potzollcalli breakfast
El desayuno means breakfast and brunch is known as almuerzo.
Breakfast in Mexico can only be described as spicy and colourful.
Fruit and vegetables feature highly in breakfast like red and green peppers, yellow and green bananas, yellow and red tomatoes, forest green cilantro, oranges and golden pineapples. Other fruits you might enjoy in Mexico include: mangos, papaya, watermelon, guava, limes and strawberries.
The chili pepper is one of the most common ingredients in Mexican cookery and is found in breakfast just the same as any other meal. They are used in many regional and national dishes like chorizo, the spicy sausage so commonly found in Spain and the ubiquitous huevos rancheros and breakfast burritos. If this isn’t enough you will always be offered additional hot, spicy sauces in restaurants.
Refried beans are a breakfast staple and can be cooked in a sort of spicy soup or with copious amounts of onions and garlic. In the north you will more often find white beans and pinto beans whereas in the south black beans are the favorite.
The tortilla under your huevos rancheros dates back 10,000 years before Christ. The unleavened, flat bread – usually made from corn flour – was named “tortilla” by Spanish conquistadores around 1500. The word means “small and flattened”. Whether it’s a tortilla, a tostada, a taco or a burrito these are what the Mexicans will have over, under or round their breakfast much like we will have ours on toast or in a toasted sandwich.
Mexican coffee is generally light and nutty, but it can also have a heavier body. It can taste a little burnt at first but the more you drink the more the hint of chocolate flavour will come through. One of the most popular ways to take coffee in Mexico is cafe con leche, which is with milk, normally a 50/50 blend.
Mexican hot chocolate is made from dark, bitter chocolate and is commonly mixed with cinnamon and sugar. Chocolate at breakfast time is enjoyed by Mexicans much like their ancestors – discs are melted in warm milk or water and then a variety of other ingredients are added like masa (corn dough), thick cream, egg yolks, vanilla, molasses or cinnamon. For a really special treat try dipping pan de yema (a soft sweet bread made with loads of egg yolks) into a big bowl of hot, thick cinnamon infused Mexican chocolate!
