| Mexico is a pretty big country, like the United States, | | | | positioning on either side of the Rio Grande and the |
| and it offers many different kinds of foods. Each area | | | | colonists' demand for beef. This is the part of the |
| of the country has a different style of food and its | | | | country where you will find the famous carne asada, |
| own regional specialties. There are dishes which are | | | | which is also a very popular dish in Texas and the |
| very popular in some areas of Mexico but relatively | | | | American southwest. |
| unfamiliar in other areas of the country. | | | | In Central Mexico, you will find dishes and culinary |
| In fact, some of the dishes, which people in the US | | | | influences from neighboring regions of the country, but |
| think of as Mexican, are largely unknown in Mexico | | | | Central Mexico is also the home of some distinctive |
| itself! For example, let us take chimichangas and | | | | Mexican recipes, which are the region's own. These |
| nachos. Chimichangas were actually invented in the | | | | include the spicy goat soup birria, the hominy and pork |
| southwestern United States; and nachos which did | | | | soup pozole and the tripe soup known as menudo. It is |
| originate in Mexico but are found more plentifully in | | | | the region's soups and stews, which are the most |
| other countries than in Mexico itself. The things, which | | | | famous of its dishes, but central Mexico is also the |
| you think you know about Mexican food, may not be | | | | home of carnitas, a fried pork dish that is often served |
| representative of the reality of this cuisine, as it exists | | | | on tacos and tortas. |
| in the country. | | | | There are also Mexican recipes, which are popular, |
| The coastal regions of Mexico have their own regional | | | | nationwide, such as chiles en nogada, a stuffed |
| Mexican recipes, which as you would expect, feature | | | | poblano dish topped with a walnut cream sauce and |
| fish and other seafood. Veracruz in particular is known | | | | pomegranate seeds (the three colors of the |
| for its fish dishes, especially those which are | | | | ingredients suggest the colors of the Mexican flag). |
| "Veracruzana" (in the Veracruz style), especially those | | | | Tacos are another Mexican food, which you will find all |
| served with a spicy tomato sauce containing olives | | | | over the country, though there is a great regional |
| and capers - - having a clear influence from Spain. | | | | variation in terms of which ingredients are used to |
| The state of Oaxaca is known for mole. These | | | | prepare them. |
| often-spicy sauces are made from a variety of | | | | Mexico contains a great many different climates and |
| ingredients including chocolate, chilies, pumpkin seeds, | | | | different indigenous cultures, all with a greater or lesser |
| and others. They have a fusion of different flavors | | | | degree of influence from Spanish cuisine, as well as |
| and vegetable, meat and cheese mole dishes are all | | | | from other groups of immigrants, all of whom have |
| quite common. | | | | brought their own culinary influences. Mexican cuisine |
| There is a lot of obvious Spanish influence on the local | | | | offers a lot to explore, going well beyond the familiar |
| dishes served in the north of Mexico and beef dishes | | | | tacos and burritos; try a few regional Mexican recipes |
| especially are more common here than in the rest of | | | | for something different and exciting at your table. |
| Mexico. This is primarily because of the Spanish colony | | | | |