How Mexican Food Conquered the USA

#mexicanfood #history #PikeProductions

From the Chili Queens of San Antonio to the Mission Burritos of San Francisco, Mexican food has truly conquered kitchens across the US.

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Abridged Script:

Part 1: The New World Brings New Delicacies

Before Columbus sailed the ocean blue, the food of the old world would be unrecognizable from what it is today. In this new hemisphere, the Spaniards discovered dozens of new & exotic food types that would forever change how Europeans eat. Some notable examples include corn, avocado, blueberries, tomatoes, all peppers within the capsicum genus, squash and other cucurbits, vanilla, cacao beans, both regular & sweet potatoes, and several beans, including the poorly named french bean.

While these crops were grown throughout the first nations of the Americas, it was really the Tiano & Aztec Empire’s cultivation of these crops that collided with the Spaniards. The Spanish were particularly intrigued by how the Aztecs made a hot drink with cacao beans, a sort of tea that would be unrecognizable from today's hot Chocolate. After sampling the original Aztec version of hot chocolate, King Charles the fifth of Spain called it:

“A divine drink, which builds up resistance and fights fatigue. A cup of this precious drink permits man to walk for a whole day without food.”

While the Spanish nobility grew quite fond of chocolate and vanilla, they weren’t very interested in Aztec’s main staple food: the tortilla. The Aztecs only made tortillas with corn, as wheat was an European crop. Even with modern kitchen tools, making tortillas from scratch can be a long and slow process. Part of its preparation time is that the corn needs to go through a process called nixtamalization [niece-tamale-zation] , which is similar to fermentation. The newly arrived Sapinairds would eventually learn to appreciate the tortilla, as they learned that corn was a more productive crop than wheat.

The Spanish would also introduce their own foods with the Aztecs, notably the meats of beef, pork, and poultry. Over the centuries, the Spanish and Aztec culinary cultures would cross-pollinate to the point where they were no longer distinguishable from each other. A new culinary tradition had been born: the Mexican Culinary tradition.

For the most part, this new world - old world fusion stayed within its borders until the 19th century.

After the annexation of Texas and the US-Mexico wr in the mid-1800s, the US seized about half a million square miles (1.3 million square KM) of territory from their neighbors. Within this newly ceded Mexican land were, as you may suspect, Mexicans.

Whether Califiorino or Tejano, most of these Mexican populations were treated poorly by their gringo neighbors. That would start to change in the 1870s. In this decade, San Antonio became a popular tourist destination for US Americans. One gringo writer described San Antonio as where

“The life of the seventeenth century prevails, without any taint of modernism”

The big draw for tourists was the Mexican quarter of San Antonio, which drew in curious wanderers. The big nighttime attraction where stands that sold chile con carne, better known today as chili.

Credits:

Intro food sequence:
Soup -    • LA Food Truck Serves The Juiciest Tac...  
Smoked Turkey -    • BBQ Smoked Turkey Recipe  
Salsa -    • AUTHENTIC MEXICAN SALSA recipe | THE ...  

Aztec art:
ALEXANDER SKÖLD - http://alexanderskold.com/
Yashaswi Karthik - https://yash2333.artstation.com/
Sam Delfanti - https://samdelfanti.artstation.com/
Joseph Feely - https://joefly.artstation.com/

Cooking Xocolatl, Aztec’s hot chocolate -    • Capítulo 2 Xocolatl  
Vanilla process -    • La vanilla de Papantla  
Tortillas made from scratch -    • proceso de nixtamal con maiz nuevo  
Oaxaca food culture -    • Oaxaca's cuisine: the cradle of Mexic...  
Chili cook-off -    • Видео  

Making of hard shell tacos:

Bliss of cooking -    • Making of Crunchy Taco Shells  
Mole Mama -    • Homemade Crunchy Taco Shells Recipe |...  

Taco fryer -    • Taco - Fryer  

Filling the taco -    • Tacos CINEMATIC BROLL for Casa Azul B...  
Cheesy taco -    • CINEMATIC TACO B-ROLL (How To Shoot T...  
Filling the taco 2 -    • HARD SHELL GROUND BEEF TACOS | Gringo...  
Homemade Taco Bell -    • How to make The BEST DYI Taco Bell at...  
Taco tray -    • Broll Mexican food  
Frying Taco beef -    • The BEST Ground Beef Tacos Recipe  

Salsa b roll -    • MEXICAN HANDHELD SALSA B ROLL [ JAMES...  
Tortilla factory -    • Видео  

Mission district burritos -    • QuickBites: The Mission Burrito  
Mission district broll -    • Walking Tour of Mission District, A H...  
Mission district broll 2 -    • Видео  
Sound design:
Space station -    • "México llamando a Atlantis": Documen...