Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Mexican Culture

submitted: Apr 1st 2009 | by: KCKudra | Total views: 6 | Word Count: 541 | | |

The Mexicans are very proud of their culture, ethnicity and history and the Mexican culture is a blend of the pre-Hispanic times and colonial era, right up to postcolonial modern day Mexico.

The country has actually changed quite a bit in the past century and contemporary Mexican life is more like European or North American life. Eighty five percent of Mexicans live in big cities and there are more Spanish speaking people in Mexico than in any other country. The Mexican government does recognize another sixty-two indigenous languages as Mexican languages though.

Mexico is also the second largest Catholic nation in the world after Brazil, with ninety five percent of Mexicans being Catholic. The religion was introduced by the Spanish colonists.

Mexican Celebrations and Holidays

Every village, city, and town holds a party to honor their patron saint each year on different dates and Mexican Independence Day is celebrated on September 16. The people will pray and burn candles during the religious celebrations and they will also use colorful flowers and utensils to decorate their churches. Fireworks, parades, parties, and dance competitions are all common during fiesta time and football, bullfighting and cockfighting events are also held.

No Mexican party is complete without a hanging piata and these paper mache people, animals, or fictional characters contain candy and toys. The kids take it in turns to hit the piata, while wearing blindfolds, and when it breaks and the goodies fall out, the kids share them.

What Do Mexicans Eat and Drink?

Mexican food is an exotic mixture of European, Aztec, Mayan, Spanish, French and Caribbean food and more. It is tasty and well balanced, both in flavor and in nutritional content. Well known Mexican favorites include tacos, tamales, mole sauce, pozole and enchiladas. There are plenty of Mexican fast food restaurants but the offerings from these establishments bear little resemblance to traditional Mexican food recipes. You can use Mexican recipes to make your own Mexican food at home if there are no good Mexican eateries in your area.

Chicken, beef, maize, beans, tomatoes, guavas, peanuts, avocados, and potatoes are used in a lot of Mexican recipes. Mescal, beer, fruit juices, tequila, and cinnamon flavored hot chocolate are some of the drinks that Mexicans like. In addition to this, there are some award winning Mexican wineries that make wine and export it to many countries.

Corn is used in many traditional Mexican recipes, as is corn flour. Chili is also widely used in Mexican cuisine. There are Mexican soups, stews and salads as well as the better-known Mexican foods. Mexican desserts are very popular and they combine hot and sweet elements to give interesting flavor and texture sensations in the mouth.

Chili is used to flavor candy sometimes and corn flavor candy is a favorite snack. The sugar skulls made for Da de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, are called Calaveras de Azcar.

Mexican food is one of the special things about Mexico, which stands out in many people's minds. Far from being all tacos and burritos, Mexicans focus on using fresh produce and a clever combination of herbs and spices to make their dishes mouthwateringly good and wonderfully unique. By using authentic Mexican food recipes, you can find out why this tasty cuisine is loved the world over.

About the Author

Have you ever wondered just how many kinds of hot peppers are used in Mexican food recipes? You are probably familiar with habanero, jalapeo and maybe poblano peppers but there are plenty more to learn about at MexicanFoodRecipes.org, along with the best Mexican recipes to use tasty hot peppers in.

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