By Deborah Van Hoewyk

When, in 1519, Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortés met Aztec emperor Moctezuma II, he also met a frothy drink reputed to be an aphrodisiac – xocolatl, or chocolate. Unknown elsewhere in the world, traces of cacao preparation and use go back to nearly 4000 BCE in Ecuador. At first, cacao produced a bitter drink used in various rituals. By the time Moctezuma was drinking xocolatl, it was flavored with spices and thought to have medicinal and spiritual properties. The Spanish, as they did with most “new” things they encountered in Mexico, took it back to Europe, where it met sugar – anyone for a Godiva?

The Columbian Exchange

Before the arrival of Old World explorers – in particular the Spanish conquistadores – the ancient (Aztec, Mayan, and Olmec) indigenous cuisines were basically vegetarian. The famous milpa system intercropped corn, beans, and squash; the beans climbed the corn stalks, and the squash leaves sheltered the roots of all three. The milpa system used crop rotation and fallowing (letting land lie unplanted), which promoted sustainable production and biodiversity, ensuring that the system was successful for the long term.

Pre-Columbian agriculture also produced chili peppers, tomatoes, avocados, and cacao; condiments included salt, honey, and edible flowers and insects. The history of tortillas goes back to nearly 10,000 BCE, when ancient corn was domesticated from a grain called teosinte. The grains, which over time became more like the corn kernels we know today, were soaked in an alkaline solution to break them down enough to create the dough (masa) for the tortillas (the process is called “nixtamalization”).

The indigenous diet was not totally vegetarian, though – the vegetable base was supplemented with domesticated turkeys and ducks, possibly dogs, and wild-caught game (deer, rabbits, wild birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and seafood).

Cooking techniques included open fires, pit fires where ingredients were wrapped in leaves to steam in their own juices, and the creation of “spice powders” by grinding dried ingredients into powders for flavoring. Stewed vegetable dishes and moles were cooked in cazuelas, shallow round earthenware cook pots positioned over a fire.

When Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492 – he landed in the Bahamas, renaming the island of Guanahani as San Salvador, then moved on to what are now called Cuba and Hispaniola (divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic) – he started the “Columbian Exchange.” The term refers to the widespread exchange between the Americas and Europe, and once slavery became part of it, West Africa as well, of just about everything: people and their cultures, plants and animals, technology and ideas, and disease. The Exchange would shape agriculture, ecology, and society on both sides of the Atlantic, if not around the world; it also killed an estimated 45 to 100 million indigenous people through exposure to diseases not found in the Americas (smallpox, cholera, bubonic plague, typhoid fever, diphtheria, the flu, measles).

The Spanish Conquest of Mexico’s Foodways

For Mexico, conquered by the Spanish in 1521, the changes to foodways were profound. The Conquest brought new ingredients – saliently, larger meat animals (cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats) and more poultry in addition to the native turkeys. The Spanish also brought wheat and rice (the latter arrived with Africans brought as slaves to work in the New World). Olive oil and wine, essential to Spanish cuisine, came over in large earthenware jars; new fruits (stone fruits like peaches, figs, and melons), and nuts and beans (chickpeas, or garbanzos, field peas, almonds).

The fact that Spain had lived under Arabic rule for several centuries – North African Arabs held sway in southern Spain (Al Andalus) from 711 to 1492 CE – also shaped the foods and cooking techniques that made their way west. The flavors of new herbs and spices – garlic, cumin, coriander, and cinnamon especially are all redolent of north African and Middle Eastern cuisine.

Perhaps the most popular, and widely available today, Arab dish is tacos al pastor (shepherd’s tacos), or Tacos Árabes, a variation of Middle Eastern shawarma. You can see it from afar, as restaurant staff slice marinated pork or mixed meats (originally they were made with lamb or goat) off a vertical roast on a spit, filling up flour tortillas, and topping the meat with onions and sauce. Arroz con leche (rice pudding) is also considered a Middle Eastern treat that arrived in Mexico via Spain.

Spanish cooking also brought new cooking methods, frying – made possible by the Spanish contributions of olive oil and lard (manteca) – and baking. With the Spanish introduction of wheat, baking the wide range of pan dulces (sweet breads – great for breakfast) got started. The Spanish brought their baking techniques with them and began incorporating Mexican ingredients along with their wheat.

French Influence:

In the wake of the War of Independence, when Mexico threw off Spanish rule, the French tried to replace the Spanish. The “French Intervention,” followed by the Second Mexican Empire, was short – 1862-67 – but it served to expand Mexico’s baking repertoire. Bolillos are considered the Mexican “French Bread.”

French crêpes were incorporated in Mexican dishes, the crêpes stuffed with fillings like huitlacoche (corn smut) or poblano peppers, the whole thing covered with sauce – the cream sauces are a French contribution.

The French also contributed water-bath cooking techniques (e.g., the bain-marie), which refined Mexican custards and flans.

Lebanese Influence

While many credit tacos al pastor to the Lebanese, they did not start immigrating in any great numbers until the 1880s, after one or another version of tacos el pastor had appeared. The Lebanese first arrived in the Yucatán peninsula as the Ottoman Empire reached its oppressive height. More Lebanese arrived during the Israel-Lebanon War of 1948, when Mexico made haste to admit them. The Lebanese also brought a dish called “kibbeh,” small fritters of ground beef, bulgur wheat, onion, and spices. Taquitos de parra (little tacos of grape leaves) are stuffed with ground meat, rice, garlic, and maybe some cinnamon; many Mexicans make them bigger than taquitos, and use cabbage leaves in place of grape leaves. If you buy jocoque, a thick yogurt used for sauces or dips, that’s a Lebanese creation as well.

Mexican Influences on Mexican Cuisine

Other culinary traditions have influenced Mexican cuisine; African, Caribbean, Chinese, Portuguese and Philipino dishes can all be found in Mexico, but the greatest influence on Mexican cuisine is the different regional variations in the flavors, ingredients, cultural practices, and special dishes across the country. (See Brooke O’Connor’s article, “Seven Regions of Mexican Flavors,” in the August 2023 issue of The Eye.)

Northern Mexico offers grilled meats – we’ve passed many a barbacoa establishment coming south through Monterrey and Querétaro; the closer you are to the border and “Tex-Mex” land, the more frequently you’ll eat flour tortillas. And here in Oaxaca, have you had chapulines drowning in cheese? Salt and crunch can’t beat it!