Online Exclusive: Digging Into Regional Mexican Foods

Its embarrassing how little Americans know about their southern neighbor. Most of us would be hard-pressed to locate Mexico City on a map, let alone distinguish among the countrys regional foods. But Mexican cooking is nothing if not regional. So distinct are its local traditions that we should speak less of Mexican cuisine than of many Mexican cuisines. The cuisines differ quite a bit depending on where you are and on the local ingredients that are available, says Joe Bavone, R&D manager, savory group, Kerry Ingredients & Flavors, Beloit, WI. The cooking methods are different; even the presentations are different.

One need only consider Mexicos landscape to understand why. Its vastalmost three times as large as Texasand its climate ranges from tropical to bone-dry. To the west is the Pacific Ocean; to the east, the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. In between, two mountain ranges split the central plateau from the coastal plains like jagged saws. With so many natural boundaries separating Mexicos indigenous peoplesOlmecs, Aztecs, Mixtecs and moretheir years of isolation bred unique cultures and cuisines.

One constant among these cuisines, and one that remains a running thread in Mexico today, is corn. The New Worlds foundational grain, corn and its agriculture were born in Mexico, and whether in solid or liquid formin tamales, tortillas, atole or pozoleit appears in nearly all meals. Along with beans and squash, it formed a trio of foods that, thanks to its complete protein, sustained Mexicos peoples for 3,000-odd years. Other elements of the native diet included turkey and quail, chiles, herbs, fungi, peanuts, potatoes, tomatoes, amaranth, pineapple, guava, avocado, vanilla, and chocolate.

Mestizo memories

The long and fascinating history of Mexico has been shaped by many ethnicities, especially the indigenous Indian population, says Sean Craig, senior executive chef, Gilroy Foods & Flavors, Gilroy, CA. Many of the staple regional ingredients and techniques are pre-Columbian in origin. But theres also the influence of enslaved people brought from West Africa to the coastal areas, and, of course, the Spanish.

The arrival of the Spanish in the early 1500s sparked the cultural stirring of the Columbian Exchange, blending New World foods with Old World sheep, cattle, pigs, domesticated poultry, garlic, onions, wheat, rice, citrus, sugarcane, and more gave rise to a mestizo cuisine as vibrant and varied as the Mexican people themselves, and staple dishes like mole poblano surfaced.

According to legend (one among many), this dish dates back to the 1600s when the sister superior of Pueblas Santa Rosa convent, tasked with feeding a visiting Spanish viceroy and archbishop, merged her culinary heritage with that of her native helpers to create a recipe of purportedly 100-plus ingredients. Among them were local ancho, pasilla, mulato and chipotle chiles, as well as peanuts, chocolate and canela, or Mexican cinnamon. From the Old World came tomatoes, onions, garlic, aniseed, cloves, peppercorns and sesame seeds. And what was served with it? Pueblas humble, native turkey. Whether or not the dish impressed its intended audience, mole poblano remains a symbol of Mexicos blended culinary roots.

Mexican food, 2.0

Todays Mexico is a dining destination whose culinary accomplishments deserve the esteem accorded to France, Italy or Chinaand that popularity is reflected in Americas fine dining today. The growth of high-end Mexican restaurants such as Topolobampo in Chicago and Zarela in New York has led to a reappraisal of Mexican cuisineits not just tacos anymore, says Craig. These fine-dining spots have introduced the consumer to more authentic regional dishes. Cookbooks and TV programs, such as Rick Baylesss MexicoOne Plate at a Time, are focusing on regional cuisines, as well.

Our preexisting familiarity with a sort of generic Mexican cuisine only feeds our appetite more. Consumers are always looking for something new, and though Mexican cuisine remains hugely popular, it takes something fresh to pique their taste buds, continues Craig. There seems to be a demand for more focused flavors and unique combinations that can be satisfied by regional cuisines.

