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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.