60 Fun Facts About Mexican Food

In which year did UNESCO inscribe traditional Mexican cuisine on its Intangible Cultural Heritage list?

UNESCO inscribed traditional Mexican cuisine in 2010, at the same session that listed the French gastronomic meal and the Mediterranean diet, making it one of the first national cuisines honoured.

Roughly how many ingredients does an average mole poblano contain?

Mole poblano typically calls for around 20 ingredients, among them several dried chiles, chocolate, nuts, seeds, bread and spices; some Oaxacan moles run to 30 or more.

Pozole is a hearty Mexican soup built around which key ingredient?

Hominy, maize kernels nixtamalized until they swell and split, is the base of pozole; the name comes from Nahuatl pozolli, and the soup is a New Year's Eve fixture in Mexico and New Mexico.

Menudo, the red-chile soup eaten as a weekend hangover cure, is built around which cut?

Tripe, the lining of the cow's stomach, is simmered for hours in a red chile broth to make menudo, a weekend staple and famous hangover remedy across northern Mexico.

In tropical parts of Mexico such as Oaxaca, tamales are commonly wrapped in what instead of corn husks?

Banana leaves replace corn husks across Oaxaca and Mexico's tropical south, wrapping the large, flat tamales oaxaqueños and lending the dough a moist texture and a faint grassy flavour.

The green chile, white sauce and red pomegranate of chiles en nogada are meant to represent what?

The colours echo the Mexican flag: green poblano chile, white nogada sauce and red pomegranate seeds, which is why the dish is a fixture of September's Independence Day season.

The creamy nogada sauce on chiles en nogada is made from which nut?

Walnuts give nogada its name, from nogal, the Spanish for walnut tree; the fresh late-summer crop is peeled and blended with milk or cream into the pale sauce.

Legend says chiles en nogada were first prepared in 1821 to entertain which future emperor of Mexico?

Agustín de Iturbide, crowned emperor the following year, was fêted in Puebla after signing the Treaty of Córdoba; tradition credits the nuns of the Santa Mónica convent with the dish.

The word guacamole comes from Classical Nahuatl and literally translates to what?

Guacamole is Nahuatl āhuacamōlli, literally 'avocado sauce': āhuacatl (avocado) plus mōlli (sauce), the same mōlli behind the word mole.

Guacamole is traditionally mashed with salt in which stone tool?

The molcajete is a volcanic-rock mortar; the pestle that goes with it is the tejolote.

In the early 1900s, avocados in the United States often went by what name?

Alligator pear was the common US name, after the fruit's rough green skin; California growers pushed the name 'avocado', from Nahuatl āhuacatl, from the 1910s onward.

In nixtamalization, corn is soaked and cooked in what kind of solution before grinding?

Limewater, a solution of slaked lime (calcium hydroxide), provides the alkaline bath that loosens the hulls, improves the flavour and makes the grain's nutrients far more available.

Nixtamalizing corn makes tryptophan available and helps prevent which deficiency disease?

Pellagra, the niacin-deficiency disease, struck populations that adopted maize without the process, from southern Europe to the US South, where it persisted into the 20th century; the alkaline bath frees the grain's bound niacin.

What is the name of the dough formed from nixtamalized cornmeal that becomes tortillas and tamales?

The word nixtamalization itself is Nahuatl: nextli (ash) plus tamalli (cooked corn dough).

The Aztecs and other Nahuatl speakers called tortillas by what name?

Tlaxcalli was the Nahuatl name for the flatbread, and the state of Tlaxcala shares the root; the Spanish later applied their own word tortilla to it.

The Spanish word tortilla, from torta plus a diminutive ending, literally means what?

Little cake is the literal sense: Spanish torta (cake) plus the diminutive ending -illa. Spaniards applied the word to the corn flatbread they met in Mexico in the 16th century.

Elote, Mexican street corn on the cob, is classically dusted with which crumbly grated cheese?

Cotija, a salty, crumbly aged cows' milk cheese named after the town of Cotija, is grated over the mayonnaise-slathered cob with chile powder and a squeeze of lime.

Chilaquiles, fried tortilla pieces simmered in salsa, are usually eaten at which meal?

Breakfast is the hour for chilaquiles: the dish is a classic way to use up the previous day's tortillas and salsa, typically topped with onion, crumbled cheese and a fried egg.

Which seed gives the Mexican pork dish cochinita pibil its burnt-orange colour?

Annatto, the seed of the achiote tree, is ground into a paste with bitter orange juice for the marinade; the pork is then roasted in a píib, a pit oven dug into the ground.

The word barbacoa, the root of the English word barbecue, comes from which language?

Taíno, the Arawakan language of the Caribbean, gave Spanish barbacoa, a framework of sticks for cooking over fire; in Mexico the word came to mean meat slow-cooked in a pit lined with maguey leaves.

