Mexican Food in the U.S.

Mexican food in the United States

I) Introduction

II) Reasons for the popularity of Mexican food

A) Geographic Proximity

B) The Taste

C) Mexican Culture

Mexican Food on the U.S. food market

A) Grocery Stores

B) Restaurants

III) Conclusion

IV) References

I. Introduction

Food plays an important role in every culture. It is often one of the things we first assume with a certain nationality. If we hear 'Italian' we think of pizza, Germany is associated with Sauerkraut and beer, and the United States with hamburgers. But if you look closer into the national cuisines, you'll find out that it is not easy to define them and that they vary in a great deal. Food in the south differs from food in the north, in mountain regions different things are eaten than in coastal areas, and immigrants add new flavors and dishes from all over the world. The United States of America give a good example, of how food differs regionally and how it is influenced by immigration. There is no such thing as a 'national cuisine', but rather a mixture of different foods from different ethnic groups or different regions. People from everywhere in the world are living in the US, and therefore you can find here all kinds of different dishes from Africa, Europe, Asia or any other part of the world. To write about all varieties would go beyond the scope of this essay, hence a choice of one type of food had to be made.

Since the Hispanics are the fastest growing ethnic group (and soon wil be the biggest minority group in the US), the focus will be on Hispanic food, or to be more precise on Mexican food, as they make up over 60 % of the Hispanic population. Mexican immigration to the United States has a long history, and Mexican food has already been known in the U.S. for a long time. It can be found all over the country. There are Mexican fast food chains and restaurants, and more and more grocery stores have Mexican products in their range of goods. By now it has become one of the most...