Today's food staples are native to the land and include: corn (maize), beans, squash, amaranth, chia, avocados, tomatoes, tomatillos, cacao, vanilla, agave, turkey, spirulina, sweet potato, cactus, and chili pepper. Its history over the centuries has resulted in regional cuisines based on local conditions, including Baja Med, Chiapas, Veracruz, Oaxacan, and the American cuisines of New Mexican and Tex-Mex.
There's a common perception that Mexican food is both spicy and heavy but, in fact, true Mexican food has both a depth of flavour - with its combination of savoury and earthy flavours - and a fresh lightness from its generous use of fresh herbs, vegetables and citrus. In most of Mexico it would be very unusual to put cheese in tacos, enchiladas or tostados, for example, and if it were used it would be a Mexican panela cheese (a smooth, fresh, white cheese