And also a good amount of what people call "fake" Mexican food is really just Norteño food
"Nobody eats flour tortillas in Mexico!"
Maybe nobody in Jalisco, Michoacan, Oaxaca, Veracruz etc. eats flour tortillas, but my Chihuahuense grandparents ate nothing but flour tortillas and legit never even touched a corn tortilla until my dad married my Jalisciense mom
"Burritos are not authentic Mexican food! In Mexico they're considered gringo food!"
The burrito as we know it today is believed to have most likely originated in either Chihuahua or Sonora, both of which are Northern Mexican states
Quesabirria is from Tijuana. Chimichangas are believed to have originated either in the Southwestern US state of Arizona or the Northern Mexican state of Sonora. Nachos are from Coahuila, and while yes, they were apparently created for gringos, that doesn't erase the fact that they still originated in Northern Mexico
Even many of the dishes that did without a doubt originate in what are now California, the Southwest, or Texas aren't "fake" either
And no, I'm not talking about any of the shit from Taco Bell, Chipotle, or Aqui. Those I do consider to be fake Mexican, not because of where they were founded, but because the founders of those restaurants were fucking gringos who whitewashed my culture's cuisine for profit
I'm talking about dishes like chicken and olive enchiladas. No olives aren't used in Jalisco or Oaxaca or Veracruz etc., but something I've learned while trying to learn about the history of Mexican cuisine in the so-called Western United States is that the use of olives is traditional to Chicano cuisine. We were already using olives (and flour tortillas) in our cuisine before the gringos ever stepped foot here
There's also something to be said about how a lot of times when people talk about "real"/"authentic"/"traditional" Mexican cuisine they're really mostly just referring to the cuisine of the Western, Central, and Southern regions of Mexico (something I myself have been guilty of as someone who grew up on Jalisciense cuisine). Norteño and Chicano cuisine often get excluded
So to the folks who know and love real Mexican foods, is it true that olives arent "a Mexican ingredient"?
It seems like it shows up in Mexican foods all along the west and southwest regions of the USA but Ive heard some folks say that olives are some white nonsense
Hi, as someone who grew up on "real Mexican food" (Never mind that my entire post is literally about challenging the idea that Chicano cuisine is "fake" Mexican cuisine), I think I'm at least somewhat qualified to answer your question: No, olives are not used commonly used in Mexican cuisine from Mexico. However, that doesn't mean that olives are gringo bullshit. Again, they are a traditional part of Chicano cuisine
I don't know if you can read Spanish or not, but if you can, I recommend checking out this book (El Cocinero Español):
Now while this book was published decades after California became a US state, the recipes in it are ones that Californios would've made and eaten for generations prior to the gringos invading Alta California. There are about 70 recipes in this book that include olives as an ingredient; the very first recipe is one for stuffed olives:
Wow thanks! This is really informative. I teach food classes in therapy and this would be a fun topic at our next group meeting :)
