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Located on the Point Loma Peninsula in San Diego, the Cabrillo National Monument is a large statue dedicated to the remembrance of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese explorer who, on behalf of Spain, explored the west coast of North America. The monument marks the location where he set foot on what is now San Diego, California in 1542.

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Mexican food became very popular in the U.S. that people can find Mexican food every where.

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You might assume the taco, like taxes, has always been with us. It's true that American tacos have been around much longer than combo plates, tortillas-in-a-can, and (heaven help us) Doritos Locos. But they only appeared in the US about a century ago.

So says a man who should know: Gustavo Arellano, a journalist in Orange County, in California, best known for his sly syndicated "¡Ask a Mexican!" column in alternative weekly newspapers. Arellano uncovers the taco's origin story and explores many other Mexican food mysteries in his 2012 book Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America.

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the first mention of the taco in the US, I (chili-)peppered Arellano with questions about the debate over the authenticity of Mexican food, the cuisine's entry into the American mainstream, and the best way to try something new at your local taco shop.
Q: Why did it take so long for the taco to get to the US?

Mexicans have been wrapping a tortilla around meat and eating it going back to the days of the ancient Aztecs, but the meal didn't get into the United States [until] refugees brought it in during the Mexican Revolution. Before then, most of the migration from Mexico into the United States came from northern Mexico. The taco wasn't as popular there as it was in southern and central Mexico, and it wasn't even called a taco until around the 1880s at the earliest.

Once refugees started coming up, they wanted to eat the food of their homeland. They start eating tacos at home, and tacos started getting sold in Mexican restaurants. That's what started happening in southern California around the 1920s, where the first famous tacos were taquitos - rolled tacos.
Q: We hear a lot about Mexican food that's supposedly worthless because it isn't "authentic." What do you think about that whole debate?
I know a lot of Mexicans and people who love Mexican food who believe there's "real Mexican food" and "fake Mexican food." To me, if you think it's Mexican food, it's Mexican food!

But the idea of authenticity has driven the popularity of Mexican food among Americans for 100 years. Once they've eaten a dish enough that it's not longer "authentic," they go and try to find the next authentic food.

At one point, people thought Taco Bell was authentic Mexican food. It was exotic. Now it's the new synonym for McDonald's.
Q: I grew up in a suburb of San Diego about 10 miles from the Mexican border, but my family was about as white-bread as they come. We slathered our sandwiches with Miracle Whip and I didn't encounter a bagel or yogurt or Asian food until college. But we did eat Mexican and Italian food. What do you make of how Mexican food has become so mainstream?
That's the funny thing about Mexican food. Along with Italian and Chinese food, it's one of the three main cuisines that are simultaneously ethnic and mainstream for the American consumer.

Even my mother would make us spaghetti and fettuccine and orange chicken. If you're going to be an American, this is what we eat.
Q: Is there a larger meaning to the American love for Mexican food?
The very fact that Americans love Mexican food so much is really portends well for the future of the country.

When a new group arrives, there's always going to be tension. The first thing the majority group does is make fun of their food: Mexicans as beaners and greasers, the French as frog eaters, the English as limeys. But the fact that Americans love Mexican food is really a start because at least you've embraced the food.

It seems like a flippant analysis, but look at history. It's very easy to dismiss a bunch of college kids foraging at Chipotle, but that's progress, it absolutely is. They might not eat tortillas in a can, but to give credit to the American consumers, they're always accepting Mexican food in one way or other.
Q: Wait, what? Tortillas in a can?
It's impossible to believe for those of us in southern California. I can only tell you what I've heard, the horror stories of Mexicans going to college back East and only finding these tortillas in a can, just like a sardine can, separated by pieces of wax paper, and having to gulp them down in a desperate attempt to eat Mexican food. But now they're almost impossible to find.
Q: What about the negative stereotypes of Mexican food? Do they have an influence?
There have been concurrent streams of American thought regarding Mexican food with one thinking that it's bad, describing food trucks as "roach coaches" and referring to "Montezuma's revenge."

But the more dominant mentality is the American consumer saying, "I like Mexican food. Let me try something new like a California burrito. Let me start cooking it at home.'"
Q: What do you recommend for people who like Mexican food and would like to try something new?
When you go to Mexican restaurant and see Spanish on the menu you've never heard in your life, order it. That will be the regional cuisine and more likely than not, it's really good.
Randy Dotinga, a Monitor contributor, is president of the American Society of Journalists and Authors.

