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Mexican herbs and spices truly make the meal. Without these ingredients, a Mexican recipe would be no different than many others. These herbs and spices give their all to make Mexican food the culinary delight that it is. It pays to learn a bit about them.

Chile powder is the most well known spice used in Mexican cuisine. It is a mixture of many different types of chilies. Chipotle is made from smoked dried jalapeno peppers. Ancho, in comparison, has a fruity, sweet flavor. Many chili powders that you purchase at the grocery store are a combination of chilies, oregano, salt, coriander, garlic, and cumin.

Epazote is an herb that you can grow in your garden. Some call it Mexican tea. This herb is traditionally used in bean dishes to not only add flavor but to help digestive upsets that beans can cause. A few leaves are added while the beans are cooking. Be careful when you use epazote because it is very potent. Large quantities of this herb can be toxic.

Annatto seeds give food a distinctive flavor and a yellow coloring. It is often used in rice dishes and sauces. The seeds should be soaked in water for at least an hour. After soaking, they are crushed. Sometimes recipes call for the water that the seeds were soaked in; others call for the seeds themselves. They are often used in marinades along with other spices.

Cilantro is a popular herb that resembles flat leaf parsley. They are actually the leaves produced by the coriander plant. This herb is always used fresh. The flavor is tangy with a pungent quality that really makes a dish sing. It adds a nice bright note to rice, moles, salsas, beans, soups and stews.

The seeds of the cumin plant are often used in Mexican cooking. Cumin seeds can be used ground into powder or whole. It is often used with chile powder to create a nice balance in the flavors. Soups, stews and many other dishes are better after you add cumin. Azafran, also known as safflower or Mexican saffron, adds flavor and color to a dish, making it a beautiful yellow. This spice is used sparingly because it can be bitter. It is frequently added to rice or seafood.

If you are looking for free traditional Mexican recipes you will find that you need many of these spices as well as thyme and oregano. Mexican oregano is very different from Italian oregano. It has an earthy quality that really adds a lot to the food. Unless you live in an area with a large Mexican population, it may be difficult to find. You can sometimes find it in the grocery store or in specialty herb catalogs.

Take time to learn the familiar flavors of Mexico by paying attention to the spices and herbs they use every day. An authentic Mexican taste is impossible without them. Make the most out of your Mexican cooking by learning the correct way to use these spices. Your meals will be amazingly good once you learn the secrets of these seasonings.

Some of the food pretending to be Mexican would come as a surprise to a lot of Mexican people and plenty of Mexican fast food is unrecognizable from traditional Mexican recipes. Authentic Mexican dishes are usually full of ultra fresh produce, full of healthy nutrients and full of tantalizing flavor.

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