Cuisines- Mexican Cuisine

Mexican Cuisine
Mexico is a semi-tropical region in North America. The Aztecs ruled Mexico and they had a wide variety in their cuisine in which  corn, chillies and tomatoes were the most prominent. When the Spanish  conquered Mexico more than 400 years ago , they found the cuisine of the Aztec and Mayan Indians sophisticated and exciting. Then the Spanish introduced wheat and domesticated animals, which were unknown in America. So they revolutionized the cuisine by introducing beef, cream and cheese. They also planted olive trees for olive oil and walnut trees and many vegetables of Europe. It was due to the fusion of old and new world that the cuisine of Mexico developed.

The Mexican Meal

• Breakfast-They have coffe with milk and sweet bread.
• Almuerzo- A light meal often bridges the gap between brakfast an lunch.
• Lunch (Comida)- This is the main meal of the day. It is a heavy meal consisting of a soup, a bean dish served after the main course and before the dessert , often followed by SIesta (evening sleep). Desserts are often fresh fruit.
• Dinner- It is not as heavy as lunch. They have a light super called Merienda late at night that consists of a light corn based dish, sweet bread and jam.

Main Ingredients Of Mexican Cuisine

• Grain- corn and wheat.
• Vegetables-Tomatillos(Mexican green tomatoes) avocado, chayote(squash), etc.
• Herbs- mint, cilantro, parsley, oregano, bay leaf
• Chillies and Peppers- Serrano, poblano, jalapeno, habaner- all fresh green chillies, and ancho, chipotle, mulatto, pasilla- all dried chilies
• Bean
• Fruits- Peaches, paw paws(papaya), pineapple, coconut,.
• Sausage- Chorizo.
• Flavoring and thickening agents- Achiote, pepitas(dried pumpkin seeds).
• Mexican sugar- Piloncillo.

Traditional Cooking

The ancient art of cooking in earth oven still flourishes in mexico. For barbecoa in the plateau, a pit is lined with leaves of agave plant. Heated stones are placed in the pit, the food (a whole lamb , vegetables and so on ) is arranged on top and pit  pit is then sealed and the food left to cook. The agave gives the subtle taste of tequila to the food.

Basic Sauces (salsa)

No Mexican meal is complete without at least one or two salsas on the table. They are spooned over meats, tacos, eggs and beans and served as dips with tortilla chips or corn immediately ; others are cooked to be kept  on hand for many meals to come. Some popular salsas are

• Salsa Roja (Red chilli sauce).
• Salsa Cruda (Fresh red tomato and chilli sauce).
• Salsa de Guacamole (Avocadosauce).
• Salsa de Questo (Cheese sauce for Nachos).

Cuisines- Japanese Cuisines

Japanese Cuisine
To the Western palate, Japanese cooking seems frugal but refined. Although there are few basic ingredients, they are set out with great delicacy and elegance. The worship of nature and her bounty-especially sea food , rice, soya and vegetables is reflected in Japanese cookery by the term SAPPARI’ i.e. clarity, lightness, simplicity and order.

In Japan , the emphasis not as much as on preparation, which is always expected to be perfect, thus showing cook’s skill, imagination and creativity. The main methods of cooking can be carried out  using a steamer and wok. Meals are small, the ingredients are few and simple made sharper to the taste with soy and other seasoning and there is no order of course, so that the entire meal can be served together and can be hot, tepid, or cold or a mixture of these. The japanese method of precise presentation was adopted by the founder of Nouvelle Cuisine.

The National dish of Japan is SUKIYAKI

Basic ingredients Of Japanese Cuisines

1. Soya bean-Miso – fermented soyabean paste
2. Tofu- soyabean curd.
3. Mirin – sweetened rice wine.
4. Sake- strong wine
5. Rice vinegar
6. Sesame oil
7. Hoisin sauce
8. Soya sauce
9. Wasabi-green horseradish
10. Squash
11. Shirataki-noodles made from sweet potato
12. Soba-buckwhat noodles
13. Bamboo shoot
14. Lotus roots
15. Pickles-prune,radish,ginger and sea urchin
16. Sea weeds- Knori, konbu and wakkame
17. Katsoubishi-dried Botino fish flakes
18. Ako Miso- red bean paste used for thickening soups

Cooking Process

• Nabemono-food cooked at table on a grill
• Nimono – food cooked in aromatic stock

Restaurants that specialize in serving grilled food are known as ‘TEPPENYAKI’ restaurants and in most cases food is cooked on a table top grill in front of the guest.

The Japanese Meal

• Break fast – Bowl of rice and dried sea weed, miso based soups or eggs.
• Lunch-Light and eaten in a hurry. Rice and eggs, meat (pork chops or minced meat) or noodles, either cold or in a soup.
• Dinner-More extensive and sophisticated. Traditionally four different dishes are served. Tea and beer are more common accompaniments to the meal.
• Dessert- Traditionally sweets andcakes are reserved for feast days . French fruit is enjoyed between meals.

Symbolic Dishes

These are served on feast days on important occasions. E.g. clam soup at a Shinto marriage ceremony, the two halves of shell symbolizing union.

Typical food for the New Year feast is MOCHI. It is pounded sticky rice formed into pancakes and simmerd with vegetables(for savoury dishes ) and red bean paste sweetened with sugar (for dessert dishes).

The culinary art and japanese tradition reach their apogee in the ‘TEA CEREMONY’ and attend ‘KAISEKI’- a formal meal consisting of several courses and symbolic tea house representing a time honored ritual, symbolizing a great harmony.