Mexican Food

Mexican food encompasses a rich, diverse culinary culture. The earliest agricultural staples of the Aztecs, who dominated northern Mexico, and the Mayans, who occupied the southeastern Yucatan, were beans, squash and chile peppers. Maize or nixtamal (corn), “the Gift of the Gods,” is the cornerstone of Mexican cuisine. It appears in almost everything: tortillas, enchiladas, tamales, tacos, even dessert (sopapillas). Early Mexican dishes included atole (hominy porridge, which evolved into Pozole soup), tortillas, and tamales, both savory and sweet.