The Many Different Mexican Traditional Cooking Techniques
Mexican foods are cooked similar to how you cook your everyday meals. They can be fried, boiled, and grilled. Mexico has cooked their foods differently in the past.
In ancient times, Mexicans did not have ovens. Instead, they would cook Mexican food over an open fire, which was the most common out of all the Mexican traditional cooking techniques.
The food would be placed in pots and pans and cooked in a similar way to how we grill foods today. The Aztecs would steam and boil their food in two handled cooking pots called xoctli before the Spaniards introduced iron pots. They would fill the xoctli with food and heat it over an open fire. Frying was popular in ancient Mexican times and still is today.
Mexican cooking is much easier these days thanks to the variety of utensils, pots, pans, and ovens available. If you want to make flan, for example, any good Mexican cooking class will recommend that you use a spring form pan, although ancient Mexicans did not have such things. If you want to make homemade Mexican tortillas, you can use a flat-bottomed iron pan. These modern items make what was once time consuming Mexican cooking into easy Mexican cooking. The Mexicans used to have to grind corn by hand to make masa. Now you can get metal grinders to make the task quick and easy.
A lot of easy Mexican cooking recipes are cooked in the oven. Meats, fish, and vegetables can all be baked to perfection. Alternatively, you can boil them in water with spices, carefully controlling the required heat, which is electric or gas, rather than an open fire. Tamales can be cooked in large steaming pots. They take a long time to cook so having a large pot means you can make more at the same time.
Another cooking method for Mexican cooking recipes is the grill. This is an excellent way to cook Mexican food. A similar cooking method was used many years ago and it was called “barbacoa.” This consisted of steaming meat, which was hung over boiling water in a deep pit. Cactus leaves and banana leaves were wrapped around the meat before steaming it. Today, grilling allows the sauces and spices to mingle well and flavor the whole dish. Fajitas are an easy Mexican cooking recipe and turn out wonderfully on the grill. The taste of grilled food is similar to the flavor of authentic Mexican food cooked on a barbacoa.
Mexicans many years ago used “metate y mano,” which was a large tool with a concave surface, made from stone or lava rock. This utensil was used to mash the ingredients together. A “molcajete” is another ancient Mexican cooking tool, which translates as a mortar and pestle. You would learn about these ancient cooking tools in a Mexican cooking class, although we use different utensils today.
When cooking, you have to be able to stir. Wooden spoons have been used for centuries and still are. Today different types are available for you to use, depending on what type of dishes you are making. Some are made for stirring thicker foods, while others are thin for stirring foods such as onions and garlic.
Mexican food has a rich history behind it. The methods might have been modernized, but the food is still traditional. Depending on how the foods are cooked, you will taste different flavors and textures. There are many Mexican dishes to cook and enjoy.
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