According to USA Today, Mexican food is the most popular ethnic food choice in the USA. However, the food eaten by Mexican people often significantly differs from the tacos and other fare offered as authentic by US Mexican restaurants. You can find chips and salsa on the menu in Mexico and the USA, but the flavors and preparation of the dish will be different.
If you want an authentic Mexican dining experience, look for a chef who brings authentic Mexican ingredients and cooking styles to their cuisine. Your dining experience may begin with traditional Mexican drinks. According to Taste of Home, an authentic Mexican cocktail could be a carajillo, which is a spicy, chocolate espresso martini, or a non-alcoholic Agua Fresca, which is a combination of fruit and sugar water.
Speaking of drinks, the combination of Mexican food and beer is different in the US, as authentic Mexican beer highlights the flavors of the food. If you want to try a strange Mexican food choice, search the menu for Escamoles which are ant egg sacs. According to Tour Hero, escamoles taste like sweet corn. If you want a real adventure in unique Mexican food, try Criadillas del Toro which are bull’s testicles!
Maybe you think you have had a traditional mexican dish, but do you really know how to spot authentic mexican food? There is a bit of a difference between Tex-Mex and traditional and once you have had the real stuff you will have truly had the best mexican food. A few signs you have never had real mexican food could be:
- Even if you are dining at a ?mexican restaurant?, if you’re eating a taco with ground beef that is actually Tex-Mex and not traditional.
- Traditional tacos come with onion and cilantro not lettuce and tomatoes like the majority of what is served in fast food mexican restaurants.
- Real mexican tacos are served on a small corn tortilla they don’t actually use hard shells for crunchy tacos or soft flour tortillas.
- Asking for salsa at a traditional mexican restaurant will usually get you a bottle of hot sauce and not the chunky Picante you’re probably looking for.
One out of every 10 restaurants sells mexican food, making it the most popular ethnic food segment in the U.S.; even though the Americanized versions of tacos and burritos are causing a lot of people miss the nutritional benefits of mexican food the way it’s supposed to be made. Traditional mexican food is actually very healthy for you because of some of the basic everyday ingredients in their dishes, such as:
- Beans: Beans are a very good source of soluble fiber, low in fats and can sometimes be quite delicious with the right mexican herbs and spices.
- Corn: Corn, high in fiber and whole grains, is used in many mexican dishes like tortillas, tamales, and enchiladas which literally translates to in Chile.
- Avocados: Mono-saturated fats are known to be heart-healthy and avocados made into dips or added to recipes are a great source of mono-saturated fats.
It is almost a shame that Americans are eating their own version of mexican food and unknowingly missing out on all the delicious benefits of authentic cuisine, some may prefer the Tex-Mex version, but then again you won’t know unless you try. Now that you know how to spot authentic mexican food you can start really enjoying all it has to offer in the form of nutrition, taste, and individuality. Who doesn’t love to try new things?