Mexican Food Traditions

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Each country has its own unique food traditions. Mexico is certainly no exception in this regard, with many fascinating (and delicious) Mexican food traditions which are all its own. Some of these Mexican food customs include preparing and serving special recipes for holidays and other important events. Some of these holiday dishes are world famous, while others are lesser known, being rarely seen outside of Mexico.

Mexican Holiday Recipes

One of the best known of Mexico’s unique holidays is Cinco de Mayo. Falling on the fifth of May each year (the name simply means May 5th in Spanish), Cinco de Mayo is often mistakenly thought to be Mexico’s Independence Day, a common misconception in the United States. In fact, the holiday commemorates Mexico’s victory over the French army at Puebla in’62.

It is in the state of Puebla that this holiday is celebrated with special Cinco de Mayo recipes. In the rest of the country, it is regarded as a minor holiday, despite how popular this commemoration is in the United States. Puebla’s Cinco de Mayo dishes often include mole, a traditional Mexican recipe which hails from this state.

A common Cinco de Mayo holiday dish you may find in Puebla on this day is turkey cooked in mole poblano. This is a spicy, nutty sauce, which is very labor intensive to make and offers an amazing complexity of flavor. Turkey is one of the most popular meats in much of Mexico; in fact, you will find this bird in many different Mexican recipes, including other Mexican holiday dishes.

Christmas And Epiphany Food Traditions

As a largely Catholic nation, Mexico celebrates Christmas and other religious holidays with aplomb; and when it comes to celebrating with food, Mexican food traditions are second to none! On Christmas morning in Mexico, families and friends hold “posadas,” a traditional Christmas morning party.

The traditional posada meal might include dishes like turkey soup, codfish with gravy, punch with marshmallows, and mashed potatoes served with a spicy cranberry sauce. Making this already festive holiday meal even more so is the presence of a piata, something which adds a fun Mexican flair to the holiday.

In Mexico, the feast of Epiphany is also celebrated with special food and drink. The Spanish-style ring shaped Epiphany cake was introduced to Mexico and has become a Mexican food tradition of its own. The addition of hot chocolate, a drink which is a new world innovation is a Mexican addition to this holiday meal.

Of course, no discussion of typical Mexican food traditions can omit the Mexican celebration of All Saints Day, or Dia de los Muertos as it is known here. On this day, pumpkin candy and other special treats are served, including pan de muertos, a small loaf of bread, which is glazed and sprinkled with colored sugar. These loaves are decorated with small pieces of bread shaped like bones and even skulls!

However, sugar skulls are without a doubt the best known of Mexico’s food traditions surrounding the day of the dead. These are skull shaped candies, which are made by pressing sugar into a mold. These candies are often decorated with great care, making for a holiday treat, which is so beautifully decorated that you may not want to eat them!

The food traditions of every nation reflect their unique culture, something which Mexican food traditions certainly do. The country’s amalgam of new world and old world ingredients, recipes and cooking methods have resulted in a culture – and a set of traditional foods which are an integral part of Mexican life and culture.

Many people are under the false impression that all Mexican food is spicy but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Mexican flavors range from mild to hot, as with many other cuisines. Whether you want to make a Mexican chicken recipe, soup or even tacos, you control how much chili goes into it.

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