What does the word carnitas literally mean?

Little meats is the literal sense of carnitas, carne plus a diminutive ending; the pork is braised in lard over low heat until tender inside and crisp at the edges.

Carnitas are most closely associated with which Mexican state?

Michoacán is carnitas country: the town of Quiroga bills itself as the carnitas capital, and the marbled shoulder cuts are simmered in lard in a wide copper pot called a cazo.

A churrera pipes churro dough into hot oil through a nozzle of what shape?

Star nozzles give churros their ridges, which help the dough cook through and crisp evenly; in Mexico churros are often filled with cajeta or chocolate.

Cajeta, the caramel famously made in Celaya, is a dulce de leche made from which animal's milk?

Goat's milk sets cajeta apart from cow's-milk dulce de leche; Celaya, in Guanajuato, has made it since colonial times and traditionally packed it in small wooden boxes, the cajetes that gave it its name.

Flan napolitano, made in parts of Mexico, adds which ingredient to caramel custard for a denser texture?

Cream cheese, beaten into the egg, condensed-milk and evaporated-milk base, gives flan napolitano its dense, cheesecake-like texture; the base dish is what the French call crème caramel.

Mexican horchata is typically made from which grain?

Rice, soaked, ground and strained with cinnamon and sugar, makes Mexican horchata; the Spanish original, Valencia's horchata de chufa, is made from tiger nuts instead.

Agua de jamaica, one of the most common aguas frescas, is brewed from which flower?

Hibiscus calyces, the dried flor de jamaica, are steeped to give the deep-red, tart infusion; the same drink is known as sorrel in the Caribbean and bissap in West Africa.

Tequila must be distilled from which specific plant?

Blue agave (Agave tequilana Weber var. azul) is the only plant permitted; jimadores strip its leaves with a coa to reach the piña, the core that is cooked and crushed for its juice.

In which year was the Agave Landscape around the town of Tequila declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site?

The Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila joined the World Heritage List in 2006; the site covers the agave fields, historic distilleries and the towns of Tequila, El Arenal and Amatitán.

The gusano sometimes added to bottles of mezcal is actually the larva of what?

The practice only began in the 1940s or 1950s, and about 90 percent of Mexican mezcal comes from Oaxaca.

Unlike tequila, mezcal may be made from how many species and varieties of agave?

The piñas are cooked for about three days in earthen pit ovens, which is where the smoky flavour comes from.

In Mexican slang, as in the name michelada, what is a chela?

A cold beer: chela is Mexican slang for beer and helada means ice-cold, so 'mi chela helada' is one story behind michelada; the drink adds lime juice, chile sauces and spices.

Which flavouring traditionally perfumes the enriched dough of pan de muerto?

Orange blossom water, together with orange zest, perfumes the buttery dough of pan de muerto; the loaf is finished with a sugar crust and bone-shaped strips across the top.

Rosca de reyes, the ring cake with a hidden Child Jesus figurine, is eaten around which date?

January 6, Epiphany or Día de Reyes, is rosca day: the ring cake recalls the Magi's visit, and whoever finds the hidden figurine owes the others tamales at a later feast.

In Mexico, whoever finds the figurine in the rosca must host a party or take it to church on which feast day?

Candlemas, Día de la Candelaria on 2 February, is when the finder of the figurine must provide tamales and atole for the others, an echo of pre-Christian maize offerings.

Which milky, viscous drink of fermented agave sap was considered sacred in pre-Columbian Mexico?

Pulque, fermented from maguey sap (aguamiel), was the sacred drink of the goddess Mayahuel in Aztec ritual, its use limited to priests, elders and nobles; today it is poured in pulquerías with a sour, yeasty tang.

A chipotle is the smoke-dried, ripened form of which chile?

Jalapeño chiles, left on the plant until deep red and then smoke-dried, become chipotles; the name is Nahuatl chīlpoctli, 'smoked chile'.

By the 2020s, which region of Mexico was the world's largest producer of habanero peppers?

The Yucatán Peninsula grows most of the world's habaneros and holds a protected designation of origin for them; the pepper itself originated in the Amazon basin and spread north to Mexico.

The habanero pepper is named after which city?

Havana, Cuba gave the habanero its name, Spanish for 'from Havana', because the pepper passed through the city's trade; the variety is now grown mainly in Mexico.

In which year did pharmacist Wilbur Scoville devise the test that gave the Scoville heat scale its name?

Wilbur Scoville published his organoleptic test in 1912 while working for the Parke-Davis pharmaceutical company; bell peppers score zero, while a habanero can reach 350,000 units.

The original Scoville organoleptic test measured a chile's heat using what?

A panel of human tasters, five of them, sampled a chile extract at increasing dilutions until at least three could no longer feel any burn; that dilution factor became the Scoville rating.

