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Mexican food is a food style that comes from Mexico. Mexican food is popular for its zesty and varied spices, colorful decoration and very peculiar flavors.
Mexican food owes its bright taste and variety to Mexican food history. In 1512 the greatest culinary revolution took place, as two powerful and very different cuisines collided to give the world a new and even more peculiar Mexican food.

Spanish conquistadors, leaded by Cortes, landed on the Yukatan shores to find impressively developed civilization and culture of weird but peaceful indigenous inhabitants, Aztecs and Mayans. The emperor of that lands, Montezuma, never wanted to launch a war, he welcomed the Spanish with his best food, made endless feasts and tried to pay off Cortes with the famous Aztec gold. But accepting Montezuma's presents Cortes had never considered to leave these abundant lands. He attacked Montezuma and was surprised to face a worthy rebuff. But still after long and bloody battles Spanish conquered Mayan-Aztec paradise.

Mexican food was initially a Mayan-Aztec diet that consisted of corn, herbs, fruit-based squashes, vegetables, beans and chiles, and gave a foundation for Mexican food tradition. The conquistadors in their turn contributed to the Mexican food by importing their rice, pork, beef, chicken, onions, garlic and wine. But still the brightest representatives of Mexican food ingredients are those of pre-Columbian period including vanilla, chocolate, maize, avocado, papaya, tomato, pineapple, sweet potato, squash, chile pepper, beans, fish, peanuts and turkey. Most of Mexican food recipes are based on pre-hispanic cooking traditions with some traces and additions of Spanish trends. For example quesadillas based on 100 per cent Mayan-Aztec corn tortilla filled with cheese pork, beef or chicken that originated from Spain. 

Chile peppers and salsas add particular gusto to any Mexican food dish. Every dish in Mexican food has its special sauce to go with. The total number of sauces of Mexican food is unknown, but even by the shiest calculations there are about 200 of them. As for the chiles, general number of some 140 spices are grown in Mexico. And among them you are sure to find a very broad scale of tastes and flavors from the hottest habanero to the mild anaheim.

As for traditional Mexican food menu it changes with the region. The four main regions perform their view on Mexican food. Veracruz represents fish Mexican food dishes topped with olives, tomatoes and capers (a trace of European influence). Oaxaca is famous for peculiar blend and way of cooking coffee. Yukatan represents the most popular fruit-based, mild sauces of Mexican food. And finally Puebla is a native land of mole sauce, a very complicated sweet sauce served over chicken and turkey and only on holidays or special occasions. 

Traditional drink of Mexican food is of course tequila, strong alcoholic drink made from the agave plant, that originated from Aztecs and Mayans long before the Spanish conquest. But the Spanish brought the tradition of wine-making which is now actively developed in Mexico.

Nowadays Mexican food is eaten 5 times more in the world than some ten years ago, other nations adopt the recipes to their cuisine, open Mexican food restaurants, turning it into the mainstream culture.

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Mexico covers one third of North American continent comprising thirty-one states, so it is not without a reason that Mexican food varieties are so diverse. Regional Mexican cuisine differs under the influence of such factors as geographical location, ethnic traditions and food history of the region. There are four areas with their distinct peculiar cuisines.

Puebla is first of all a native-land of mole sauce, invented there. The legend says that mole sauce was created by the order of nuns, who were asked to prepare something special to please a visiting dignitary. Unaware of what can be a treat for him, they just mixed many ingredients (thirty of them): chocolate, spices herbs, etc. Then they left it to simmer for a while. The resulting thick sweet mole sauce was then and is still served over turkey and chicken. Puebla is also known for its unique appetizing desserts, that taste great with coffee that is grown in the region. The most popular dessert is sweet potato confection called camotes. Puebla is certainly a place for sweet-teeth, as pastries there are as common as churches.

Yucatan welcomes people with weak stomachs, as this region has the mildest sauces and dishes among all Mexican food varieties. Yucatan sauces are chiefly fruit-based, the most popular is a base of brick-red achiote (annatto) seeds, flavored with pepper, garlic, cumin and Seville oranges. This sauce is added to chicken and pork dishes. They are usually baked in a banana leaf. The result is astonishing tasty.

