Latin American
Latin America
• Latin America: landmass that
stretches southward from the
Rio Grande to the tip of South
America
• Official language is either
Spanish or Portuguese, based
on Latin
▫ Spanish were the first to
explore and settle
Latin American Dishes
• Chorizo: Spicy sausage, flavors many
stews
• Ceviche: appetizer of raw fish
marinated in citrus juice until firm &
opaque
▫ Fish drained and served with chilies,
tomatoes & onions
• Sopa: soup features meat as the main
ingredients
Mexico
Geography and climate of Mexico
• Deserts, mountains, grasslands, woodlands, and
tropical rain forests
• Depending on the climate depends what they
can grow
▫ North – hilly – suited for ranching
▫ South – coffee & sugarcane
Mexican culture
• Aztecs: original inhabitants of Mexico
▫ Contributed chocolate, squash, tomatoes, vanilla,
corn, peppers, peanuts tomatoes, avocadoes, bean,
sweet potatoes, pineapples, papayas
▫ Boiled, broiled, steamed, or ate food raw
• Spanish introduced peaches, rice, beef, wheat,
oil, wine, cinnamon, cloves, apricots, & chickens
Mexican culture cont.
• Mexican life style
▫ Living quarter wealthiest home but simple handmade items
 Sala: living room
▫ Close-knit families
▫ Mexican holidays
 Most Roman Catholics
 Food plays a major role
Mexican culture cont.
• Mexican agriculture
▫ Farmers - cannot afford modern
machinery or fertilizers
▫ Land closets to United states is dry and
not suitable for large animals
▫ Corn is major crop - beans are second
▫ Sugarcane, coffee, tomatoes, green
peppers, peas, melons, citrus fruits,
strawberries, and cocoa beans
▫ Depending on part of the country if there
is seafood or livestock, what kinds of fruit
and field vegetables
Mexican Cuisine
• Corn
▫ Tortilla: flat, unleavened bread made
from cornmeal and water
 Comal - lightly greased griddle
 Northern Mexico with use wheat flour
▫ Enchiladas - fill tortillas, baked and serve
with cheese and red/green tomatoes sauce
▫ Tostadas - fry tortillas and garnish
Mexican Cuisine cont.
• Corn
▫ Quesadillas – tortilla folded around cheese
& grilled
▫ Burritos - tortilla wrapped around meat &
beans
▫ Taco - crisp, fried tortillas filled
Mexican Cuisine cont.
• Corn
▫ Tamale - use corn husk stuffed with masa
and cook over open fire
▫ Masa: corn is dried, cooked, soaked in
limewater and then ground into a dough
▫ Masa harina: dried ground masa –
course-grained corn flour
Mexican Cuisine cont.
• Bean
▫ Frijoles refritios: refried beans: cook
beans, smash, and fry them again
 Red or pinto beans
• Peppers
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Sweet peppers - mild flavor
Chilies: hot peppers
Red - dried except red bell and pimientos
Green - ripe
Chipotle chilies – smoked jalapenos
Mexican Cuisine cont.
• Vegetables & fruits
▫ Vegetables are used in dishes but rarely eaten
raw
▫ Guacamole: avocadoes smashed with tomato
and onion
▫ Squash
▫ Tomatillos – green tomatoes
▫ Plantains: green starchy fruit that have a bland
flavor and look like large bananas - usually
cooked
Mexican Cuisine cont.
• Desserts
▫ Fresh fruits and sweet tamales
▫ Flan - large amounts of egg and sugar (caramel
custard)
▫ Rice pudding
• Chocolate
▫ Came to Mexico from Maya in Central America
▫ Different forms of hot chocolate
▫ Used in sauces and main dishes
Mexican Cuisine cont.
• Sauces and stews
▫ Simple sauces - chilies and/or sweet peppers
mixed with finely chopped onions and
tomatoes
▫ Mole: chilies, almonds, raisins, garlic,
sesame seed, onions, tomatoes, cinnamon,
cloves, coriander seeds, and anise food
 Finely chopped and added to chicken stock
 Just before serving add unsweetened chocolate
▫ Stews are cooked for long time over low heat
Mexican Cuisine cont.
• Beverages
▫ Chocolate drinks and coffee
▫ Molinillo - used to beat chocolate into a
foam before serving
▫ Café con leche - coffee served with milk
Salsa
• Salsa: may refer to any type of sauce
▫ In American English, it usually refers to the spicy,
often tomato-based, hot sauce typical of Mexican
cuisine, particularly those used as dips.
▫ United States has popularized and commercialized
as a Mexican creation, there are many types of
salsa which usually vary throughout Latin
America.
Salsa cont.
• Types of salsa
▫ Salsa roja - “red sauce“ - is used as a
condiment in Mexican cooking
 Made with cooked tomatoes, chili peppers,
onion, garlic, and fresh cilantro
▫ Pico de gallo - “fresh sauce”, “chopped
sauce”, or "Mexican sauce"
 Made with raw tomatoes, lime juice, chili
peppers, onions, cilantro leaves, and other
coarsely chopped raw ingredients.
