Most Common Signs You Haven’t Eaten Real Mexican Food

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How caught up are you on the best Mexican food? It can be easy to look at the average taco or burrito offered at a food chain and call it authentic, but let’s look beyond the surface here. Mexican cuisine has a long and brilliant history dating back many centuries, a cultural identity that can’t be so easily summed up with photos of jalapenos and hot sauce. With the United States as the world’s proverbial cultural tossed salad, becoming more acquainted with Mexican cuisine can only serve to bolster your societal awareness and your taste buds. Let’s take a look at how to spot authentic Mexican food and the health benefits.

What Are The Origins Of Mexican Food?

Cuisine is a distinctly human way of interacting with the world. Any given culture’s recipes and preferred ingredients will frequently reference the environment at large, which is nothing to say of ancestral roots that still show their influence in the modern day — it is believed by many scholars that Mexican cuisine is drived from what Mayan Indians prepared nearly 2,000 years ago. Vegetables and spices are incredibly common in Mexican cuisine, with tropical fruits particularly popular in certain areas of the country. The most well-known staples of Mexican cuisine, even hundreds of years later, are corn, peppers and beans.

How Popular Is Mexican Food?

This goes without saying, but Mexican food is incredibly popular. The best Mexican restaurants have long since made their home in the American landscape and are considered an inexorable part of modern American culture. The year 2011 saw an impressive total of 38,000 Mexican restaurants, bakeries and food trucks dispersed from the West coast to the East coast. One out of every 10 restaurants also sells Mexican food, cementing it as the most beloved style of international food. Day-to-day staples you can easily find at an office party are nachos and salsa, among others!

What Are Popular Mexican Dishes?

It’s rare to find a person that doesn’t have some form of Mexican food in their weekly diet. Studies have shown over 67,000 restaurants in the United States serving some form of burrito, with additional surveys showing Mexican food to be the most popular ethnic food segment at 42% of ethnic food sales. To know the meaning of enchilada is to be familiar with the ins and outs of Mexican cuisine beyond what you see in the average grocery store food aisle.

What Are The Health Benefits Of Mexican Food?

Did you know Mexico is in the top four ‘megabiodiverse’ countries in the world? Around 60% of the planet’s biological diversity is located in Mexico alone, translating to cuisine that covers all the basics quite easily. The meaning of enchilada goes beyond something tasty (though that’s to be expected!) — the average Mexican dish will provide a hearty serving of protein, iron and vitamins to promote healthy growth.

What Is Authentic Mexican Food?

There are signs you have never had real Mexican food. One of the most common is if you’re unsure of the nutritional benefits of Mexican food. Another is if you don’t know the difference between flour and corn tortillas! Becoming familiar with the ins and outs of Mexican cuisine, even if it’s just knowing the meaning of enchilada, will go a long way in refining your taste. The best Mexican restaurants will hearken to the country’s roots and provide you the most stellar experience around instead of opting for a watered down, basic version of the country’s history.