and tortillas were made. Surprisingly, tortillas were easy to make but that was probably due to the years of practice my roommate had that made it look so simple. She made corn tortillas from corn flour, shortening (not lard as most tortillas are made; she was a vegetarian) and water. But she went a step further and added dried chili peppers that were soaked, ground up via a food processor and mixed in with the tortilla mixture. This resulted in smoky, slightly spicy tortillas that were delicious and quickly consumed as soon as they left the pan. Tamales, she told me, required a full day to make. The preparation took about an hour but what consumed most of the time was the steaming process. She also told me that making tamales was a communal effort by women who would gather around while making them, exchanging gossip, and done only on special occasions due to the large amount of time required to make them. I also introduced to horchata, a sweet rice drink spiced with vanilla and cinnamon. Though she was disappointed that it wasn’t as good to her expectations when she made them, most of us who had tasted it disagreed with her assessment and declared that she made it very well.
As a South East Asian, I thought I had experienced the full experience of chili peppers. Often times, I would disdain at the hot peppers Mexico would offer, preferring the sharp tongue numbing taste of south East Asian peppers. But now I realize that the variety of peppers Mexico had were smoky and deeper in taste, varying on sizes and color and of course, there were the ones that brought the burn, such as the deadly habanero, so much so that for a good hour or so I thought I would never have the sensation of taste again. And when I realized how much they were used in Mexican cuisine and in so many ways, I wanted to know more and explore more of those recipes.
Another Mexican recipe I wanted to explore was the salsa. When in a fix for snacks, salsa with tortilla chips would be one of the top choices. All that I was aware of about salsa were those packaged in jars sold in stores. Some claimed to have actually chunks of “fresh vegetables” or were organically made. Though upon purchasing and opening the enticing jars, more often than not, I found them to be mushed up unidentifiable salsa. Good in taste but horrible in presentation. Of course, there were the really good ones with visible chunks sold by local merchants but it was an expensive habit to keep. I approached my roommate about the idea of making salsa and wondered if it would be difficult to make. She laughed and said, no, quite simple. All it required were some diced tomatoes, minced garlic, some peppers of various spice levels (dependent on how spicy you could handle, she encouraged adding more than it was necessary. I didn’t mind.), chili powder and lime. I was blown away at how fresh, tasty, and quite inexpensive to make.
Then I heard about this chocolate sauce, spiced and poured over rice, chicken, and used for almost anything in the Mexican cuisine. This sauce, the mole, can be rivaled to the top American BBQ sauce. Going by the testimonies from people, both of Latin and non-Latin descent, the mole is the most delicious thing ever. I've yet to have a taste of this but by looking at this mole negro oaxaqueno recipe (http://nathanscomida.blogspot.com/2012/03/mole-negro-oaxaqueno-black-mole-oaxaca.html), it looks awesome, and intimidating, to try.
And last but not least, I think what contributed to my understanding and appreciation of Mexican cuisine is Anthony Bourdain: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppPiObBYbtE)
I find that Mexican foods aren’t simply burritos and tacos overburdened with cheese and extra toppings. It's much more complex and always evolving with the times. Of course foods such as tamales and tortillas will always remain a staple in Mexican diet and continuously passed on through the generations. Despite having international influences on cuisine, the tastes of Mexico remains through the various spices and crops that make Mexico unique. Fast food restaurants will continue to pop up and serve "Mexican" food but nothing beats a home cooked meal from a recipe that's been passed through generations.