▫ Salsa verde - "green sauce"
 Made with tomatillos , usually cooked.
Salsa cont.
• Types of salsa cont.
▫ Mango salsa is a spicy-sweet sauce
made with mangoes
 Used as a garnish on grilled chicken or
grilled fish due to the sauce's
complementary flavors.
▫ Chipotle salsa is a smoky, spicy sauce
▫ Made from smoked jalapeño chili peppers,
tomatoes, garlic and spices.
Mexican Meals
• Families with large incomes often eat 4 meals a
day
• Desayuno - substantial breakfast
▫ Fruit, tortillas, bread or sweet rolls, eggs or meat,
coffee or chocolate
• Comida: main meal, served in middle of the
day between 1 and 3
▫ Six dishes - appetizer, soup, small dish of stew, main
course, beans, dessert, and coffee - tortillas
▫ Siesta: rest period
Mexican Meals cont.
• Merienda - light snack,
around 5 or 6
▫ Coffee or chocolate, fruit,
and pan dulce (sweet bread)
• Cena – supper – between 8
and 10
▫ Similar to comida but
lighter and smaller
Central
America
Central America
• Allspice – flavor sweet & savory
dishes
▫ Dried unripped berry
• Chayote – squash like fruit, eaten
raw or cooked and stuffed with
cheese
• Guatemalan
▫ Oysters
▫ Pollo pepian – chicken in a spicy
sauce with sesame and pumpkin
seeds
Central America cont.
• El Salvador
▫ Pupusa – corn cake filled with refried beans,
cheese & pork served with cabbage, onion, and
carrot slaw
• Nicaragua
▫ Nactamal – cabbage, plantain & pork steamed in
banana leaves
• Costa Rica
▫ Gallo pinto – fried black beans and rice
▫ Arroz contuna – rice with tuna
South
America
Geography and climate
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Mountains
Grasslands
Jungles – Rain Forest
Forests
Plateaus
Deserts
South American Culture
• Inca: group of Native South Americans
▫ High level of civilization
▫ Built large empire in the Andes Mountains
• Great wealth and great poverty
South American Cuisine
• Food customs in South America have developed
on a regional basis because of the geographic
isolation of the different areas
• European colonists introduced many staple
foods
▫ Wheat & hog being important to many Latin
American except Argentina & Mexico
• Manioc or Cassava: starchy root plant eaten
as a side dish and used in flour form in cooking
and baking
Andean Countries
• Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, & Chile
• Geography – mountains, seacoast, and tropical
rainforest
• Usually less spicy than Mexico & Central
America
• Potatoes may have originated here
• Cassava and chilies thrive in tropical areas
• Grazing land limited so meat often from
chickens, guinea pigs & llamas
▫ Llama meat salted dried to make charqui (jerky)
Andean Countries cont.
• Ecuador
▫ Bananas
• Colombia
▫ Potatoes high in the mountains
▫ Ajiaco: soup made with potatoes,
chicken, corn, and cassava
▫ Do not eat much meat
▫ Coffee is their number one export
▫ Coffee is available but they do not drink
much
Andean Countries cont.
• Peru
▫ Reflects traditions of the Inca and Spanish
▫ Inca’s would preserve their potatoes by freezedrying them - they would freeze at night and then
set them out in the sun to dry, repeat this process
unit they became hard and light
▫ Potatoes - used in many dishes, poverty level will
depend on what they will do with potatoes
▫ Aji: local chilies, used for seasoning and is made
into a hot sauce
▫ Ceviche: marinated raw fish
Venezuela
• Fertile soil and tropical areas
• Banana, plantain, and coconut
• Arepa: corn pancake similar to tortilla
Chile
• Very little red meat
• Seafood is plentiful and inexpensive
• Ceviche – many different forms
▫ Marinated raw fish
• Dished
▫ Porotos granados – bean stew
▫ Pastel de choclo - ground beef casserole with
corn batter topping
▫ Chupe de marisco – shellfish casserole
Argentina
• Pampas - rich lands where large herd
of cattle and sheep are raise
▫ Gauchos: nomadic cowboy of the
South American pampas
• Beef major industry and national food
▫ Beef often grilled outdoors
• Empanadas: small turnovers fill
with meat, vegetables, & fruit
▫ Appetizer
• Pasta & yeast bread are as common as
tortilla
Brazil
• Dende oil: palm oil that gives dishes a
bright yellow-orange color
• Manioc, rice, and beans are all staple
foods
• Feijoanda completa: variety of meat
served with black beans and seasonings
• Guarana fruit – whose seeds contain
caffeine, is made into a popular soft drink,
a powder, and syrup
Uruguay
• Dulce de leche: milk cooked with
sugar slowly at low temperature and
develops a taste like caramel
• Meat cooked on open flame over
charcoal
▫ Meat skewered before grilling
• Hungara: spicy hot dog, popular
grilled item