Latino Cuisine

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Latino Cuisine
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Latino Culture

• Latin America - all areas of Spanish influence
  and Spanish descendent

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Latino populations

• Criollos and Mestizos
• Spanish and indigenous intermarriage was common
  during colonial times

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Political and Geographic Variety

• Mexico - regional variation
• Central America - Guatemala, Honduras, El
  Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama
• Belize unique political history
• South America - most, Brazil-Portuguese colony
• Caribbean - Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba
• other outlying areas, e.g. Philippines

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Some aspects of Mexican foodways

• Central Mexico original home of the Aztec empire
• 25 million people
• Spanish conquest in 1520
• native people Nahua (spoke Nahuatl)
• Maya heartland Yucatan, Guatemala, Central
  America

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POTATOES
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Staple Foods of Central Mexico

• corn
• chilies
• turkey (domesticated)
• bee
• squashes and beans
• tomatoes
• fruits and veges

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guava
carambola
soursop
cherimoya
persimmon
Sapote- mamey
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Foods of Southern Mexico

• carambola
• cherimoya
• yuca
• achiote
• annatto seed - tropical tree
• food color for cheese, margarine, ice cream and
  chickens
• moles- up to 18 ingredients

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Some Like it Hot Physiological Response to
Chilies

• is a mouth and stomach irritant
• releases endorphins associated with pleasure
• may reduce toxicity of some other foods that it
  is mixed with

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annaheim
serrano
jalapeno
habanero
cayenne
poblano
scotch bonnet
bird peppers
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Chocolate

• Theobroma cacoa
• Made a hot unsweetened beverage
• Chocolatl
• added vanilla and chili

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POD
Tree with pods
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Chocolate processing

• pods contain 5 cells
• each cell has 5-12 seeds
• Seed contains chocolate
• seeds sweat - removes cover
• seeds are dried and cured
• roasted, crushed, winnowed
• result chocolate gravel nibs
• add sugar and vanilla
• extract some of fat cocoa butter

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Why do we like chocolate?

• caffeine
• theobromine - stimulant

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Spanish introduced sugar and cinnamon

• Significance of phrase
• Like Water for Chocolate

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Spanish contributions to latino diet

• pigs
• wheat
• garlic
• onion
• rice
• limes

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Spanish introduced distilling

• Native fermentation of maize chicha
• fermentation of century plant (maguey cactus)
  pulque
• Spanish distilled pulque mescal
• very harsh
• w/worm in bottle (purity, strength)
• twice distilled tequila (is smoother)

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Staple of Mexican diet corn

• tortillas, enchiladas, tamales
• also in soups, menudo (hominy)

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Corn preparation

• corn kernels are heated with lime
• (cal-ash not the citrus) until soften
• kernels are pulverized on a metate
• meal is dried
• corn flour masa harina
• flour is mixed with water to make tortilla dough
• heated on griddle

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Beat 1 cup lard until fluffy, then mix in 3 cups
masa flour, 2 teaspoons salt, and 2 cups water.
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Corn and Health

• pellagra niacin deficiency disease
• Processing corn with lime
• alkaine lime solution releases niacin that is
  bound to a protein
• lime also adds protein
• Consuming corn with beans prior to Spanish
  similar effect

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Variations to tortillas

• wheat flour is used to make flour tortillas
• Texas invention, have more lard
• Fritos - San Antonio creation
• based on old Mexican recipe for fried masa harina
• gordos (Taco Bell gorditas)

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Food and Health Much of Latin America
traditional concepts

• Balance of Hot and Cold foods

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Latino Hot/Cold dichotomy

• how food is prepared
• how food is thought to affect the body
• how close food is to the sun

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Hot foods

• meat
• alcohol
• tamales
• corn
• oil
• chilies
• onions

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Cold foods

• citrus
• dairy
• goat
• most vegetables
• tropical fruits