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Luz Sandoval
Jane Wilson
Writing 01
April 4, 2013
Mexican food Vs. Mexican American food
Mexican traditions had been changing thought generations. Mexican immigrants came to
America around 1942 bringing new traditions to this country. Some of those traditions were
music, language, culture and food. One of the most essential of Mexican tradition is the food. For
Mexicans, food is one of the most important things in their daily life. Food represents who the
cook and the person that is eating it is, their taste is one of the most important ingredient in
Mexican food. When Mexican immigrants came to America, these immigrants had to adapt to
the new culture and new ingredients. Throughout the time Mexican food changed. They made it
more American style but leaving some of the Mexican tradition on them. Generations change,
also the food. In America there’s no time for making food. So they make it simpler. In Mexican
culture cooking is a way of expressing for who they are. As a Mexican immigrant I can see the
difference between the food created in this country and the one created in Mexico. My mother
showed me some recopies that sometimes are completely different with the one my American
friends have. Patience, tradition and passion are ideals manifested when Mexican cooks prepare
food. This contrast to American attempts to create Mexican food who serve food that was
prepared without same ideals about what a perfect food means.
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Mexican food and traditions has been adapting with new generations. But after all there is
something that stayed in the Mexican food, the names of the food remain the same. Even though
the pronunciation is different the names stay the same. Tradition can die but for some Mexican
American it had stayed the same. For example, the way of eating frijoles with tortilla it stays the
same. Most Mexican American food has chili on them and we can even see some production
imported from Mexico giving that taste from over there. The usage of herbs stays the same.
Many foods that is prepared at home stays with the Mexican tradition. When the food is made at
home, It would taste the same because they do it depending on how the family likes the food
made. Both traditions enjoy and know what a good food is. For example in Like Water for
Chocolate, it shows how both cultures appreciate food. “The aunt was used to a different type of
food, but that did not prevent her from being able to appreciate the wonderful meal Tita had
prepared (Abarca, 169).” When Tita, ( who is the main character) prepares a Mexican to her
fiancé’s aunt, the aunt enjoys the food even though the differences in their traditions. For every
occasion there is specific type of food.
There more differences in this food. Either at home or at a Mexican restaurant its
different from one food that’s is prepared at Mexico. In a home many times the tradition decays
because new technologies and methods of preparing food change. When preparing the food you
can forget an ingredient which is really .In Mexican traditions food is really important because is
a way of expressing. The way of making food is not just a simple way in which American had
created everything in a fast way. In the book Voices in the Kitchen talks about how important is
creating any type of food even some enchiladas. Americans don’t have time in their daily lives
so they just want the simplest way as possible. They are many fast food restaurants because
there’s no time for cooking. Meanwhile in Mexican tradition you have to be paying attention to
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everything you do in the food. Mexican has a lot of patience when cooking. For Americans they
just want to eat and keep going with their daily lives. To enjoy a food is essential to sit down in
the table with all the family. Americans most of the time watch TV while eating or eat it on their
way to work, school, etc. The passion of making the food Mexicans have makes the taste
different. Depending on the mood you are creates the taste of your food. While Mexicans make it
fresh and by hand, Americans make it from the bridge to the microwave.
A food that got my attention the most because of the way it was totally change where the
tacos. Tacos are the main food in Mexico. Americans transform tacos to a hard tostada with
some meet with chemicals and microwave. Taco Bell makes the American style tacos, that
shouldn’t be called taco. For the base they used taco shells which are hard tortillas. They actually
buy them and not make themselves. While in Mexican traditional restaurants you make the
tortillas of corn. To make the corn tortillas you need 2 cups of masa harina, and 1 ¼ cups of
warm water. You combine them until the water is absorbed. Make a ball with the masar of
harina. Put the little ball in a tortilla press, or you can do it by hand until it has the shape the
tortilla. Then you place the tortilla in the griddle for about 45 seconds then turn the tortilla for
another 1 minute or until you see that is cook well. For the meet of a regular taco in Taco bell
you need beef, flour, chili powder, salt, minced onion, paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder.
In a bowl you combine all this ingredients into the beef. With a seasoned beef mixture you add it
to ½ cup of water with medium heat. Mix it up and break beef while it cooks. Meanwhile for a
Mexican taco beef you need 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 1 large onion, 1 chili jalapeno, salt and
pepper, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon chili powder, ½ teaspoon ground cumin, 1 pound ground
beef, a can of 14 ounces of tomatoes. To prepare it heat the oil in a large skillet over medium
high heat. Then add the onion and the jalapeno, season with salt and paper. Cook stirring
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occasionally for about 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic, chili powder and cumin, stir cook for 1
minute. Add ground beef; cook about 5 minutes until no longer red, breaking with a spoon. Add
tomatoes, cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until thickened 10-12 minutes. Season
the beef with pepper and salt. For the salsa, in taco bell they have little bags of sauce. When we
can see that the sauce in a Mexican restaurant place is made by hand. There are many ways of
preparing this sauce. The most traditional one is called salsa roja (red sauce). The ingredients to
make this sauce are: 1 tomato, 100ml. fried tomato sauce, 1 fresh or died chili, 4 drops of
Tabasco(optional), 1 onion or scallions, salt, olive oil and ground black pepper. First peel and
cut the onions really fine. Put a frying pan and add a little olive oil and add chopped onion and a
pinch of salt. Chop the fresh chili and add to the pan of sauce for tacos. Peel and chop the tomato
to add to the pan. Stir everything and add over fried tomato sauce. Then add drops of Tabasco
and a pinch of ground of ground black pepper. Grind all the mixed taco sauce and return to the
heat, adding a little salt and pepper. After a few minutes, the sauce is ready. In taco bell to
prepare the actual taco they heat up the taco shells in a 375 degrees oven for about 5 minutes,
they spoon about 2 to 3 tablespoons of the meat into a warm shell. Spread some of shredded
lettuces over the meant and sprinkle some cheese over the top and sauce. In a Mexican taco from
a Mexican restaurant, they cook in a pan the tortillas with oil. Then add the meet as much as you
want (depending on the size of the tortilla) in the tortillas. Add lettuce, onion, coriander, some
places add beans. Can also add: lemon, guacamole and sauce. Then close the tortilla in a shape of
a taco. This may vary depending on the culture or the restaurant your going. The way preparing
the food depends on the tradition in which the family has. In Mexico there are different regions.
