Mexico, with some 90 million people, holds a special place in Latin America. It is a large, complex hybrid, a bridge between North and South America, between the ancient and the modern, and between the developed and the developing worlds. Mexico's importance to the United States cannot be overstated. The two countries share historical, economic, and cultural bonds that continue to evolve. This book offers students and general readers a deeper understanding of Mexico's dynamism: its wealth of history, institutions, religion, cultural output, leisure, and social customs.
This interesting book describes how the blending of native Mexican and Spanish traditions, beliefs, and rituals has resulted in many of the lively and colorful festivals celebrated in Mexico today. Young readers will also learn how the Mexican people celebrate family occasions with fiestas.
This exciting volume brings to life the food culture of Mexico, detailing the development of the cuisine and providing practical information about ingredients and cooking techniques so that readers can replicate some of Mexico's most important traditional dishes. Mexican food has become one of the most popular cuisines in the United States, with noted dishes ranging from tacos and enchiladas to tamales and guacamole. What are the origins of Mexican food culture as we know it today? Written with an educated—not specialized—audience in mind, the book includes descriptions of traditional and high cuisine, regional and national foods, everyday dishes and those prepared and served on holidays and special occasions. It also discusses ancestral eating habits and the way the food has been transformed under the pressures of globalization. Specific chapters examine food history, important ingredients, typical appetizers, main meals, desserts, street foods and snacks, dining out, and food issues and dietary concerns. Recipes accompany every chapter. Rounding out the work are a chronology of food history, a glossary, sidebars, and a bibliography. This volume is ideal for any students learning about Mexican food and culture, as well as general readers who would like to learn more about international cuisines.
Understand why good neighbors are separated by the meaning of yes Whether negotiating a delivery date, launching a local franchise or renting a car in Mexico City, speaking the language and knowing the rules of business are not enough. In any culture where yes can mean no - or sometimes maybe - even giants like Wal-Mart and IBM can make costly mistakes. Mexicans and Americans gets to the heart of our differences and lays the groundwork for cultural fluency. Here is a humorous and insightful firthand look at how to succeed in working with Mexicans - on either side of the border. Steeped in the richness of Mexican culture and history, Ned Crouch helps us understand the most critical elements that determine what works and what doesn't when Mexicans and Americans come together in business: our different views of time and space, and our construction and use of language. He debunks the manana stereotype and offers specific advice on how to cross the cultural divide that separates us.
Author Boyé Lafayette De Mente [known internationally known for his books on the business practices, customs and languages of China, Japan, Korea and Mexico] asserts that most people are ignorant of the amazing cultural heritage and character of the Mexican people. He says that when most people think of great cultural accomplishments they think of Europe and when they think of the exotic and perhaps the erotic they think of the Orient, while unknown to them they have overlooked one of the most unusual and fascinating countries on earth. De Mente uses key words in the Mexican language to identify and explain the contradictions and paradoxes of Mexico—the omnipresent trappings of Catholicism, the macho-cult of Mexican males, the conflicting treatment of females, the savage brutality of the criminal and the rogue cop, the gentle humility of the poor farmer, the warmth, kindness and compassion of the average city dweller and the extreme sensuality of the Mexican mindset. The book also explains why Mexicans are so attached to the culture and why so many foreigners find it so seductive and satisfying that they prefer to live in Mexico.
Since ancient times, the most important foods in the Mexican diet have been corn, beans, squash, tomatillos, and chile peppers. The role of these ingredients in Mexican food culture through the centuries is the basis of this volume. In addition, students and general readers will discover the panorama of food traditions in the context of European contact in the sixteenth century—when the Spaniards introduced new foodstuffs, adding variety to the diet—and the profound changes that have occurred in Mexican food culture since the 1950s. Recent improvements in technology, communications, and transportation, changing women's roles, and migration from country to city and to and from the United States have had a much greater impact. Their basic, traditional diet served the Mexican people well, providing them with wholesome nutrition and sufficient energy to live, work, and reproduce, as well as to maintain good health. Chapter 1 traces the origins of the Mexican diet and overviews food history from pre-Hispanic times to recent developments. The principal foods of Mexican cuisine and their origins are explained in the second chapter. Mexican women have always been responsible for everyday cooking, including the intensive preparation of grinding corn, peppers, and spices by hand, and a chapter is devoted to this work and a discussion of how traditional ways are supplemented today with modern conveniences and kitchen aids such as blenders and food processors. Surveys of class and regional differences in typical meals and cuisines present insight into the daily lives of a wide variety of Mexicans. The Mexican way of life is also illuminated in chapters on eating out, whether at the omnipresent street stalls or at fondas, and special occasions, including the main fiestas and rites of passage. A final chapter on diet and health discusses current health concerns, particularly malnutrition, anemia, diabetes, and obesity.
Celebraciones Mexicanas: History, Traditions, and Recipes is the first book to bring the richness and authenticity of the foods of Mexico’s main holidays and celebrations to the American home cook. This cultural cookbook offers insight into the traditional Mexican holidays that punctuate Mexican life and provides more than 200 original recipes to add to our Mexican food repertoire. The authors first discuss Mexican eating customs and then cover 25 holidays and festivals throughout the year, from the day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Carnaval, Cinco de Mayo, to the Day of the Revolution, with family celebrations for rites of passage, too. Each holiday/festival includes historical background and cultural and food information. The lavishly illustrated book is appropriate for those seeking basic knowledge of Mexican cooking and customs as well as aficionados of Mexican cuisine.
Mexico comprises 32 diverse states, and this reference is the first to succinctly profile each. Each chapter devoted to one of the states provides a contemporary snapshot of the most important information to know about the state, with essay sections on its characteristics, flora and fauna, cultural groups and languages, history, economy, social customs, arts, noteworthy places, and cuisine with representative recipes. Familiar and noteworthy names in Mexican culture are highlighted in the applicable sections. The format is perfect for students studying Spanish and travelers and general readers wanting a different angle from that provided in guidebooks and more authoritativeness than they can offer. Readers learn about the pulsing metropolis of Mexico City to the jungle isolation found in the Yucatan Peninsula. Considering the huge political, social, and economic focus on Mexico and the number of Mexican immigrants in the United Status today, Americans need to know more about Mexico and the homeland of these new immigrants. Make this one of the sources you recommend to your patrons to get a quick yet substantial feel for the states and their people. A map and photo accompany each chapter, and the volume contains a chronology, glossary, and selected bibliography.
Horizons of the Sacred explores the distinctive worldview underlying the faith and lived religion of Catholics of Mexican descent living in the United States. Religious practices, including devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, celebration of the Day of the Dead, the healing tradition of curanderismo, and Good Friday devotions such as the Way of the Cross (Via Crucis), reflect the increasing influence of Mexican traditions in U.S. Catholicism, especially since Mexicans and Mexican Americans are a growing group in most Roman Catholic congregations.In their introduction, Timothy Matovina and Gary Riebe-Estrella analyze the ways Mexican rituals and beliefs pose significant challenges and opportunities for Catholicism in the United States. Original essays by theologians, historians, and ethnographers provide a rich interdisciplinary dialogue on how religious traditions function for Mexican American Catholics, revealing the symbolic world at the heart of their spirituality. The authors speak to the diverse meanings behind these ceremonies, explaining that Mexican American (and other Latino) Catholics use them to express not only religious devotion, but also ethnic identity and patriotism, solidarity, and, in some cases, their condition as exiles. The result is a multilayered vision of Mexican American religion, which touches as well on issues of racism and discrimination, poverty, and the role of women.