Mexican food varieties represented in seaside Veracruz can easily be guessed. Fish is cooked superbly there. And be sure that according to any recipe it should be staffed with sauces of olives, chiles, tomatoes and capers. Fish is everywhere in Veracruz even in tacos, tamales and enchiladas. 

Mexican food varieties of Oaxaca region are embodied in the region's coffee. This coffee is mixed with sugar and cinnamon and is simmered for long hours in a large pot. The other drink attracting tourists to Oaxaca is mescal, a sober, as they say, cousin of tequila.  

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Mexican food menu is the richest and probably most mouth-watering among all. It is merely impossible to resist the temptation of ordering half the menu, when you come to a Mexican restaurant. It is probably due to its history, that Mexican menu is now so diverse and widespread. The fusion of two so different cuisine styles as Mayan-Aztec and Spanish, that took place in the 15th century, styles that resisted each other for a long time and neither of them intended to yield, gave the world a unique, spicy and tasty Mexican cuisine, widely appealing and adjustable. For the simplicity of recipes Mexican food became fast adopted in many countries, preserving Mexican peculiarities but basing it on national cuisine.

Actually Mexican food menu also varies with region. In the north food is simpler, all the widely known dishes come from the highlands, the Gulf of Mexico coast specializes on shellfish and fish dishes. Sea regions also display an impact of European cuisine, and along the border a great influence of the US cuisine is evident.

But certainly any version of Mexican menu won't go without tortillas, salsas and chiles. Tortilla is Mexican bread made of corn and flour as a base. Tortillas look like a thin baked pancake, they are usually served with Mexican dishes, that are eaten with hands. Salsas or sauces are extremely important in Mexican food menu, they are eaten with everything. Chiles, tomatoes, onions and garlic are the most common base for a traditional salsa. And now chilies. Chilies are the heart and soul of Mexican cuisine. Anaheim, Serrano, Poblano, Jalapeno are absolutely essential in every meal, they can be called the original tokens or symbols of any dish. One more very classic and frequently appearing in the Mexican food menu dish is guacamole, which is made with avocado and is in fact a squash. It has a very ancient recipe, as it used to be favorite dish of the Aztecs.

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What are the main constituents of a good Mexican restaurant? Well as in any other restaurant Mexican restaurant has three main criteria: food (its quality and wide range of dishes in the menu), atmosphere (that is mostly created by the interior) and service.

As Mexican cuisine is very widespread nowadays, there is a great spectrum of Mexican restaurant varieties in the world. Fast food restaurants have occupied a very profitable position lately, and as some quick and easy Mexican recipes suit perfectly for fast food, Mexican cuisine has been successfully adopted in this sphere. In fast food Mexican restaurant one is sure to get quick and cheap service and nutritious food, but do not expect a wide range of dishes: taco, burrito, tortillas, totopos and salsas usually make all the assortment. And in fact most Mexican fast food restaurants serve Tex-Mex (Mexico-Southwestern US) food, that facilitated Mexican dishes to the American and European consumer.

If you are inclined to taste authentic traditional Mexican food you should visit Mexico, and as the notions of traditional food vary with region you will have to visit four main regions to have a clear picture of genuinely Mexican food. The key dish in any Mexican restaurant  in Puebla will be turkey with sweet and thick mole sauce. In Veracruz you are sure to be treated with fish dishes, flavored with chiles, tomatoes and olives. Yukatan is famous for its fruit-based sauces and a vivid way of serving the dishes, using banana leaves as plates. Oaxaca restaurants will welcome you with their incredible coffee grown in the region and prepared with cinnamon and sugar for several hours.

As for the atmosphere of a Mexican restaurant, it is always very heartwarming and homely. Wooden furniture, clay pots, bright colourful glassware make you feel relaxed and free, and weird but so cute Mayan-Aztec style drawings or patterns create an atmosphere of joyful adventure and mystery. Anyway you are sure to be unwilling to leave this magic place of everlasting fiesta!

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