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Culture of Mexico - history, people, clothing, traditions, women, beliefs, food, customs, family. (2016). Everyculture.com. Retrieved 26 February 2018, from http://www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/Mexico.html

Food in Mexico - Mexican Food, Mexican Cuisine - traditional, popular, dishes, recipe, diet, history, common, meals, rice. (2018). Foodbycountry.com. Retrieved 29 February 2018, from http://www.foodbycountry.com/Kazakhstan-to-South-Africa/Mexico.html

Mexican food history | World Food and Wine. (2005). World-food-and-wine.com. Retrieved 27 February 2018, from https://world-food-and-wine.com/mexican-food-history

Mexican Food History: A Melding of Cultures. (2018). Streetdirectory.com. Retrieved 29 February 2018, from http://www.streetdirectory.com/food_editorials/cuisines/international_cuisine/mexican_food_history_a_melding_of_cultures.html

Taste (2016) - Aussie beef style tacos. Retrieved 19 February 2018, from http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/aussie-style-beef-salad-tacos/0d5ae0ce-8703-487a-a11c-a4c1366e8279

The Mexican Food Revolution. National Museum of American History. Retrieved 25 February 2018, from http://americanhistory.si.edu/food/resetting-table/mexican-food-revolution

Zimmermann, K. (2017). Mexican Culture: Customs & Traditions. Live Science. Retrieved 25 February 2018, from https://www.livescience.com/38647-mexican-culture.html

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One of the newer "authentic" Mexican restaurants offering Mexican food to Australians, "La Tortilleria"

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One of the newer "authentic" Mexican restaurants offering Mexican food to Australians, "La Tortilleria"

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One of the many Mexican fast food options in Australia 

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One of the many Mexican fast food options in Australia 

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How can the food be adapted to increase health objectives

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How can the food be adapted to increase health objectives

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As seen in question 3, the Australian health guideline instructs Australians to follow the guidelines and follow the recommendation in the pie chart of healthy eating.

Mexican food is comprised of large amounts of vegetables (guacamole, salsa), grain (tortillas, tacos, rice) and meats (beef, chicken). Apart from this “nutritious” appearance, Mexican food is often cooked using lots of oils and butter, making this facade entirely false. This aspect of the food can be adapted to increase Australia’s health objectives by eliminating the use of these large amounts of oils and butters. The unhealthy effect of butter and oil can be reduced by measuring oil in cooking with a teaspoon per serve, use unsalted margarine instead of butter and vary the types of oil that are healthy, depending on the flavour intended.

Mexican food is often topped with a significant amount of cheese, which does not align with the consumption of small amounts of dairy. To align this better with Australia’s heath objectives the amount should be reduced, choose a more reduced fat variety and possibly substitute the type of cheese for one of more flavour, as less will be needed.

Mexican food specifically contains a large amount of additional  salt, sugar and fat. This does not align with Australia’s health objectives as it does not adhere to the second food guideline, that states to limit the intake of fats, and added salt and sugar. We should reduce portion sizes and the amount of food in each serve, such as adding less sauce and meat.

For example, a traditional Mexican dish that is widely eaten is tacos, a recipe was taken from the Taste website for “Aussie style tacos” (Taste, 2016). It can be changed by reducing the amount of oil used to ½ a tablespoon and to a healthier oil, such as peanut. Another change is to reduce the amount of salt and spices added for seasoning, this can be reduced slightly to either 1 or ½ a teaspoon.

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There are an astounding 24,000 species of native plants in Australia, making the country's flora one of our most prized assets. Native flora in Australia include eucalyptus (mountain ash trees), acacia (golden wattle) and succulents. Traditional Mexican plant ingredients, including avocados, chilies, beans, corn and cocoa, are not native plants to Australia. Most of traditional Mexican ingredients are now available and are produced within Australia’s crop. These traditional ingredients, including corn and chilies, have been acclimatised to the heat and harsh exposure of the Australian climate, to ensure availability to all demand in Australia. This demand in Australia has increased greatly over the last 10 years, and especially steering away from “Tex Mex” (American style Mexican) to a more traditional style of food that utilises these traditional elements. Traditional meat used in this culture is commonly pork, chicken and beef. Livestock was first brought to Australia when the convicts travelled from England. These animals were some of the first brought to Australia so were already introduced.

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Modern cooking appliances have revolutionised how Mexican food culture can be made, as these modern aplliances make cooking easier, faster and commonly healthier.

Molcajete (traditional stone mortar and pestle)
This is an indispensable and traditional tool in Mexican that crushes ingredients, used in salsas and guacamole.
Food processor or ThermoMix
Traditionally, Mexican sauces and dips are based on seeds or a seed mixture, and this appliance is seen in most modern Mexican households.
Flat griddle
This appliance is needed to make tortillas, quesadillas, and sopes, to cook cenina or chicken breast and to dry-roast basic ingredients, including onion, garlic, and tomatoes.
Steamer
This is especially useful for cooking tamales, mixiotes,  barbacoa, and some mextlapiques.
Heavy casserole with a lid or clay pots
For recipes that require long cooking times, like moles, adobos and pipianes, these types of pots are useful because they retain an even heat
The basics (sharp knives, scissors, strainer, scale, measuring cups, and spoons)
These tools are important not only for Mexican cooking, but in any kitchen whatsoever.

