Mexican Food and American Food: The Similarities and Differences By: Blake Kilker
Just for something to think about, do you think that Mexican food and american food are really that different? Some people don't even think about the similarities between our two cultures, only the differences. However, what most people don’t realize is that american culture has always taken inspiration from Mexican culture.
First of all, storytime, as it needs to be said how mexican food came to be as one main event lead to mexican cuisine today. It all began with people bringing a small variety of animals and other things to mexico but where it really began down the path that lead it’s culture and food to where it is today was when Spain invaded mexico to colonize it and they mixed their food styles together in 1521 and Spain brought with them the ideas of herbs and spices like garlic and livestock like cows and sheep as well as dairy products like milk and cheese. From here onward, it is just mexican food evolving and taking small inspirations from other cultures for example, a common misconception is that corn tortillas which originally came from mexican culture, however, it actually came from the Native Americans.
Next, The similarities between american and mexican food are far more plentiful than what people think, however, there are still not exactly a lot of similarities. The first similarity is the healthiness of it. Neither of these food types are very good for you as they are full of carbs, calories, and fat. The second similarity is that they both involve a lot of chips and bread type foods. Next, they both rely on spices to make their food better. The last main similarity is that they both focus heavily on making their foods very colorful and appetizing.
So, now it is time for the differences, this has a lot of examples. The first one is that mexican food really only took inspiration from Spain when they invaded Mexico and they mixed their food together while american food has taken inspiration from many many countries in europe and has taken those and changed them a little bit and ultimately made it more unhealthy. Next, american food has no traditional food as it takes inspiration from so many cultures while Mexico has many traditional foods. American foods usually have more onion and pepper unlike Spanish foods. Moreover, the foods in America are accompanied by rolls or fried things and potatoes in many forms while hispanic people enjoy eating cured hams and fishes cooked in olive oil. While the Americans like living on leavened bread, Hispanics love feasting on tortillas which are unleavened breads that are pounded flat and baked on a griddle. Hispanics are more into beans and rice. Lastly, both Americans and Hispanics use corn for many things.
All of this is why mexican food and american food have many differences but also a good amount of similarities as well. So, do you still think that these two food types are really that different?