Many Mexicans who experience what is considered a “Mexican restaurant” in El Norte generally have the same criticism: es demasiado genérico (”it’s too generic”).

It is true that there are dishes common to the entire nation, such as frijoles and enchiladas rojas y verde. However, Mexican cuisine is strongly regional, and differences in the spices and method of preparation can vary considerably from one region of the county to another.

Why is this? Most of it has to do with geography. The Spaniards gave the indigenous Mexica Indians their language and many elements of their culture, but this influence was uniform. This can be seen today; while urban Mexico City could almost be taken for any European city, there are remote parts of the country where people continue to live in the same manner as ancient Mayan peasants of a thousand years ago. Additionally, Spaniards were not the only Europeans who have settled in Mexico since the 1500s. Like U.S. Americans and Canadians, many Mexicans can trace their ancestry to Germans, Greeks, Irish, Frenchmen and even Lebanese – whose contribution is the taco árabe. During the French occupation of Mexico at the time of Louis Napoleon, Mexican cuisine was heavily influenced by Parisian cooking; the enchilada is basically the French crêpe made with native Mexican food seasonings such as chiles and masa de maiz instead of wheat flour. There is even an Southeast Asian influence on Mexican cuisine dating from the time when the Spanish empire included the Philippines.

When you consider the strong Spanish and Mediterranean influences on Mexican culture and cuisine however, it is surprising that one ingredient is conspicuously absent – which is olive oil. Olive trees grow quite well in Mexico, many parts of which enjoy a Mediterranean climate; black olives are frequently used to as a garnish in “Cal-Mex” dishes.

Why? The reason is rooted in Mexico’s deeply racist and oppressive past. Once Spanish rule was firmly established, a rigid class structure emerged. The “elite” ruling class were of course white Spaniards; below them were people of European descent who had been born in Mexico and were known as créoles. Next down on the social ladder were mestizos, or people of mixed European and Indian ancestry, while native Indians formed the majority of an oppressed peasant underclass. Under the unwritten rules of the oligarchy – enforced by an equally oppressive Church – mestizos and Indians were forbidden to have or even taste olive oil or enjoy even the smallest luxuries.

The rigid and oppressive class structure (which is largely responsible for Mexico’s troubled and often violent history as well as its current social problems) had little effect on the basic spices and food seasonings that are used in the various dishes across the country however, since these were for the most part indigenous and grew abundantly throughout the countryside.