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Latino populations
Criollos and Mestizos
Spanish and indigenous intermarriage was common during
colonial times
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
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
Staple Foods of Central Mexico
• corn• chilies• turkey (domesticated)• bee• squashes and beans• tomatoes• fruits and veges
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
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
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
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)
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
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
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)
Latino Hot/Cold dichotomy
• how food is prepared• how food is thought to affect the
body• how close food is to the sun