When a poblano chile is dried, what is it called?

Ancho, Spanish for 'wide', is the dried poblano, flat and heart-shaped with a raisin-like sweetness; the fresh poblano is the chile stuffed for chiles rellenos.

Mexican salsa verde gets its colour and tang from which cooked ingredient?

Tomatillos, husked green fruits related to the tomato, are boiled or roasted and blended with chile, onion and cilantro to make salsa verde, the classic sauce for chilaquiles and enchiladas.

In 1992, US dollar sales of salsa overtook those of which condiment for the first time?

Ketchup was dethroned: annual US salsa sales passed ketchup in dollar terms in the early 1990s, a milestone widely reported in 1992 on the back of the Tex-Mex boom.

Oaxaca cheese, the stringy melting cheese rolled up like a ball of yarn, is also known by what name?

Quesillo is what Oaxacans call it: a pasta filata cheese stretched into ribbons like mozzarella and wound into a ball, and the go-to filling for quesadillas.

Huitlacoche, a Mexican delicacy stuffed into quesadillas, is what exactly?

A corn fungus, Ustilago maydis, swells the kernels into grey-black galls; US farmers call it corn smut and destroy it, while Mexican cooks prize its earthy, mushroom-like flavour.

To coax Americans into eating huitlacoche, promoters rebranded it under what name?

Mexican truffle was the marketing name, chosen to borrow the fungus's earthy cachet; it still turns up in food writing, but the ingredient has struggled to break into US and European diets.

Chapulines, toasted on a comal with garlic, lime and salt, are what kind of creature?

Grasshoppers of the genus Sphenarium are the chapulines, harvested in the rainy season and sold by the scoop at Oaxaca's markets and at baseball games.

Restaurateur Caesar Cardini created the Caesar salad in 1924 in which Mexican city?

Tijuana, where Cardini ran a restaurant for Americans escaping Prohibition, is the birthplace: on 4 July 1924 a short-stocked kitchen produced the salad, which has no link to Julius Caesar.

Nachos take their name from 'Nacho', a common Spanish nickname for which first name?

Ignacio Anaya, known as Nacho, was maître d' at the Victory Club when he improvised the dish in 1943 for a party of US army wives; 21 October is now the International Day of the Nacho.

In which Mexican border town were the first nachos improvised in 1943?

Piedras Negras, across the Rio Grande from Eagle Pass, Texas, is where maître d' Anaya fried tortilla triangles, topped them with melted cheese and pickled chiles for a party of US officers' wives, and called them Nacho's especiales.

Tacos al pastor adapt a shawarma technique brought to Mexico by immigrants from which country?

Lebanon sent waves of immigrants to Mexico in the early 20th century; their lamb shawarma became Puebla's tacos árabes and then, with pork marinated in chiles and pineapple, tacos al pastor.

The 'drowned' torta ahogada, soaked in chile de árbol sauce, is which city's signature dish?

Guadalajara's signature sandwich: a crusty birote roll stuffed with fried pork and refried beans, then drowned in a tomato sauce spiked with chile de árbol.

The concha, Mexico's most famous pan dulce, is named for its resemblance to what?

A seashell is the model: the scored sugar-paste topping mimics the ridges of a shell; the pan dulce tradition was shaped by French and Spanish bakers in 19th-century Mexico.

A molinillo, used to froth champurrado and Mexican hot chocolate, is what kind of tool?

A wooden whisk, carved from one piece with loose rings near the head, the molinillo is rolled between the palms until the chocolate is frothy; it is a staple at Las Posadas alongside tamales.

The burrito is said to have been created in which Mexican border city?

Ciudad Juárez is the usual claimant: legend has street vendor Juan Méndez wrapping his food in flour tortillas and carrying it on a donkey (burro) during the Revolution, hence 'little donkey'.

Oaxaca is famed as the land of how many moles?

Seven is the traditional count: negro, rojo, coloradito, amarillo, verde, chichilo and manchamanteles; the black mole gets its colour from charred chiles and extra chocolate.

Escamoles, another prized Mexican delicacy, are what?

Ant larvae and pupae of the Liometopum ant, dug from nests among agave roots, are the escamoles; they sit alongside chapulines and maguey worms in Mexico's long tradition of eating insects.

Per the earliest documented evidence, nobles from which people brought chocolate to the Spanish court in 1544?

Qʼeqchiʼ Maya nobles from Guatemala, escorted by Dominican friars, presented Prince Philip with jars of beaten chocolate in 1544; the Mokaya of coastal Chiapas had been drinking it since around 1900 BC.

What is a tlayuda, the Oaxacan street-food staple?

A large crisp tortilla topped with beans and cheese describes the tlayuda: a thin tortilla the size of a plate, spread with asiento (pork lard), refried beans and cheese, and often topped with tasajo or chorizo.