Mexico Food and Drink: Classic Dishes
Listed below are a few of the many dishes associated with the cuisine of Mexico. Recipes for these classic dishes and many others can be found in the Recipes section.
APPETIZERS
Guacamole – A seasoned avocado dip or paté usually served with fried corn tortilla chips. Small portions of guacamole can also be served as a side dish.
Panuchos – This Yucatán appetizer or snack is a small tortilla with various toppings, often including tomato, onions, avocado, and refried beans or shredded chicken.
Quesadillas – There are many types of quesadillas, but the simplest type consists of cheese sandwiched between two tortillas, fried or baked until the cheese melts.
SOUPS
Posole – A pork and hominy soup seasoned with onion, garlic, and chilies.
Sopa de Chayote – A mild, puréed soup seasoned primarily with onion and sometimes enriched with cream.
Sopa de Tortilla – A simple dish of fried corn tortilla strips, vegetables, and seasoned broth.
SALADS
Curtido – Pickled vegetables such as carrots, onions, or jalapeños.
Shrimp Ceviche – Ceviche, the lime-cooked fresh seafood salad common throughout Latin America, is also popular in coastal areas of Mexico. Shrimp and fish ceviche are both served often.
MAIN DISHES
Enchiladas – An enchilada is a tortilla, usually corn, dipped in a fresh or dried pepper-based sauce and wrapped around a meat, cheese, or vegetable filling. Different types of peppers and fillings are used throughout Mexico.
Huevos Rancheros – A substantial breakfast dish composed of eggs, salsa, and corn tortillas.
Pollo en Mole – Chicken stewed in a rich sauce. There are many regional variations on pollo en mole, but the best-known is mole poblano. Mole poblano sauce starts with a paste made from chocolate or cocoa, spices, raisins, nuts, and seeds. The paste is diluted with chicken broth and chicken pieces are poached in the sauce until tender.
SIDE DISHES
Arroz Rojo – Rice has become a staple food in Mexico and is almost ubiquitous as a side dish. Plain steamed rice is common, but it is often cooked with onion, tomato, pork cracklings, and spices for a more robust dish called arroz rojo, or "red rice."
Frijoles Charros – Beans remain a very common side dish in Mexico, and there are many ways of preparing them. Frijoles may be served whole or mashed and are usually seasoned with onion and only lightly spiced, so that they don’t overpower the main course.
Sautéed Corn and Poblanos – This common side dish includes grilled or pan-fried corn and poblano chiles, as well as onions, garlic, and lime juice.
Tortillas de Harina – A tortilla is an unleavened, flat, round bread that accompanies almost every Mexican meal. Tortillas are most often corn-based, but are made from wheat flour in areas of Mexico where corn does not grow well. The dough for corn tortillas is made of cornmeal and water. Flour tortillas usually have some lard or shortening added. Tortillas are cooked on a grill and usually eaten hot.
DESSERTS
Flan – Flan is a classic Mexican dessert. There are many different recipes and variations, but the classic version is a simple vanilla-flavored egg custard baked with a caramel topping, almost identical to a French crème caramel.
Pastel de Tres Leches – This cake may have originated in Mexico or elsewhere in Latin America, but it is now a very common Mexican dessert. In its standard form, pastel de tres leches is a vanilla sponge cake soaked in a mixture of condensed milk, evaporated milk, and whole milk or cream—the three milks from which the cake’s name springs—and then topped with whipped cream. Pastel de tres leches is often decorated with strawberries or maraschino cherries. Sometimes a light butter cake is substituted for the sponge cake.
BEVERAGES
Beer – Commonly drunk on its own or with meals, Mexican beer is usually German in style and light in color.
Horchata – A sweet, nonalcoholic drink most commonly made from rice soaked and ground with water and then flavored with cinnamon and vanilla. Horchata can also be made from soaked, ground, strained almonds.
Tequila – A liquor made from an agave plant, usually 76 to 92 proof. Tequila can be drunk by itself, accompanied by salt and lime, or mixed into cocktails, particularly the margarita: a blend of lime juice, orange liqueur, and tequila.
HOLIDAY FAVORITES
Rosca de Reyes – This sweet bread is traditionally eaten on the feast of the Epiphany, and normally has a small baby Jesus figurine hidden inside.
Copyright © 1993—2024 World Trade Press. All rights reserved.