Mexican Cuisine

The next post comes to us from Artem, who will talk about the food and customs of Mexico.

Mexican cuisine is a style of food that originates in Mexico. It is known for its varied flavors, colourful decoration, and variety of spices and ingredients, many of which are native to the country. The cuisine of Mexico has evolved through the centuries.

The staples of Mexican cuisine are typically corn and beans. Corn, traditionally Mexico's staple grain, is eaten fresh, on the cob, and as a component of a number of dishes. Most corn, however, is used to make masa, a dough for tamales, tortillas, gorditas, and many other corn-based foods. Squash and peppers also play important roles in Mexican cuisine.

 
 
The most important and frequently used herbs and spices in Mexican cuisine are chile powder, oregano, cilantro, epazote, cinnamon, and cocoa. Chipotle, a smoke-dried jalapeño chili, is also common in Mexican cuisine. Many Mexican dishes also contain garlic and onions.



Next to corn, rice is the most common grain in Mexican cuisine. According to food writer Karen Hursh Graber, the initial introduction of rice to Spain from North Africa in the 4th century led to the Spanish introduction of rice into Mexico at the port of Veracruz in the 1520s. This, Graber says, created one of the earliest instances of the world's greatest fusion cuisines.

Mexican food varies by region, because of local climate and geography and ethnic differences among the indigenous inhabitants and because these different populations were influenced by the Spaniards in varying degrees. The north of Mexico is known for its beef, goat and ostrich production and meat dishes, in particular the well-known arrachera cut.

The six regions of Mexico differ greatly in their cuisines. In the Yucatán, for instance, a unique, natural sweetness (instead of spiciness) exists in the widely used local produce along with an unusual love for achiote seasoning. In contrast, the Oaxacan region is known for its savory tamales, celebratory moles, and simple tlayudas while the mountainous regions of the West (Jalisco, etc.) are known for goat birCentral Mexico's cuisine is largely influenced by the rest of the country, but has unique and tasty dishes such as barbacoa, pozole, menudo and carnitas.

Southeastern Mexico, on the other hand, is known for its spicy vegetable and chicken-based dishes. The cuisine of Southeastern Mexico has a considerable Caribbean influence due to its location. Seafood is commonly prepared in states that border the Pacific Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico, the latter having a famous reputation for its fish dishes, à la veracruzana.

Honey is an important ingredient in many Mexican dishes, such as the rosca de miel, a bundt-like cake, and in beverages such as balché.

In Pueblos or villages, there are also more exotic dishes, cooked in the Aztec or Mayan style (known as comida prehispánica) with ingredients ranging from iguana to rattlesnake, deer, spider monkey, chapulines, ant eggs, and other kinds of insects.

Recently other cuisines of the world have acquired popularity in Mexico, thus adopting a Mexican fusion. For example, sushi in Mexico is often made with a variety of sauces based on mango or tamarind, and very often served with serrano-chili-blended soy sauce, or complimented with habanero and chipotle peppers.

birria (goat in a spicy tomato-based sauce).

Dunkin' Donuts

Teacher's Note: The next post is by Lidia, who will discuss the famous breakfast restaurant chain, Dunkin' Donuts.

Dunkin' Donuts is an international doughnut and coffee retailer founded in Quincy, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, by William Rosenberg in 1950. He started out his business with one food cart that provided donuts and coffee to construction workers around the city of Boston. His cart was a success, and soon he bought another. Soon after that, he moved his business into a storefront in Quincy, Massachusetts. One store grew into two, and so on, until he had a successful business throughout the northeastern part of the United States. This soon expanded throuhgout the rest of America, and then the world. The company now has more than 9,700 restaurants in 31 countries worldwide, which includes more than 6,700 Dunkin’ Donuts locations throughout the United States.

Despite originally focusing on donuts and other baked goods, over half of Dunkin' Donuts business today is in coffee, making it more of a competitor to Starbucks as opposed to traditional competitors Krispy Kreme and Tim Horton's.

 

Advertising

There have been many slogans used by Dunkin' Donuts over the years. They include the following:

Only at Dunkin' Donuts (1950-1991)

The Place for Donuts and Coffee (1950–1964)

America's Favorite Donut and Coffee Shoppe (1964–1967)

America's Dunkin' (1973–1976)

It's Worth the Trip (1979–1990) (1997–1999)

You're Dunkin' (1980–1993)

Just the Thing (2000s)

America Runs on Dunkin' (since 2007)

In addition to slogans, Dunkin' Donuts was also known for its TV commercials in the 1970s and 1980s portraying a donut maker named Fred. His catchphrase, "Time to Make the Donuts" became famous throughout America.

