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The Languages and Cuisine of Mexico Essays

Decent Essays

Mexico has 31 states and 1 Federal district which is Mexico City. While the overwhelming majority of Mexicans today speak Spanish making it the largest Spanish speaking population in the world there is no single official national language of Mexico. The colonizers of Mexico forced the Spanish language on the natives, but in the 1990s the government recognized 62 indigenous Amerindian languages, including Aztec, or Nahuatl, and the Mayan family of languages, as national languages. About 6 % of the population is non-Spanish speaking, and some indigenous Mexican words have become common in other languages, to include English. Examples are: chocolate, coyote, tomato and avocado all originated in Nahuatl.
Mexican culinary norms vary widely …show more content…

Combining this with the specialty cuisines of European conquerors (namely the Spanish) including wine, cheese, pork, beef and lamb, Mexicans have created a food culture that combines a mix of old world and modern cuisine. It is widely believed that Mexican food is extremely spicy, but this is true only to a certain extent.

Food Culture of Mexican Mayans
Southeast Mexico was inhabited by the Mayan Indians many years ago, and their basic eating habits were based on the fact that they were primarily nomadic hunters by nature. As a result, they lived off the land and regularly consumed animals that roamed those lands in that time. Mexican culture food at the time simply consisted of the meat of rabbits, deer, raccoons and armadillos. Birds were considered a delicacy and pigeons, turkeys and quail were regularly eaten. This often included frogs, snakes and turtles.

These meat delicacies were perfectly complemented by land grown vegetables like tropical fruits, beans and corn. Corn was a basic supplement of almost all meals, as it was widely grown in all the settlements of the Mayans, becoming an integral part of the Mayan culture. Mexican food and culture of this time aimed at complete nutrition and nourishment of the body by providing it with all the necessary minerals and amino acids.

Food Culture of Pre-Columbian Mexican Period
The immediate period before European conquest

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