Trying Mexican cuisine for the first time can be overwhelming especially if you haven’t been to Mexico or have no prior knowledge of Mexican food culture. Picking the right Mexican grub can be difficult as there is a huge selection of Mexican food items from which to choose.
Most Mexican food is a combination of ingredients such as meat, rice, salsa, and tortillas, whilst differing only in preparations and methods of presentations. Anyway, to kickstart your knowledge about popular Mexican food items, below are some distinctions, to make choosing from a Mexican menu a lot easier.
Burritos
Burritos are flour tortillas usually filled with meat, beans, rice and garnishings and embellished with salsa (sauce). The burrito suizo is one of its well known variations, using cheese sauce or any kind of melted cheese as flavor enhancers. .
Chimichanga
This Mexican food title is quite familiar to Marvel comic book lovers, being Deadpool’s favorite catchphrase. Chimichanga is actually another burrito variation but as a deep-fried tortilla topped with sour-cream or green chili-based salsa.
Taco
Who hasn’t heard of tacos? Nevertheless in case you can’t distinguish a taco from a burrito, a taco is much smaller while the tortillas used are usually corn-based and come in shell forms, which can either be soft or hard.
Flauta
A flauta is also commonly known as taquito, which means it’s a corn-based tortilla that is smaller than a taco and rolled in a flute-like shape with both ends left open.
Chalupa
Chalupas are hard taco shells made with masa dough that is deep fried before the filling is added. Masa dough uses nixtamalized corn or corn soaked in an alkaline solution as preparation for grinding into corn-based flour.
Quesadilla
Quesadillas use tortillas that are wheat or corn based, filled with meat, cheese and vegetables, then folded into a crescent shapes before they are grilled flat.
Enchiladas
Enchiladas are simply tortillas that are rolled up and smothered with hot chili pepper sauce.
Huarache
This tortilla is prepared fried and cut oval-shaped, resembling the sole of a sandal, then served topped with potatoes, salsa, fresco cheese, onions, and meat.
Gordita
This is a deep-fried cornmeal flatbread that is sliced open,with one side filled with meat to which the most popular choices include slow-cooked pork, braised beef stew and pulled chicken.
Tamale
While this dish is also a cornmeal dough covered with a mixture of meat and various spices, it is served in a corn husk, The corn husk though is only for presentation purposes and is not consumed.
Cemita
Cemita is a popular sandwich from Puebla that uses an egg-rich roll filled with specific ingredients that include avocados, meat, onions, sliced jalapenos, a dash of chili sauce, queso oaxaca, and papalo.
Churro
This pastry snack is made from egg-based dough shaped in elongated portions and etched with ridges before deep frying. Churros are found everywhere and usually served as a breakfast item or dessert.