Mexican Cuisine In Planet Taco, By Jeffery Pilcher

In Planet Taco, Jeffery Pilcher gives an analysis on the introduction and creation of Mexican Cuisine and its transition to the Globalization of Mexican food. The book begins in an overview of the tracing of Mexican cuisine in South-Western Mexico, running back to Spanish conquistadors, Creole Patriots, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Jeffery Taylor then goes on to display the birth and importance of Maize in both Mexican Cuisine and world history. Taylor then goes on to talk about the importance of these northern borderlands of Mesoamerica. Taylor elaborates on the pre-Columbus times of this region. In these lands it was primarily nomadic, hunter-gather peoples, then there was a shift. An agricultural revolution emerged and spread out to the …show more content…
With this frontier societies, came a split in different social dynamics and tastes in cuisines and this continued into the colonial period. Taylor later goes on to talk about the different classes of food among the French, Creole, and Indian food and culture, this was especially vamped up by the French. These different cuisines had the possibilities of being very similar, yet some were considered lower class and some were considered delicacy’s. It was dictated by cultural appropriation and social setting and that reflects the time period and attitudes of these different cultures. Taylor then goes on to talk about plebian authenticity promoted by the chili queens. The Chili queens were local lower class women, who increased the livelihood and culinary spread of Mexican cuisine. The Chili Queens were women who would set up on the street and set up very small yet profitable stands where they would sell local specials and cuisine to provide for their families. These chili queens inserted themselves as part of Spanish southwest culture and created a flood of Anglo tourism, though it had slight damage on the authenticity of the Mexican cuisine it was another step closer to the globalization …show more content…
This gave Mexican Americans that were involved in the military the funds to open food carts and restaurants especially on the west coast. In this time period the acceptance of Mexican Cuisine increased. One very interesting part of the globalization of Mexican food Taylor mentions is involving these postwar era military bases throughout Europe and Australia. These overseas soldiers had a craving for Mexican food that had to be filled. They had Mexican Food shipped in and shared them with the locals. They even helped introduced Mexican food to the counterculture spreading all around. Picture these clean-cut military guys sharing tacos with a bunch of hippies, that is a sight to see. One thing that makes the book is absolutely the pictures, illustrations, and maps Taylor features brings the book together. It is helps the reader see the famous authors of cookbooks, businesses that flourished, cities, and it gives a picture of the culture surrounding the Mexican Cuisine. Taylor goes onto talk about how the globalization of Mexican food did wonders for the drink industry. Along with this emergence of Mexican food came this rise in tequila. Around college kids came newfound consumption of Margaritas and this