Nopalito
Nopalitos is a Mexican cuisine, dish made with diced nopales, the naturally flat stems, called pads, of prickly pear cactus (''Opuntia''). They are sold fresh, bottled, or canning, canned and less often drying (food), dried. They have a light, tart-like flavor, and a crisp, mucilage, mucilaginous texture. Nopalitos are often eaten with egg (food), eggs as a breakfast and in salads and soups as lunch and dinner meals. See also * List of Mexican dishes References Salads Mexican soups {{mexico-cuisine-stub es:Nopal#Gastronomia ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nopal
''Nopal'' (plural ''nopales'') is a common name in Spanish for ''Opuntia'' cacti (commonly referred to in English as prickly pear or tender cactus), as well as for its pads. The name ''nopal'' derives from the Nahuatl word for the pads of the plant. Description There are about 114 known species in Mexico, where it is a common ingredient in numerous Mexican cuisine dishes. The ''nopal'' pads can be eaten raw or cooked, used in marmalades, soups, stews and salads, as well as being used for traditional medicine or as fodder for animals. Farmed ''nopales'' are most often of the species '' Opuntia ficus-indica'' or '' Opuntia matudae'' although the pads of almost all ''Opuntia'' species are edible. The other edible part of the ''nopal'' cactus is the fruit, called in Spanish and "prickly pear" in English. Culinary use ''Nopales'' are generally sold fresh in Mexico, cleaned of spines, and sliced to the customer's wishes on the spot. They can also be found canned or bottled as ' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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List Of Mexican Dishes
The Spanish invasion of the Aztec Empire occurred in the 16th century. The basic staples since then remain native foods such as corn, beans, Cucurbita, squash and chili peppers, but the Europeans introduced many other foods, the most important of which were meat from domesticated animals, dairy products (especially cheese) and various herbs and spices, although key spices in Mexican cuisine are also native to Mesoamerica such as a large variety of chili peppers. Antojitos Street food in Mexico, called ''antojitos'', is prepared by street vendors in Mexico City, street vendors and at small traditional markets in Mexico. Most of them include corn as an ingredient. File:CemitaSandwich2.JPG, Cemita with milanesa File:Huarachesverdes.JPG, Preparation of ''huarache (food), huaraches'' File:01 Chilaquiles verdes con frijoles chinos.jpg, Chilaquiles File:Menudo in Houston TX 2013.jpg, Menudo (soup), Menudo File:Molotes.jpg, Molotes File:Cochinita pibil 2.jpg, Cochinita pibil is a traditi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundary, maritime boundaries with the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Caribbean Sea to the southeast, and the Gulf of Mexico to the east. Mexico covers 1,972,550 km2 (761,610 sq mi), and is the List of countries by area, thirteenth-largest country in the world by land area. With a population exceeding 130 million, Mexico is the List of countries by population, tenth-most populous country in the world and is home to the Hispanophone#Countries, largest number of native Spanish speakers. Mexico City is the capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city, which ranks among the List of cities by population, most populous metropolitan areas in the world. Human presence in Mexico dates back to at least 8,000 BC. Mesoamerica, considered a cradle ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mexican Cuisine
Mexican cuisine consists of the cuisines and associated traditions of the modern country of Mexico. Its earliest roots lie in Mesoamerican Cuisine, Mesoamerican cuisine. Mexican cuisine's ingredients and methods arise from the area's first agricultural communities, such as those of the Olmecs, Olmec and Maya civilization, Maya, who domesticated maize, created the standard process of nixtamalization, and established foodways. Successive waves of other Mesoamerican groups brought with them their cooking methods. These included the Teotihuacanos, Toltec, Huastec civilization, Huastec, Zapotec civilization, Zapotec, Mixtec, Otomi people, Otomi, Tarascan state, Purépecha, Totonac, Mazatec, Mazahua people, Mazahua, and Nahuas, Nahua. With the Mexica formation of the multi-ethnic Triple Alliance (Aztec Empire), culinary foodways became infused (Aztec cuisine). Today's food staples native to the land include corn (maize), turkey, beans, squash, amaranth, Chia seed, chia, avocados, to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Opuntia
''Opuntia'', commonly called the prickly pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae, many known for their flavorful fruit and showy flowers. Cacti are native to the Americas, and are well adapted to arid climates; however, they are still vulnerable to alterations in precipitation and temperature driven by climate change. The plant has been introduced to parts of Australia, southern Europe, the Middle East, and northern Africa. ''Prickly pear'' alone is more commonly used to refer exclusively to the fruit, but may also be used for the plant itself; in addition, other names given to the plant and its specific parts include ''tuna'' (fruit), ''sabra'', ''sabbar'', '' nopal'' (pads, plural ''nopales'') from the Nahuatl word , nostle (fruit) from the Nahuatl word , and paddle cactus. The genus is named for the Ancient Greek city of Opus. The fruit and leaves are edible. The most common culinary species is the "Barbary fig" ('' Opuntia ficus-indica ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Canning
Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although under specific circumstances, it can be much longer. A freeze-dried canned product, such as canned dried lentils, could last as long as 30 years in an edible state. In 1974, samples of canned food from the wreck of the ''Bertrand (steamboat), Bertrand'', a steamboat that sank in the Missouri River in 1865, were tested by the National Food Processors Association. Although appearance, smell, and vitamin content had deteriorated, there was no trace of microbial growth and the 109-year-old food was determined to be still safe to eat. History and development French origins Shortly before the Napoleonic Wars, the French government offered a hefty cash award of 12,000 francs to any inventor who could devise a cheap and effective method of preser ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Drying (food)
Food drying is a method of food preservation in which food is drying, dried (dehydrated or desiccation, desiccated). Drying inhibits the growth of bacteria, yeasts, and mold through the removal of water. Dehydration has been used widely for this purpose since ancient times; the earliest known practice is 12,000 B.C. by inhabitants of the modern Asian and Middle Eastern regions."Historical Origins of Food Preservation". Accessed June 2011. Water is traditionally removed through evaporation by using methods such as air drying, sun drying, smoking or wind drying, although today electric food dehydrators or freeze-drying can be used to speed the drying process and ensure more consistent results. [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mucilage
Mucilage is a thick gluey substance produced by nearly all plants and some microorganisms. These microorganisms include protists which use it for their locomotion, with the direction of their movement always opposite to that of the secretion of mucilage. It is a polar glycoprotein and an exopolysaccharide. Mucilage in plants plays a role in the storage of water and food, seed germination, and thickening membranes. Cacti (and other succulents) and flax seeds are especially rich sources of mucilage. Occurrence Exopolysaccharides are the most stabilising factor for microaggregates and are widely distributed in soils. Therefore, exopolysaccharide-producing "soil algae" play a vital role in the ecology of the world's soils. The substance covers the outside of, for example, unicellular or filamentous green algae and cyanobacteria. Amongst the green algae especially, the group Volvocales are known to produce exopolysaccharides at a certain point in their life cycle. It occu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Egg (food)
Humans and other hominids have consumed eggs for millions of years. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especially chickens. People in Southeast Asia began harvesting chicken eggs for food by 1500 BCE. Eggs of other birds, such as ducks and ostriches, are eaten regularly but much less commonly than those of chickens. People may also eat the eggs of reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Fish eggs consumed as food are known as roe or caviar. Hens and other egg-laying creatures are raised throughout the world, and mass production of chicken eggs is a global industry. In 2009, an estimated 62.1 million metric tons of eggs were produced worldwide from a total laying flock of approximately 6.4 billion hens. There are issues of regional variation in demand and expectation, as well as current debates concerning methods of mass production. In 2012, the European Union banned battery husbandry of chickens. History Bird eggs have been valuable foodstuffs since prehistory, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Soup
Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot – though it is sometimes served chilled – made by cooking or otherwise combining meat or vegetables with Stock (food), stock, milk, or water. According to ''The Oxford Companion to Food'' (OCF), "soup" is "the most general of the terms which apply to liquid savoury dishes";Davidson, p. 735 others include broth, bisque (food), bisque, consommé, potage and many more. Although most soups are savoury, sweet soups are familiar in some parts of Europe. Soups have been made since prehistoric times, and have evolved over the centuries. Originally "sops" referred to pieces of bread covered with savoury liquid; gradually the term "soup" was transferred to the liquid itself. Soups are common to the cuisines of eastern and western countries and have been served at the grandest of banquets as well as in the humblest peasant homes. Name The term soup, or words like it, can be found in many languages. Similar terms in othe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |