Fun Facts

Mexico translated

A

Adobo (noun)

a paste or marinade of chillies, vinegar, herbs and spices for flavouring meat or fish.

Antojitos (noun)

Mexican street foods and snacks, sometimes served as appetizers in restaurants.
Curiosity: Antojitos are sold in street stalls and markets all over Mexico.

Aztec (adjective)

of the Mesoamerican civilization in Mexico when the Spanish invaded.
Curiosity: Mexican food is a mix of Mayan, Aztec and Spanish cuisines.

B

Burrito (noun)

a tortilla that’s folded over and filled with meat, beans, cheese and other ingredients.

C

Capirotada (noun)

a dessert similar to British bread pudding.

Carne adobada (noun)

meat or chicken covered with a spicy adobo paste or sauce.

Ceviche (noun)

an appetizer or main course dish made of marinated raw fish or seafood.

Champurrado (noun)

a warm, thick, frothy Mesoamerican chocolate drink.

Chilaquiles (noun)

a dish of fried tortilla strips topped with a salsa or chilli sauce and cheese.

Chile relleno (noun)

stuffed chilli pepper covered in batter and deep-fried.

Churro (noun)

a strip of sweet fried dough sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon.

E

Enchilada (noun)

a tortilla with a filling of meat or cheese served with chilli sauce, eaten as an appetizer or main course.
Curiosity: enchiladas have been part of Mexican cuisine since Mayan times.

F

Fajita (noun)

a Tex-Mex dish of cooked meat slices, onions and peppers rolled up inside a tortilla. The fajitas usually come with lettuce, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, and grated cheese.

Flauta (noun)

a tortilla filled with meat and cheese and then fried.

G

Gordita (noun)

a thick cornmeal pancake filled with meat, cheese or vegetables.

Guacamole (noun)

a thick green dip or sauce made from mashed avocado.

M

Maya ou Maia (noun)

of the Mesoamerican civilization in Mexico circa 2000 BC to 1300 AD.
Curiosity: many of today’s Mexican dishes are from Mayan cuisine.

Menudo (noun)

a spicy Mexican soup made from beef stomach.

Mesoamerican (adjective)

related to the civilizations in Mexico and Central America before the Spanish invasion.
Curiosity: Mesoamerican farmers have been growing maize for over 10,000 years.

Mole (noun)

a rich sauce made from chilli peppers and other local ingredients.

N

Nachos (noun)

tortilla chips covered with cheese and various other ingredients.
Curiosity: nachos were invented near the border of Mexico and Texas in the 1940s.

P

Pan Dulce (noun)

any of the sweet breads and pastries sold in Mexican street stalls and restaurants.

Q

Quesadilla (noun)

a cheese-filled tortilla that’s grilled, with vegetables and spices sometimes added.

S

Salsa (noun)

a spicy sauce made from tomatoes, onions, chilli peppers, etc.

Sopapilla (noun)

a small, pillow-shaped fried pastry dough mostly eaten as a dessert.

T

Taco (noun)

a folded or rolled tortilla filled with various ingredients, like minced beef or chicken, vegetables, beans, spices, etc.

Tamal (noun)

a Mayan dish in which a filling of meat or vegetable is rolled in cornmeal, wrapped in a corn husk and then steamed or grilled.

Tex-Mex (adjective)

a type of food in which Mexican dishes are tailored to typical American tastes and ingredients.

Tortilla (noun)

a thin flatbread traditionally made of cornflour, but also made of wheat flour since the Spanish invasion.

Tostada (noun)

an appetizer made of tortillas (often old or stale) that are toasted or fried and used as a base for taco-style toppings.

The 7 regions of Mexican cuisine

Proverbs

A darle, que es mole de olla - Let’s get to it, it’s mole de olla

This phrase is an invitation to get down to work immediately and without excuse. It implies that the work is complicated and will require some time and compromise. Mole de olla may not be the most back-breaking of moles, but it still deserves respect…

¡No son enchiladas! - It’s not enchiladas!

This phrase is used to compare the difficulty of your actual duties with the apparent ease behind enchiladas preparation (a typical dish prepared by submerging tortillas in any kind of salsa and stuffing them with chicken or cheese). It’s similar to the english expression “It’s not a walk in the park”. “Enchilame otra,” is another quirky phrase that would translate as “spice this one up for me,” and is derived from the same assumption, like “if it’s so easy, go ahead and do it yourself.”

Le echas mucha crema a tus tacos - You’re putting too much cream on your tacos

Meaning you’re acting a bit presumptuous.

Te están dando atole con el dedo - They’re giving you atole by the finger

It means someone’s making a fool of you. Atole is a corn-based hot drink and when people actually care for you, they offer you the whole atole cup…

Mucho ruido y pocas nueces - So much noise and so few nuts

This implies someone can talk the talk but you rarely walk the walk.

Las penas con pan son buenas - The pains with bread are ok

This is used to comfort someone and it means that when your stomach is full everything looks better.

Al pan, pan y al vino, vino - To bread, bread and to wine, wine

It means being direct, honest and calling things by their names, making everything clear.

Eres el anjonjolí de todos los moles - You’re the sesame seed in every mole

Similar to “you appear even in soup” (te apareces hasta en la sopa), it implies that people expect to see you, even if you were not invited.

Hasta a la mejor cocinera, se le queman los frijoles - Even the best cook let her beans burn

Making mistakes is human.

Sólo las ollas saben los hervores de sus caldos - Only pots know the boiling of their broths

It means someone is being too nosy and better concentrate on their own business.

¡Te están haciendo de chivo los tamales! - They’re making your tamales out of goat!

Since tamales aren’t made from goat meat, this phrase implies you’re being cheated on.

En todos lados se cuecen habas - Broad beans are cooked everywhere

Meaning we all have problems.

Vas a estar pariendo chayotes - You’re gonna be giving birth to chayotes

Chayote is a savoury fruit of considerable size that grows from a climbing plant and is covered in thorns…Therefore, it means going through some hard times and pain.

De plato a la boca, se cae la sopa - From the plate to your mouth, the soup falls

This means anything can go wrong in the last minute.

Va de nuez - There goes a nut

A play on words that actually means “there it goes again.”