Costa Rican vs Mexican food & cuisine

Mexico

SEASONINGS

The chile pepper is the cornerstone of Mexican seasoning – fresh, cooked, dried, smoked, ground with salt and lime. Mexicans use cilantro, cumin, cinnamon, peppercorn, cloves, garlic, and onion extensively.  Also, some native, often regional, ingredients:

• Epazote, a strong and earthy herb for beans and quesadillas
• Mexican oregano with more citrus and licorice notes than the regular;
• Papalo, an exotic herb which tastes somewhere between arugula, cilantro, and rue;
• Achiote/annatto, peppery spice, and reddish-brown coloring agent.

Some traditional spice blends include:

TAJIN – dehydrated lime, salt, dried ground chilies – used in fruits, vegetables, and snacks for a spicy and tangy kick. Used to sprinkle fruits, veggies, toppings for popcorn, nuts, chips, and aguas frescas.

MOLE SPICE BLEND – dried chilies, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, cumin, allspice, cacao.

BARBACOA SEASONING – Used in traditional barbacoa, a mixture of guajillo chiles, cumin, cloves, black pepper, and bay leaves is common, sometimes blended with vinegar and other spices to marinate lamb or goat.

SAUCES

Mexican cooking embraces the concept of recado or seasoning pastes, where spices and chilies are ground together to create complex flavor bases.

MOLE SAUCES is a complex category of thick, rich sauces made of 20-30 ingredients and can take days to prepare properly. Key components are chiles, nuts or seeds like almonds, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, spices like cinnamon, cloves, cumin, anise, and something sweet, like chocolate, fruit, and sugar. The main ones are sweet and spicy, chocolaty mole poblano, complex and bitter mole negro, lighter and fresher green mole verde, herby, and tangy yellow mole amarillo. Moles are considered a Mexican dish in sauce form, commonly served over meats, with eggs or enchiladas.

GUACAMOLE – both a sauce and a dish made with mashed avocados, lime juice, cilantro, onions, tomatoes, and chilies.

ADOBO is a marinade-style sauce made with dried chiles, vinegar, garlic, paprika, tomatoes, onion, cumin, Mexican oregano, black pepper, cinnamon, and cloves. Adobada is Spanish is ‘marinated’, and it can refer to different types of meat as well as al pastor (spit roast) marinade.

SALSA ROJA is a classic red table sauce of red tomatoes and chiles, onion, and garlic that can be served raw, like pico de gallo, or roasted. Used in many dishes and as a table condiment, represents essential heat in Mexican cuisine.

SALSA VERDE – is a tomatillo, serrano or jalapeño, cilantro, onion, and lime juice sauce, fundamental to everyday cooking, used both raw and cooked for tacos, enchiladas, and as a table sauce.

PIPIÁN SAUCE – made from ground pumpkin seeds, tomatillos, and chilies such as poblano, serrano and jalapeño. Similar to mole, but lighter, served with carnitas, as an enchilada sauce, with roasted poultry.

ACHIOTE PASTE / RECADO ROJO – achiote/ annatto seeds, oregano, cumin, black pepper, garlic, cloves, cinnamon. Frequently used in Yucatan cuisine to marinate meats and fish, and flavor rice dishes.