Every region has its own way of preparing the food. Meanwhile in the United States restaurants
like taco bell prepare their food the same way.
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Food is not just a everyday necessity but a way of e expressing and sharing the different
types of traditions. In America people is always busy and in a hurry. In their food they reflect
how they don’t have time for preparing a delicious meal. They preferred to go to a fast food
restaurant or anything that’s fast but doesn’t take away their time and money. Meanwhile in
Mexico they don’t care about in what hurry a person is, they have to sit down and enjoy the
meal. For Mexican women’s the tradition is to be in the kitchen, be a good wife and work. In
Americans most of the time hired someone to clean their house and cook because they focus
more on working. For Mexicans everyday is enjoyable without caring how much money you
make or how much you waste as long as you are with the family. In the kitchen Mexicans reflect
this characteristics because every meal is special. Americans tried to incorporate Mexican food
into their traditions. They transform Mexican delicate and patient food, into a fast food that you
can buy in about 5 minutes. When going to a Mexican restaurant that makes tacos in Mexico
they take time creating a little portion of tacos in about 15 minutes. But in America you can
order a lot of tacos and get them in about 5 minutes. Generations can change the way we dress,
but also the way we make food. In this generation in American technology is a really essential
way of living adding technology into food. But in Mexico what’s essential for a everyday life is
the way the food is prepared.
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Annotated blibiography
Abarca, Meredith E.. Voices in the kitchen: views of food and the world from working-class
Mexican and Mexican American women. College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 2006.
Print
In this book is narrated the stories of Mexican American women. Who shared their
stories while they were sitting or cooking in the kitchen. In Mexican culture cooking is a way of
expressing for women to express themselves. In this book particularly is about working-class
Mexican and Mexican American women. The author demonstrates that women put their own
taste to cooking and their lives. Every type of food, from a simple or to a fancy type is prepared
with a meaning.
I have chosen this book for my research paper because about Mexican American and
Mexican traditional food. It talks how important is the food for Mexicans. In America they
changed the way they prepared food, but for Mexicans is really important how to prepare it. In
page 169 talks the importance of the preparation of making enchiladas so the can come up well.
Esquivel, Laura. Like water for chocolate: a novel in monthly installments, with recipes,
romances, and home remedies. New York: Doubleday, 1992. Print.
This book is about how food can represent Mexican traditions. Is about a girl that was
born to cook. Every type of food she cooks can represent the mood she's on. It shows how
sometimes the way you cook can say who you are. There were three sisters, and the way they
cookies represented their personality.
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I'm using this book because it gives recipes of how Mexican food can be prepared. It also
compares how the way Mexican prepared taste different from the way American do. Also how
each person prepares their own food.
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Works Cited
Abarca, Meredith E.. Voices in the kitchen: views of food and the world from working-class
Mexican and Mexican American women. College Station: Texas A & M University
Press, 2006. Print.
Esquivel, Laura. Like water for chocolate: a novel in monthly installments, with recipes,
romances, and home remedies. New York: Doubleday, 1992. Print.
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Dear e-portfolio reader:
In this portfolio I added some of elements that had help me to be a better writer. I had
learned some ways of how to write a better paper. To revised a paper before turning in. I feel like
I learn that I can write many ideas but the way I incorporate them into a essay was really weak. I
had learn to organize myself and put the ideas together in a certain order. When I write an essay I
sometimes used to not read it. Now I read it every time before the final product. I had learned
how to get more ideas when getting stuck in a paper. I’m weak as writer in the area of the
grammar and spelling. I don’t have an extended vocabulary, so sometimes that gets me in
trouble. This class had changed me as writer because now I can write a better more confident. I
don’t get scared of writing a long paper. I feel that I used to leave everything at last minute. Now
I had learned to do my papers before that way I can get help from my professor. When I write I
didn’t know about run-offs. That was one of the weakest parts of my writing. I had learned to
identify them that way my paper can make more sense. Also the organization of the paper has to
be clearly that way the reader can understand my paper. The toughest thing about writing is that
its has rules. When writing a paper you need to follow steps and be very specific instead of
writing freely. I learned to work in groups as a team. That really helped to learn the concept of
the class, because when I had a question I could ask one of my teammates. Also how others read
my paper different than I do. I think this class helped me a lot in the way I writing. I used to
write any ideas that came into my mind but not in proper way. Now I can write whatever I want
but in a proper way. I like how I could go to my professor and ask about what I was having
trouble with which was really helpful. The peer evaluation was really helpful because I could see
my mistakes in the eyes of another student. The reading were really interesting and fun.
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Readings can be well structure, informative and fun at the same time. What I liked the most was
working in groups because I got to meet my classmates. I feel Professor Jane is a great professor.
She is really helpful and made the class really fun.