Corn is not anything new to you; this vegetable (actually a grain, though it is often used as if it were a vegetable) is a common sight on American tables. While corn is common here, it has a central place in Mexican cuisine, where you'll find it in soups, salads, salsas and ground into flour to make tamales and of course, tortillas. It is one of the most common ingredients in many quick Mexican recipes.
This grain has been a staple food in Mexico since long before the arrival of Europeans on the continent. Used to make flour for tortillas, tamales and a variety of other dishes, corn was already central to Mexican cooking centuries, if not millennia before the Spanish came over in search of gold. The corn-based flatbreads acquired the name "tortillas" upon the Spanish conquest of what is now Mexico, after the Spanish word for "little cakes" (a name also given to omelets in Spain).
Tamales and tortillas are the most well known corn-based Mexican foods in the US; while flour tortillas are more common here, corn tortillas are now widely available in grocery stores nationwide and are becoming more popular. If you have never tried making tacos with corn tortillas, you are in for a real treat - the flavor a warm, soft corn tortilla adds to the dish just cannot be equaled by any wheat flour tortilla.
Another Mexican recipe, which features corn as the most important ingredient, is the tamale. This classic Mexican comfort food has been around for many centuries and may be served as part of dinner, lunch, or even breakfast! Tamales are made from corn flour dough filled with meats, cheeses, or vegetables and steamed inside of a cornhusk. Somewhat similar to Italian polenta, tamales are even made in sweetened or fruit filled versions, which are great for dessert or breakfast.
Tamales are rather labor intensive to make, but this savory (or sometimes sweet) corn flour wrapped in a corn husk is something well worth the couple of hours it takes to make - served at a dinner party, they're sure to impress.
Salsa is another place where corn turns up - with surprisingly delicious results. Corn works very well with the hot peppers, herbs, onions, and tomatoes found in many salsas. Salsa with corn and black beans is an especially good combination, which is perfect on your tamales, tacos and of course with tortilla chips.
You will also find corn in Mexican soup recipes, with pozole being by far the most popular of these dishes. Pozole is a soup made with white hominy (something certain to be familiar to you if you live or have lived in the southern United States). This spicy, savory soup pairs the mild sweetness and earthiness of hominy with meat (usually pork), chili peppers, and spices; this is a very popular dish in Mexico and a bowl of pozole is often a meal in itself.
If you live in a city, which has a significant Mexican population, you may even have a pozoleria (a restaurant that specializes in this soup) nearby. However, if you are not so lucky, do not despair. You can easily make pozole at home. Try this Mexican recipe in the fall or winter and prepare to discover a new favorite; and see corn in a whole new way! - 29955
This grain has been a staple food in Mexico since long before the arrival of Europeans on the continent. Used to make flour for tortillas, tamales and a variety of other dishes, corn was already central to Mexican cooking centuries, if not millennia before the Spanish came over in search of gold. The corn-based flatbreads acquired the name "tortillas" upon the Spanish conquest of what is now Mexico, after the Spanish word for "little cakes" (a name also given to omelets in Spain).
Tamales and tortillas are the most well known corn-based Mexican foods in the US; while flour tortillas are more common here, corn tortillas are now widely available in grocery stores nationwide and are becoming more popular. If you have never tried making tacos with corn tortillas, you are in for a real treat - the flavor a warm, soft corn tortilla adds to the dish just cannot be equaled by any wheat flour tortilla.
Another Mexican recipe, which features corn as the most important ingredient, is the tamale. This classic Mexican comfort food has been around for many centuries and may be served as part of dinner, lunch, or even breakfast! Tamales are made from corn flour dough filled with meats, cheeses, or vegetables and steamed inside of a cornhusk. Somewhat similar to Italian polenta, tamales are even made in sweetened or fruit filled versions, which are great for dessert or breakfast.
Tamales are rather labor intensive to make, but this savory (or sometimes sweet) corn flour wrapped in a corn husk is something well worth the couple of hours it takes to make - served at a dinner party, they're sure to impress.
Salsa is another place where corn turns up - with surprisingly delicious results. Corn works very well with the hot peppers, herbs, onions, and tomatoes found in many salsas. Salsa with corn and black beans is an especially good combination, which is perfect on your tamales, tacos and of course with tortilla chips.
You will also find corn in Mexican soup recipes, with pozole being by far the most popular of these dishes. Pozole is a soup made with white hominy (something certain to be familiar to you if you live or have lived in the southern United States). This spicy, savory soup pairs the mild sweetness and earthiness of hominy with meat (usually pork), chili peppers, and spices; this is a very popular dish in Mexico and a bowl of pozole is often a meal in itself.
If you live in a city, which has a significant Mexican population, you may even have a pozoleria (a restaurant that specializes in this soup) nearby. However, if you are not so lucky, do not despair. You can easily make pozole at home. Try this Mexican recipe in the fall or winter and prepare to discover a new favorite; and see corn in a whole new way! - 29955
About the Author:
Mexican soup is versatile and you can make it in a pot or even in a crockpot if you want to come home to something warm after a long day at work. Corn and chicken soup is one Mexican favorite but there are many more including Mexican minestrone soup and Mexican tortilla soup.
