Hispanic Culture and Food Inservice Training April 8, 2003

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Hispanic Culture and FoodIn-service
TrainingApril 8, 2003

• Barbara Brown, Ph.D., R.D./L.D.
• and
• Stephany Parker, Ph.D.

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Overview

• Major stereotypes about Hispanics
• Regional variety
• Common ingredients considerations
• Fitting Mexican food to the Pyramid
• Learning to make good choices away from home

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Major stereotypes about Hispanics

• Presumption that Hispanics are "foreign" Source
  Office of Minority Health, U.S.
• Source U.S. Department of Health Human Services

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Major stereotypes Race

• Hispanics are not a racial category
• May be of many race backgrounds
• Many cultures combined
• Does not fit the neat tidy system of US

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Major stereotypes about Hispanics Language

• People assume Hispanics dont speak English or
  learned recently
• Significant of Hispanics speak no or minimal
  Spanish
• Fluency less widespread in
• Urban Southwest Midwest
• Those in US longer
• Younger people

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Major stereotypeslive in rural areas

• 90 live in urban areas
• Disproportionately high in rural workforce
• Especially migrant workers

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Major stereotypesNot National presence

• Assumed concentrated only in certain regions
• Southwest, Pacific Coast, New York area, S.
  Florida

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Authentic Mexican

• Rich in color and flavor
• Much variety in ingredients
• 60 types of chiles
• Staples of many regional dishes

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Regional diversity
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Regional diversity

• Along coast many seafood dishes
• Inland high-land mountain stews, intricate
  sauces corn-based foods
• Desert areas dishes containing cactus plants
• Often of blending of different cultures

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Regional variety

• Basic recipes vary widely in different regions
• Most meals served as authentic outside Mexico
  based on recipes from North or Central Mexico

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Tex-Mex

• Blended flavors of Northern Mexico Southern US
  peoples
• Native Americans
• Cowboys
• Mexicans

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Tex-Mex

• Traditional dishes altered by need taste
• Most recognized in US as Mexican food
• Includes ingredients used in casseroles instead
  of served with tortillas
• Examples chili, cornbread, tamale pie,
  fajitas

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Traditional eating pattern

• 3 meals/day
• Each meal has 1 or more of
• Tortilla
• Beans
• Peppers

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Traditions

• Meals are social times with family friends
• Families eat together at least once/day
• Lunch often eaten at home

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Traditions

• Leaving empty plate is impolite by well-to-do

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Common ingredients

• Carnes (meat)
• Pescado (fish)
• Mariscos (shellfish)
• Legumbres (vegetables)
• Frutas (fruits)
• Nueces (nuts)

• Bebidas (drinks)
• Especias (spices)
• Condimentos (condiments)
• Postres (desserts)
• Dulces (sweets)

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Carnes (meat)

• Cabra goat
• Carne de Res beef
• Carnero lamb
• Chorizo spicey sausage

• Hígado liver
• Jamón ham
• Lengua tongue
• Pavo turkey

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Carnes

• Pato Duck
• Pollo Chicken
• Puerco Pork
• Salchicha Sausage
• Ternera Veal
• Tocino Bacon (salt pork)

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Pescado (fish)

• Abulón abalone
• Atún tuna
• Cabrilla sea bass
• Jurel yellowtail
• Pargo snapper
• Tiburón shark

• Huachinango red snapper
• Pes Espada swordfish
• Lenguado flounder or sole

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Mariscos (shellfish)

• Calamar squid
• Almejas clams
• Callos scallops
• Ostinones oysters

• Camarones shrimp
• Cangreio or Jaiba crab
• Langosta lobster

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Legumbres (vegetables)

• Aceitunas olives
• Apio celery
• Arroz rice
• Betabeles beets
• Calabazas pumpkins or squash

• Camotes sweet potatoes
• Cebolla onion
• Cebollita green onion

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Legumbres

• Chícharos peas
• Champioñes mushrooms
• Ejotes green beans
• Elote corn on the cob

• Ensalada salad
• Lechuga lettuce
• Maiz corn off the cob

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Legumbres

• Nopales "young" leaves of prickly pear cactus
• Pepino cucumber
• Papas potatoes
• Rábano radish

• Repollo cabbage
• Tomate tomato
• Zanahoria carrot

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Frijoles dried beans

• Staple of Mexican food
• Pinto most common
• Also black, kidney, chickpeas

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Cooking methods

• Frijoles de la Olla
• Beans cooked in pot
• Refried beans
• Cooked beans mashed fried with lard or butter
• Available canned
• Full fat or 99 fat free

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Chilies peppers

• Green chilies
• Serrano
• Jalapeno
• Cherry

• Poblano
• Ancho dried poblano
• Pasilla
• Chiltepin
• Green, red, etc. bells

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New Mexican (long green)
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Pepper varieties

• Ancho (before drying)

• Jalapeno

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Pepper varieties

• Habanero

• Serrano

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Pepper varieties

• Cherry

• Chiltepin

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Pepper heat

• Determined by
• Variety variety within variety
• Environment
• Capsaicin is cause
• Concentrated in veins (not seeds)

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Capsaicin
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How capsaicin works

• Stimulates nerve endings in mouth
• Fools brain into thinking there is pain
• Brain releases endorphins
• similar to morphine
• Mild euphoria results
• can be mildly addictive because of hot pepper
  "high"

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Determining pungency

• Bite the chile
• Most common method
• Quick, cheap
• Painful

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Scoville organoleptic test

• How it works
• Taste chile sample record heat
• Samples diluted in lab until heat no longer
  detectable
• Still subjective test
• Limit on number of samples tested in
  specific time period

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Scoville Heat Units Scale
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High performance liquid chromatography

• Most accurate method
• Expensive test
• How it works
• Peppers dried ground
• Heat causing chemicals extracted
• Extract measured via chromatography

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Other pepper products

• Chili powder
• Cayenne pepper or red pepper
• Red pepper flakes
• Hot pepper sauce

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Cutting the pain

• To relieve burning mouth choose milk, yogurt,
  sour cream
• Casein (protein) breaks bond with pain receptors

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Hominy

• Dried white or yellow corn with hull germ
  removed
• Mechanically or
• Chemically by soaking corn in slaked lime or lye
• Sold canned, ready-to-eat or dried
• Served in posole or pozole

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Benefits of lye-treated corn

• Treating with lye increases
• Usable protein
• Niacin
• Reduced incidence of pellegra
• Dermatitis, diarrhea, dementia, death
• No benefit from mechanical method

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Tomatillos

• Not green tomatoes
• Related to Cape gooseberry
• Green outer husk resembles lantern
• Light green tart
• Size varies from equal to a small shallot to a
  lemon

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Tomatillos

• Easy to grow
• Available canned
• In home canned salsa recipes use in place of red
  tomatoes

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Jicama

• AKA Mexican turnip
• Large tuberous root
• Eat raw or cooked
• Peel remove fibrous flesh under skin
• Stays crisp when cooked

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Frutas (fruits)

• Aguacate Avocado
• Duraznos Peaches
• Fresas Strawberries
• Guayaba Guava
• Higo Fig

• Limón Lime or Lemon
• Manzana Apple

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Frutas (fruits)

• Melón Melon
• Naranja Orange Piña Pineapple
• Plátano Banana
• Sandía Watermelon
• Toronja Grapefruit
• Uvas Grapes

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Nueces (nuts)

• Cacahuates peanuts
• Coco coconut
• Nuez de Castilla walnuts

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Bebidas (beverages)

• Aqua water
• Café coffee
• Crema cream
• Jugo de Naranja orange juice
• Leche milk
• Refrescos soft drinks
• Té Caliente hot tea
• Té Helado iced tea

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Bebidas (alcoholic)

• Vino de Champaña champagne
• Vino Rosado rose wine
• Vino Tinto red wine

• Aguardiente brandy
• Cerveza beer
• Ginebra gin
• Ron rum
• Vino Blanco white wine

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Alcohol and cooking

• Can tenderize (acid)
• Adds flavor
• Some evaporates
• Leaves flavor, few calories

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Alcohol substitutions

• Savory dishes for 1 cup wine use
• 7/8 cup fat-free low-sodium broth, white grape
  juice, apple juice or tomato juice
• 2 T fresh lemon juice or vinegar

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Alcohol substitutions desserts

• Wine fruit juice dash balsamic vinegar
• Orange liqueur frozen orange juice concentrate
  grated orange zest
• Coffee liqueur double-strength espresso or
  instant coffee made with 4-6 times amount
  normally used
• Brandy or rum extracts

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Especias y Condimentos(spices condiments)

• Ajo garlic
• Azucar sugar
• Canela cinnamon
• Mantequilla butter
• Mayonesa mayonaise
• Miél honey

• Mostaza Mustard
• Parejíl parsley
• Pimienta pepper
• Sal salt
• Vainilla vanilla

