Food is an essential element of culture. We are what we eat. And dietary habits tell a lot about the nature, values, and identity of a nation. In this chapter we will talk about the views of Mexicans on American's dietary habits. Namely, what they eat and how they eat. Mexicans are rife with opinions when they refer to American dietary habits. But these opinions change over time. As the dietary habits of Americans also evolved. I should highlight that Mexican cuisine has a world-wide reputation for it's diversity and palatability. It is perhaps because of this cultural culinary legacy that rarely were Mexicans opinions favorable about American food, but it is true that they shifted. The most general comment on American food was it's lack of variety and flavor. The lack of conversation during the meals is another comment. As well as a habit of putting all food on one plate. Justo Sierra O'Reilly mentions the monotony of menus at Yorkshire University. For breakfast, lunch, and dinner they would have butter, bread, meat, and potatoes. Cake and fruit would be served from time to time. Years later, his son Justo Sierra talks about the fast food served in a train buffet service. The meal is made of canned meat and beans that he finds monotonous and devoid of taste and extremely expensive. Nothing like the salsas and moles from Mexico that filled with flavor the everyday dishes. In contrast, when he went to Louisiana, he found a safe culinary haven in a small french restaurant. Sierra did not like the fact that everything was served on the same plate. Being an elite Mexican, he was used to being served different courses on different plates. Guillermo Prieto mentioned the Yankee way of eating when he visited New Orleans in 1877. It is interesting that he did not make a distinction between the North and the South of the United States. He described how, at the time of a meal, American's concentrated on eating. Most of the time, they ate in haste. They did not allow time for conversation. He also remarked that, unlike in Mexico, a lady could go alone, have a meal, a huge meal, pay, and then be off to work. Manuel Balbontin, a former well known military, visited New York in 1872. And while he stayed at a boarding house. He complained about the habit of eating all food in the same plate. Any self respecting boarding house in Mexico, like the one he was staying in New York, would have different courses served on different plates regularly. Querido Moheno a politician of the early 20th century, could not believe how the Federation of Reformist Churches Would offer a week of free lunches to attract members to their churches. He too dreaded fast food lunches, that he said were a torture to eat. He argued that meat was not meat because it had been frozen for ages. In Mexico, meat was eaten fresh or salted. Martin Luis Guzman, a novelist and journalist, commented on self service cafeterias in New York and Oklahoma. He was conscious that his fellow nationals hated the idea of having to serve their own food. He did not judge this form of service. But reflected on the incentive to organize the service in that way as a labor saving method. In Mexico, men were used to being served by waiters at restaurants or by women at home. It was unusual for Mexican men to have to serve their plates and being forced to do so would naturally make them uncomfortable. He also noted that the service at McAlpin Hotel in New York was excellent and food was good because it was fresh made. Still, some of his high government official travel companions brought chilies from Mexico to add taste to their food. That was the case of Luis Cabrera. A notable politician and author of some of the most important articles of the 1917 Constitution. In the 20th century, Octavio Paz, noted that American traditional cuisine had no mysteries. Simple food, nutritious and lacking flavor. Americans loved colors and flavors that were tender and fresh. Their cuisine was like a painting in pastel colors, meaning that it lacked the passionate flavors that can make a meal delicious and intriguing. He said that Americans feared spices the same way they feared the devil that they could wallow in cream and butter. To him, it was suspicious that lunches could be simple in composition and flavor, but they could coexist with ice cream and milkshakes that were so rich in sugar and fat. Nonetheless, Paz also asserted that the dietary habits and tastes of American changed as the average American discovered the existence of other civilizations in the second half of the 20th century. They became immersed in culinary cosmopolitanism. The culinary traditions of five continents could then coexist in the same street in New York. He asserted that in this culinary context, New York was like Alexandria. Towards the end of the 20th century in New York, it became possible to find the most rare and delicious foods. In the United States cooking shows became more popular than religious ones. Ethnic minorities contributed to this universalism. Paz argued that all this new culinary knowledge had perverted the native cuisine. Before, American cuisine was modest, honest. And now, it had become ostentatious and tricky, as it had turned to fusion cuisine. The social ideal of the melting pot has been applied to culinary art, and it has come to produce some abominations. Obviously Paz was not a fan of all culinary innovations. As Mexico has entered the era of free trade and globalization, Mexicans today have adopted many of the dietary habits and tastes of Americans. Sadly, these changes have been in detriment of their tastes and health. Mexicans have become avid consumers of American fast food. Most of these meals are available in American food chains in Mexico. As a result of this culinary influence, the Mexican population is converging with the United States in obesity rates. To summarize, in this chapter we have seen how there was an evolution in the dietary habits and tastes of Americans during the 19th and 20th centuries. From being traditional, to cosmopolitan. There was also a change in perception of dietary habits of Americans in the eyes of Mexicans. Mexican elite members despised American cuisine however, slowly but surely, American cuisine, with its new variations, has come to influence dietary habits of Mexicans for better or worse.