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4. Specific examples of food and how this food has or can be changed to suit Australian conditions and futures

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4. Specific examples of food and how this food has or can be changed to suit Australian conditions and futures

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Guidelines 2 and 3 are the most relevant to this task as these are most related to food and the choices we can make. These goals aim to promote health and well-being and to reduce the risk of food intake related conditions, including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes through education about food, food groups and dietary patterns. These guidelines are made so readily available so people like educators, food retailers and health professionals can help Australians to eat healthy diets.

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Commonly, when international foods are brought into Australian culture and restaurants, Australians always tend to add too much extra salt and sugars, including extra meat, extra cheese and extra sauce. The use and demand of dietary guidelines is to produce and increase the likelihood of Australian’s living a healthy life with a diet that improves the quality of life and wellbeing and protects against chronic diseases. The Australian Dietary Guidelines, Australian Guide to Healthy Eating and consumer resources assist by helping you to choose foods for a healthy diet. Unfortunately, diet-related chronic diseases are currently a major cause of death and disability among Australians. Many of the health problems due to poor diet in Australia stem from excessive intake of foods that are high in energy, saturated fat, added sugars and/or added salt but relatively low in nutrients (including fried food, cakes and biscuits etc). If these foods are consumed regularly they can increase the risk of excessive weight gain and other diet-related conditions and diseases.

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These are five Australian guidelines/ recommendations for healthy eating.
1. To achieve and maintain a healthy weight, be physically active and choose amounts of nutritious food and drinks to meet your energy needs.
2.  Enjoy a wide variety of nutritious foods from these five groups every day: vegetables, fruit, grain, lean meats and dairy.
3.  Limit intake of foods containing saturated fat, added salt, added sugars and alcohol
4.  Encourage, support and promote breastfeeding.
5.  Care for your food; prepare and store it safely.

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As seen in this visual representation of best food selection, grain and vegetables together make up for over half of the recommended Australian diet. The other 3 sections, lean meats, dairy and fruit are split into equal parts making up about 40% of the guide to healthy eating. Ingredients that are to be used in small parts are oils, alcohols, butter and fast food.

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The availability of Mexican ingredients within Australia has increased greatly over the past 10 years, and the style of food has changed from an American style Mexican to a more authentic, street style Mexican food, as this food used to be almost unrecognisable. Recently, the demand for traditional dishes has swept over Australian cities over recent times. Mexican ingredients can be bought from specialty stores, but has more recently been widely available in stores such as Coles and Woolworths.

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In early times, common cooking techniques had not yet been invented, such as ovens and stoves, so all food was heated over an open fire. Methods that were used in place of ovens and stoves are cast iron pots, pans, ceramic ware, frying and steaming. Not only were common cooking techniques not made yet, some common baking equipment were not available. Due to this, tools such as the a "metate y mano" and a "molcajete", which is a tool made of stone to grind or mash ingredients.

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Spices are a vital part of Mexican culture as they give the culture a distinctive flavour, which is often enhanced with herbs, such as cilantro and thyme. These spices include chillies, vanilla and cocoa.

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The traditional diet of indigenous Mexican residents consisted majorly of fruits and vegetables, including corn, beans, herbs, tomatoes, potato and spices and additionally, meat such wild turkey, rabbit and quail to their primarily vegetarian diet. After many explorers and settlers landed in Mexico, a larger range of livestock, including sheep, pigs and chickens, and new plants, such as Asian plants including sugarcane and wheat were introduced into their diet. The country that had the most influence on Mexican culture is Spain, as and left its mark on its people and culture, including their cuisine. Though Mexican cuisine is a blend of indigenous and Spanish influences, most Mexicans continue to eat more native foods, such as corn, beans, and peppers. Such foods are cheap and widely available.

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A "cultural influence" is the effect of geographical or historical influences on a culture.

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2. Key determinants of cultural influences of Mexico 

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2. Key determinants of cultural influences of Mexico 

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There are many cultures or countries that have influenced Mexican food, including Mayan, Spain, French, West African and Portuguese. Because of this, Mexican foods today are diverse, yet dishes to vary from region to region.

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The food history of Mexico is influenced by a variety of cultures and is characterised by the variety and richness within their dishes. Like Australian culture, the variety of cultural influences and adaptions within the Mexican culture makes a melting pot of food culture.

It is most likely that authentic Mexican dishes were derived from the Mayan Indians from the mid 1300’s, as Mayan food was based upon the use of chili peppers, honey, salt and chocolate. As the Aztec Empire was prospering, these ingredients were adopted into the Mexican style of cooking. Apart from this, Spanish foods have had the greatest influence on the cuisine as they introduced new livestock, including pigs and cows, and also introduced dairy, garlic, herbs, wheat and spices.  Other than these two main influences, the assimilation of many other cuisines is seen including French, West African and Portuguese. Because of this, Mexican foods today are diverse, yet dishes to vary from region to region.