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Cilantro

• Fresh green coriander leaves stems
• Chinese parsley
• No substitute for flavor
• Wash just before using
• Use leaves tender stems

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Store cilantro up to 1 week

• Refrigerated in plastic bag
• OR
• Bunch placed, stems down, in glass of water
  covered with plastic bag
• Bag secured to glass with rubber band
• Refrigerated water changed every 23 days

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Postres y Dulces(desserts sweets)

• Bolillos French-style Rolls
• Flan Custard
• Galletas Cookies
• Helado Ice Cream
• Paleta Flavored Ice on a Stick
• Pan Dulce Sweet Bread
• Pastel Cake
• Pay Pie

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Other foods

• Caldo broth
• Fideos noodles
• Huevos eggs
• Pan bread
• Sopa soup

• Tortilla
• Masa Harina
• Mole

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Queso cheese

• Queso blancowhite, fresh, salty
• Queso añejoaged, salty, crumbly cheese
• Queso de Chihuahua
• Eaten all over Mexico
• Similar to a mild cheddar

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Cheese caution

• Avoid raw milk cheeses
• Potential for contamination foodborne illness
• Associated with Listeria outbreak

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Tortillas

• Eaten at almost every meal
• Everyday bread
• Unleavened, round flat
• Made with corn flour (masa) or wheat
• Corn most common, flour in north
• Baked on griddle

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Tortilla uses

• Burritos stuffed tortilla parcels
• Enchiladas tortillas dipped in chili sauce,
  filled and baked
• Flautas fried rolled filled tortillas
• Quesadillas folded with cheese and fried

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Tortilla uses

• Tacos warmed or fried tortillas folded filled
• Tostadas crisp fried tortillas topped with
  chilli or beans
• Tortilla Chips cut into wedges deep fried

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Mole sauce

• Rich, dark reddish-brown sauce
• Usually a blend of onion, garlic, varieties of
  peppers, ground seeds, Mexican chocolate
• Chocolate gives richness, not sweetness

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Fitting in Mexican food

• Can be good fit with food guide pyramid

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Not so well fitted taco

• Crunchy taco shell
• Extra meat (ground beef)
• Extra cheese
• Melted bits scratched from paper

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Not so well fitted taco

• Sour cream
• Lettuce, tomato, olive slice
• Most falls off is not eaten

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Better built taco

• Soft tortilla
• Grilled meat, not ground
• Less cheese or reduced fat
• Reduced fat sour cream or omit
• Salsa
• Extra lettuce, tomato, olives

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Restaurant meals

• Can be high fat, sodium
• Beef Cheese Nachos had fat ten glazed
  doughnuts
• Chicken Burrito dinner had a day's worth sodium
• Chile Relleno dinner had saturated fat 27 bacon
  slices
• Source Center for Science in the Public Interest

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Eating Mexican out Limit side orders

• Rice over 800mg sodium per 3/4 cup

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Beans

• Almost as much sodium as rice
• Much fat included if refried
• Lard, bacon, cheese

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Other sides with fat

• Sour cream
• Guacamole
• Salad dressing
• Butter

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Poor choices when eating Mexican out Main dishes

• Tortillas softened in oil or deep-fried
• Filling ingredients fried
• Smothered in melted cheese
• High fat sides used as toppings
• Sour cream
• Guacamole

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Healthy eating out choose

• Low-fat appetizers
• Gazpacho (cold tomato soup), black bean or
  tortilla soup, jicama with salsa
• Salsa on meal chips
• No butter, sour cream, guacamole
• Beans cooked in pot, not refried

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Limit fried chips
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Healthy entrée choices

• Baked, grilled, stir-fried enchiladas, fajitas

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Healthy entrée choices

• Order regular plate
• Combo plates often larger
• Dont super size

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Taco salad

• Eat less tortilla shell or chips
• Grilled or baked meat
• Salsa instead of dressing or sour cream
• Limit cheese

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Good choices

• Fajitas, burritos, quesadillas, soft tacos
• Limit high fat ingredient toppings

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Large portion solutions

• Share with friend

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Large portion solutions

• To-go box at start
• Food safety considerations
• 2 hours at room temperature
• Transfer to appropriate container at home

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Review

• Examined common stereotypes about Hispanics
• There is much regional variety
• Looked at common ingredients considerations for
  healthier choices

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Review

• How to fit Mexican food to the Pyramid
• How to make good choices away from home

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(No Transcript)