A Brief History Of Authentic Mexican Foods

If your knowledge of Mexican cuisine is limited to a menu board at the local fast food place, you may be surprised to learn how ancient this food really is. Dating back at least 9000 years, Mexican food is quite literally as old as the hills themselves. Let's take a little culinary walk through history.

The Maya are indigenous people of Mexico. A Mayan diet would include a wide variety of fruits and vegetables which could be harvested from the forests, waterways, and fields. Squash and root vegetables such as sweet potatoes would provide much of the dietary needs of these hunter-gatherers.

For protein, the Mayan people would rely on beans but would also do what was necessary to get the nutrition they needed to survive. This would include whatever they could easily catch, even insects. Many of us may turn our nose up at eating insects, but in ancient times, and even still in some parts of the world, insects provide a good amount of protein and are actually quite tasty when cooked right.

Maize, or corn, was another staple of the ancient Mexican people, and remains true even today. As agriculture flourished in the rich fields of the Mexican landscape, corn became one of the most abundant crops available. Since corn was so plentiful, it only made sense to use it in as many ways as possible.

Corn was boiled, mashed, and dried to form flour, which was used most often to form tortillas and other breads. The corn husks were used wet as a vehicle for wrapping ingredients for roasting, baking, or boiling. The cobs, silk, stalks, and roots were also used dry to build fires for cooking. As you can see, every bit of the plant was usable, making corn a very valuable resource.

As the Mayan civilization matured, so did their agricultural practices. It was soon discovered that crops did best when planted together and rotated, each providing the soil with different nutrients. This meant that no one plant could totally exhaust the soil by taking without giving.

This is a planting practice that has come around again after centuries of being forgotten, and is recommended in modern times by the most advanced thinkers. If you could take a peek back in time to a planted field in ancient Mexico, you would see corn, beans, squash, and chilies all planted together, guided by a very sophisticated calendar developed by these indigenous people. You would also find this simple variety of nutritious foods mixed together in the dishes served.

Once the Spanish conquest of Mexico occurred, the seas opened up trade routes to India and Spain, as well as other nations anxious to find treasure on Mexican soil. Some of the foods we think of as traditionally Mexican were actually introduced by this trade.

Olives, wine, rice, and spices found their way into Mexican cuisine by way of Spain and India. Pigs, cows, sheep, goats, and even chickens became commonplace in Mexico only because the Spaniards brought them over. Even standards such as cilantro, cinnamon, and black pepper found their way into Mexico from the outside world. It's these blends of cultures that make up what we think of as authentic Mexican food.

Today, it is difficult to find an 'authentic Mexican dish' which has not been influenced by another culture. Many of the dishes we think of as 'Mexican food' would not have been seen on a Mayan table. Beef and cheese, for instance, are quite common in Mexican restaurant entrees today, but would not be recognized in ancient Mexico.

So when you pick out a recipe tonight to create an authentic Mexican meal, you'll want to skip the salsa and queso. If you want to delve into the ancient cuisine of the indigenous Mexican people, fry up a batch of grasshoppers with a bean, corn, and squash medley on the side. Or, you may want to stick to your favorite chili con carne recipe and call it close enough!