Mexican cuisine consists of the cooking cuisines and traditions of the modern state of Mexico. Its roots lie in a combination of Mesoamerican and Spanish cuisine. Many of its ingredients and methods have their roots in the first agricultural communities such as the Maya. They domesticated maize, created the standard process of maize nixtamalization, and established their foodways (Maya cuisine). Successive waves of other Mesoamerican groups brought with them their own cooking methods. These included the Olmec, Teotihuacanos, Toltec, Huastec, Zapotec, Mixtec, Otomi, Purépecha, Totonac, Mazatec, Mazahua, and Nahua. With the Mexica formation of the multi-ethnic Triple Alliance (Aztec Empire), culinary foodways became infused (Aztec cuisine).
The staples are native foods, such as corn (maize), beans, squash, amaranth, chia, avocados, tomatoes, tomatillos, cacao, vanilla, agave, turkey, spirulina, sweet potato, cactus, and chili pepper. Its history over the centuries has resulted in regional cuisines based on local conditions, including Baja Med, Chiapas, Veracruz, Oaxacan, and the American cuisines of New Mexican and Tex-Mex.
International Influences on Mexican cuisine
Spaniards introduced a number of other foods, the most important of which were meats from domesticated animals (beef, pork, chicken, goat, and sheep), dairy products (especially cheese and milk), rice, sugar, olive oil and various fruits and vegetables. Spanish influence in Mexican cuisine is omnipresent. It is noticeable in its sweets such as churros, alfeniques, borrachitos and alfajores.
Asian and African influences were also introduced during this era due to the result of African slavery in New Spain and the Manila-Acapulco Galleons.
Mexican cuisine is an important aspect of the culture, social structure and popular traditions of Mexico. The most important example of this connection is the use of mole for special occasions and holidays. It is useful particularly in the South and Central regions of the country. For this reason and others, traditional Mexican cuisine was inscribed in 2010 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
Taco el Mio
Taco el Mio is a Mexican grill restaurant and pub. It is one of its kind and I don’t think there are many other stores by this name in Korea. The fascinating thing about this store is it is from a native Korean itself. I mean, I find it really intriguing that cultures from all over the world can blend to form one. It is really pleasing to witness the mixture of the grill culture of Korea with the tortilla and pasta culture of Mexico.
Address: 수정구 복정로 57 , 1층 102호 엘미오 Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea 13118
It is a quite cozy place and is very sturdily built. The entire place can occupy up to 15-20 people at once. It is pretty sufficient keeping in mind the build way of this store. Also, due to covid-19 there are social distancing protocols so there are not more than 15 people there at one time.
The entire place is decorated with empty bottles of Mexican originated alcoholic beverages. Mainly include bottles of Jose Cuervo, Corona, 1800 and many more.
This is a fusion restaurant which means it serves Mexican food with a lot of variety. The ingredients are always prepared fresh everyday. Moreover, all the sauces used in the various dishes are made and cooked at the store itself. This is pretty amazing considering the fact that there are plenty of options for readymade sauces in the market.
Food Review
Various Mexican foods such as tacos, burritos, quesadilla etc. are available here! One can enjoy from a variety of foods and drinking options available.
I personally like Burritos, Quesadilla, Pasta and Tacos. So, my food review is related to those. Although I did not drink any alcoholic beverage or tequila, my friends had a great opinion about them.
I am not going to lie. I have been to this store more times than I can remember. The first time I enjoyed a chicken burrito bowl and not the burrito wrap. Another good thing about this store is that they have written the ingredients of each dish on the menu itself. This helps the customer to know what they are eating.
Considering the food variety they have, I thought the taste might not be that good, but I was wrong. The burrito bowl was such a tasty mix of all the ingredients of a norma burrito. And to be able to eat with a spoon was so satisfying for Me.
The quesadilla however for me is not sufficient on its own to satisfy my hunger. Although the taste is impeccable but due to the quantity, I think the burrito is a better fit.
I never tried sea food earlier than this. But one of my friends recommended me to eat the shrimp tacos. I happily accept recommendations so I gave it a try too. The shrimp tacos are now one of my all time favorite dishes.
The crispiness of a fried shrimp inside a soft, mixture filled taco is just too good of a combination.
Pasta and spaghetti are the staple of fast food joints and this store also managed to prove it right. The taste is good, the quantity is enough and the cravings get satisfy too. 10/10 from Me.
Remarks
I recommend everyone out there to at least visit this store once or find it on the online food ordering platforms and try it out. The food is so delicious and satisfies all hunger and cravings
Thank you so much for reading my post and sharing my experience. Also, if you like this post, please share your reviews or you can read about my other experiences here. Have a good day and stay safe !
