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By Kaila Streeting

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Mexican culture is a recent addition to Australia, 48.4% of Mexico-born Australians arrived between 2007 and 2011. The migration of Mexicans to Australia has a significant influence on Australian's diets and culture. Australian culture has absorbed the Mexican culture by making it our own. Australia overflows with Mexican eateries like Zambreros, Taco Bell and Guzman Y Gomez. Many restaurants play Spanish music, have stereotypical decorations like sombreros or maracas, and Day of the Dead art. Authentic Mexican cuisine is full of earthy and savoury flavours, along with a kick of spice. Australia has undertaken the boom of Mexican culture, adding it to the multicultural identity that it is today.

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The many cultural influences of Mexico have impacted the cuisine in Australia. These influences are ingredients, ingredient availability, spices, and cooking styles.

Growing crops is 50% of Mexico's agricultural output. Beans, corn/maize, tomatoes, avocados, and chillies are basics in many traditional Mexican dishes. These crops have been grown locally in Mexico for thousands of years. Due to popular demand, these crops are now grown in many Australian farms and are on supermarket shelves. Other Mexican staples like tortillas, salsa and spices can be found prepackaged in Australian supermarkets. Australia involves many of these ingredients in everyday meals. For example, many cafes have smashed avo (avocado) on toast and nachos on their menu.

Authentic Mexican cuisine is full of flavour due to the many spices in each dish. Common spices include cumin, oregano, chilli powder, cinnamon and garlic. Even Mexican chocolate contains cinnamon, nutmeg and sometimes chilli powder. Native Mexicans would traditionally grind these spices using a molcajete, which is similar to a mortar and pestle. Barbacoa is another traditional cooking style in Mexican dishes where meat is wrapped in banana or cactus leaves, and suspended over an underground pit of boiling water. These cooking methods are not preferable in Australia, modern devices like fry-pans, ovens, and food processors are more common for cooking.

The cultural influences from Mexico have a permanent impact on the cooking and cuisine of Australians.

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Australia's dietary guidelines state that Australian's should eat from the five food groups and limit intakes of food containing saturated fat, extra salt, extra sugars and alcohol. Many diet problems in Australians are because of a lack of eating healthy foods including vegetables, legumes/beans, fruit and wholegrain cereals. Mexican cuisine incorporates recommended portions of legumes, grains and vegetables into meals.

Barramundi tacos are an example of 'fusion food' where two cultures combine ingredients to create a new dish. In this recipe, Barramundi from Australia is in the tacos which originate from Mexico. This dish is perfect for family or friends to sit down and eat it together.This recipe can be modified to reach the Australian health objectives.

INGREDIENTS

600g skinless barramundi fillets, cut into 2cm-wide strips

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil - could be cut down to 1 tbsp

3 limes, plus wedges to serve

1/2 cup (100g) black or white quinoa

2 corn cobs, kernels sliced

250g cherry tomatoes, quartered

4 spring onions, thinly sliced

1 small red onion, finely chopped

2 jalapeno or long green chillies, seeds removed, finely chopped

1 cup roughly chopped mint leaves

1 cup roughly chopped coriander leaves

200ml sour cream - this could be cut down to 100ml, giving 15ml per person.

12 corn tortillas, warmed

- Vegetables like spinach and corn could be added to increase the nutrition value of this meal.

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In summary, the melting pot of culture in Australia would not be the same without the influence of Mexico. The extensive range of healthy ingredients in Mexican food will help Australians stick to the dietary guidelines put in place by the government. Many options of cuisine and the availability of food ingredients is expansive due to the absorption of Mexican culture in Australia.

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Kenyon, C. (2017). Try These Authentic Mexican Cooking Methods. The Spruce. Retrieved 10 March 2018, from https://www.thespruce.com/methods-used-in-authentic-mexican-cooking-2342659

Key ingredients: Mexican. (2013). SBS Food. Retrieved 10 March 2018, from https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2013/05/15/key-ingredients-mexican

Mexico's Native Crops Hold Key to Food Security, Ecologist Says. (2017). VOA. Retrieved 10 March 2018, from https://www.voanews.com/a/mexico-native-crops-hold-key-to-food-security-ecologist-says/3899641.html

The Mexico-born Community | Department of Social Services, Australian Government. (2015). Dss.gov.au. Retrieved 10 March 2018, from https://www.dss.gov.au/our-responsibilities/settlement-and-multicultural-affairs/programs-policy/a-multicultural-australia/programs-and-publications/community-information-summaries/the-mexico-born-community

d 22 Feb. 2018].