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How did Mexican food become so popular in the US?

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You might assume the taco, like taxes, has always been with us. It's true that American tacos have been around much longer than combo plates, tortillas-in-a-can, and (heaven help us) Doritos Locos. But they only appeared in the US about a century ago.

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In Mexico one American dollar costs 18.84 in Mexican Peso's.

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The President of Mexico is elected for a six-year term by the people. The candidate who wins the most votes is elected president even if he or she does not have an absolute majority. Since no President can serve more than a single term in office, every presidential election in Mexico is a non-incumbent election.

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One of Mexican rites of passage is the celebration called a quinceañera. This ceremony on a girl's fifteenth birthday to mark her passage to adulthood. Although a quinceañera is for the young woman turning fifteen, a quinceañera affects everyone in her family

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The Mexican anthem is not as short as our anthem in the U.S.

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Lyrics by Francisco González Bocanegra Music by Jaime Nunó

The Mexican National Anthem was writen by poet Francisco Gonzalez Bocanegra and musician Jaime Nuno. It was declared the National Anthem on February 9,1854, after a national contest was launched to find an anthem for our country. It was first performed on September 15, 1854, for the Fiestas Patrias, or Independence Fiesta.

Guerra, guerra sin tregua al que intente
De la patria manchar los blasones!

Guerra, guerra! Los patrios pendones
En las olas de sangre empapad.

Guerra, guerra! En el monte, en el valle
Los cañones horrísonos truenen

Antes, patria, que inermes tus hijos
Bajo el yugo su cuello dobleguen,

Tus campiñas con sangre se rieguen,
Sobre sangre se estampe su pie.

Y tus templos, palacios y torres
Se derrumben con hórrido estruendo,
Y sus ruinas existan diciendo:
De mil héroes
la patria aquí fue.
Coro
Patria! patria!
Tus hijos te juran
Exhalar en tus aras su aliento,
Si el clarín con su bélico acento
Los convoca a lidiar con valor.

Para ti las guirnaldas de oliva!

Un recuerdo para ellos de gloria!

Un laurel para ti de victoria!

Un sepulcro para ellos de honor!

War, without truce to any who dare
to tarnish the country's coat-of-arms!

War, war! Take the national pennants
and soak them in waves of blood.

War, war! In the mountain and valley,
thunder the cannons in horrid unison

Oh country, 'ere your children
defenseless bow to the yoke,

May your fields be watered with blood,
may they trod upon blood.

May your temples, palaces & towers
collapse with horrid clamor,
and their ruins live on to say:
This land belonged to a thousand heroes
Chorus
Oh, country, country, your children swear
to breathe their last in your honor,
if the trumpet with warlike accent
should call them to fight with courage.

For you the olive branches!

A reminder for them of glory!

A laurel of victory for you!

For them a tomb with honor!

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Lyrics by Francisco González Bocanegra Music by Jaime Nunó The Mexican National Anthem was writen by poet Francisco Gonzalez Bocanegra and musician Jaime Nuno. It was declared the National Anthem on February 9,1854, after a national contest was launched to find an anthem for our country.

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Hello how are you?
hello como estas?

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My great aunt Oliva came to the U.S. and eventually the rest of my family followed. She decided to move because of money issues and also because they knew that life in the U.S. would be better for the whole family.

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On special occasions my grandma and my cousins would get together and make sopes by hand. After we are done my cousins and I love to put a lot of cheese and sou cream. We would usually also add avocado, lettuce, and green sauce.

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My family was having a really bad time in Mexico but they knew that if they came to the U.S. they would have a better life.

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Green is hope, white is unity, and red is the blood of heroes. These meanings are not enforced by law, so they may continue to change. Today the coat of arms is in the cent re of the flag, showing an eagle eating a rattlesnake perched on the nodal cactus.

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Every year we Mexicans celebrate what is called  Cinco De Mayo. We celebrate the day of the dead for family who have moved on and their is one day to remember all the great times we have had with them. This is also a time to give thanks, food, and decorations for the dead.

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My first ancestor was connected to me by my moms side of the family she is my great great great grandmother who came from Mexico as a immigrant and legally became a U.S. citizen.