Since the 1980s, Dunkin' Donuts has expanded its menu to include such additional items as muffins, bagels, sandwiches fruit smoothies, blended drinks and tea.

In April 2011, Dunkin' Donuts launched a new donut and special cake in honor of Prince William's royal wedding to Kate Middleton in England on April 29, 2011



This is a picture of the original Dunkin' Donuts store in Quincy, Massachusetts. It was taken at some during the early 1960s.

A box of different donuts that Dunkin' Donuts provides.

Martial arts around our world

         Our teacher allowed everyone to write everything what we want as a free topic. There are too many interesting things in our wonderful world we can talk about. I would like to talk about my hobby. I enjoy martial arts and I will share it with everybody. I hope everybody will like it. :)

         Martial arts(literally meaning arts of war but usually referred as fighting arts) are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat. Martial arts all have similar objectives: to physically defeat other persons or defend oneself or others from physical threat. Some martial arts are also linked to beliefs systems such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism or Shinto while others follow a secular code of honor. Martial arts are considered as both an art and a science. Many arts are also practiced competitively, most commonly as combat sports, but competitions may also take the form of "forms competition."
  
  
Overview:
The term martial arts refers to the art of warfare (derived from Mars the Roman god of war) and comes from a 15th-century European term referring to what are now known as historical European martial arts specifically to what is today known as Historical Fencing, but is now most commonly associated with Asian fighting styles, especially the combat systems that originated in East Asia. The term both in its literal meaning however, and in its subsequent usage may be taken to refer to any codified combat system, regardless of origin, a practitioner of martial arts is referred to as a martial artist. Martial arts have originated and evolved in various cultures at various times. In the Americas, Native Americans have traditions of open-handed martial arts such as wrestling, while Hawaiians have historically practiced arts featuring small and large-joint manipulation. A mix of origins is found in the athletic movements of Capoeira, which African slaves developed in Brazil based on skills they had brought from Africa.

While each style has unique facets that differentiate it from other martial arts, a common characteristic is the systematization of fighting techniques. Methods of training vary and may include sparring (simulated combat) or formal sets or routines of techniques known as forms or kata. Forms are especially common in the Asian and Asian-derived martial arts.




And now there are some descriptions about some kinds of martial arts:

TAEKWONDO:      

 Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means ''to strike or break with foot'', kwon means ''to strike or break with fist'', and do means ''way'',''method'' or ''art''. Thus taekwondo may be loosely translated as "the art of the foot and fist" or "the art of kicking and punching."











BOXING:

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists for competition. Boxing is typically supervised by a referee engaged in during a series of one- to three-minute intervals called rounds, and boxers generally of similar weight. There are four ways to win; if the opponent is knocked out and unable to get up before the referee counts to ten seconds (a knockout, or KO) or if the opponent is deemed too injured to continue (a Technical Knockout or TKO), if an opponent is disqualified for breaking a rule, or if there is no stoppage of the fight before an agreed number of rounds, a winner is determined either by the referee's decision or by judges' scorecards.

SUMO:

Sumo is a competitive full-contact sport where a wrestler attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet. The sport originated in Japan, the only country where it is practiced professionally. It is generally considered to be a gendai budō (a modern Japanese martial art), though this definition is incorrect as the sport has a history spanning many centuries. Many ancient traditions have been preserved in sumo, and even today the sport includes many ritual elements, such as the use of salt purification, from the days when sumo was used in the Shinto religion. Life as a rikishi is highly regimented, with rules laid down by the Sumo Association. Most sumo wrestlers are required to live in communal "sumo training stables" known in Japanese as heya where all aspects of their daily lives—from meals to their manner of dress—are dictated by strict tradition. 

CAPOEIRA:

Capoeira  is a Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, sports, and music. It was created in Brazil mainly by descendants of African slaves with Brazilian native influences, probably beginning in the 17th century. It is known by quick and complex moves, using mainly power kicks and quick leg sweeps, with some ground and aerial acrobatics, knee strikes, take-downs, elbow strikes, punches and headbutts. The word capoeira comes from Tupi, referring to the areas of low vegetation in the Brazilian interior. 



And finally my favourite martial art:

WING CHUN:

Wing Chun, also romanized as Ving Tsun or ''Wing Tsun'' (and sometimes substituted with the characters ''eternal springtime'') is a concept-based Chinese martial art and form of self-defense utilizing both striking and grappling while specializing in close-range combat.

The difference between Wing Chun and other martial arts is softness. Softness and performing techniques in a relaxed manner, is fundamental to Wing Chun.

And one more thing. This is a WOODEN DUMMY. I love to practise with this very much. It makes my arms and my hands stronger. :)

 <===== It's me.
My martial art teacher decided to take some photos before we started our martial art lessons :).