This is part of a larger story describing the background of our foods. Guests ask questions, says Rick Bayless, chef, restaurateur and owner of Frontera Foods, Chicago. They want to know where a certain dish originated. Our new president, an acknowledged fan of Baylesss regional cooking (perhaps in preparation for state dinners at Los Pinos, the Mexican White House), has drawn a lot of attention to what we do, Bayless says. This isnt the melted-cheese-on-combination-platters-style of Mexican food, and people are noticing that Mexican cuisine can be, and is, healthy, flavorful and made with local ingredients.

So where to begin an exploration of Mexicos regional delights? There are places like Oaxaca that are known for their moles; the fabulous seafood coctels from Veracruz; the intense flavor of pork that has been cooked in underground pits in the Yucatán. The list goes on and on, Bayless says.

Making it work

Small plates can help introduce regional foods. Sopes, or small cakes of masa spread with refried beans and topped with onions, cheese or meat, and rajas, strips of charred poblano chiles sautéed with onions, are just two examples, says Craig.

Choose the right dishes to mainstream, says JeanMarie Brownson, executive culinary director, Frontera Foods, and the rest is easy. To be menu-friendly, the only tweaking you need is to use the best-quality ingredients and not take any shortcuts on classic techniques or ingredients. Fortunately for product developers, its getting easier to do just that.

Corn, beans and ricethe backbones of Mexican cookingare familiar and easily available ingredients that processors already have a good deal of experience with, Craig says. However, the herb and spice combinations that give south-of-the-border sabor to dishes can be a bit trickier.

Yet as demand grows, consistent, reliable, plentiful supplies of these ingredients are emerging. Danny Bruns, CRC, CCA, senior corporate chef at Kerry, has witnessed this demand among his own colleagues in the Research Chefs Association. On the RCA listserv everyday, he says, someones looking forand is able to findsome previously exotic ingredient. Its amazing what theyre looking for: precooked chayote, banana leaves. And the availability is there.

Craig has seen an explosion in the availability of process-ready chiles. It wouldnt be Mexican without chiles, he says. Hundreds of varieties are used in regional cooking, and its no longer enough to use generic chile seasoning, he says. Using different chiles, like guajillos or cascabels, adds different flavors and a unique marketing spin to items.

But, because its not always possible to find the authentic ingredient in a form thats practical for commercial use, Bavone says, we more often than not start with a gold standard using the authentic ingredient, and then try to match the flavor profile using different flavors and ingredient capabilities. You can look for the different top notes that you might be missing from a locally sourced ingredient and then just do your best to replicate the experience.

Strategic flavoring can also help replicate traditional cooking techniques. Flavor ingredients themselves add notes that bring an authentic aspect to a dish, whether its campfire smoke or a wood grill, says Danny Bruns, CRC, CCA, senior corporate chef, Kerry Ingredients & Flavors. The finished flavor profile of the finished product is what you want to keep in mind. If your goal is to make it smoky and pull-apart tender, you can get around any of the traditional technique hurdles without having to steam it in the ground for 24 hours.

Craig notes that regional cuisines, like everything, evolve with time and outside influences, so authenticity is a moving target. An abstract concept of authenticity is less the goal than the integrity of ingredients and versatility of product.

And integrity counts. Its easy to cook up something vaguely Mexican, point your finger at a map, and name the dish after wherever it lands. Its legal, too. But just because you can call a chicken casserole Yucatecan doesnt make it Yucatecan. And savvy consumers can increasingly tell the difference.

A far better strategy is to educate yourself about a regions characteristics, recreate the fundamentals, and bill the results as regionally inspired. Hold your ambitions in check, while youre at it.

We always keep in mind the comfort zone of the end user, Craig says, focusing on how an item fits into the consumers lifestyle, while at the same time adding something new to excite their palate and keep them coming back for more.

After all, authenticity only goes so far. Just take it from Bayless. I always say that I am so glad that I dont have a Mexican grandma, he muses. I dont have to be true to any one recipe. What we do is authentic, but we always take what we learn and put our contemporary spin on it.

Kimberly J. Decker, a California-based technical writer, has a B.S. in consumer food science with a minor in English from the University of California, Davis. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area, where she enjoys eating and writing about food. You can reach her at [email protected].