Ingredients in Mexican cooking

Acitrón: candied barrel cactus, used in savory dishes to give contrasting texture and a touch of sweetness.

Achiote: the seeds of the annatto tree, used ground to a paste to flavor and give an orange-red color to meat and fish dishes and sauces.

Adobo: a paste of various chilies and spices ground together. Used for seasoning meat and fish.

Avocado: used in salads or as a garnish for cooked dishes. The leaf is also used as flavoring.

Sesame seeds: beige (unhulled) seeds with a nutty flavor and aroma, used in some sauce for meat and poultry, and as a garnish.

Capers: the pickled flower buds of the caper shrub. Used mainly in fish dishes.

Aniseed: an aromatic seed with a warm, sweet flavor. Used in desserts, drinks, cakes and some savory dishes.

Saffron: the stigmas of the saffron crocus which give aroma, taste and a strong yellow color to food. True saffron is not produced in Mexico, and local "saffron" is the stigma of safflower. Sometimes turmeric or a hard seed are used as substitutes.

Peanut: in Mexican cooking mainly used ground to a paste in sauces for meat, and in the preparation of cookies and candies.

Cinnamon: bark of the cinnamon tree, with a strong, aromatic taste. Used in sticks or ground in both sweet and avory dishes. An essential ingredient of "cafe de olla".

Coriander: fresh coriander is perhaps the best loved and most widely used herb in Mexican cooking. It features as a ingredient or garnish in a large number of dishes. Always sold with its roots.

Cumin: seed with a strong aroma and flavour. Used sparingly in broths and meat dishes.

Cuiatlacoche: Black fungus that grows on ears of corn. Highly esteemed as a filling for quesadillas (turnovers), it can also be made into a delicious soup. Also called huitlacoche.

Charales: tiny white or semi-transparent fish, usually sold dried.

Chaya: leaf with a cabbage-like taste. Appreciated mainly in Yucatan, where it has been used since pre-Hispanic times.

Chayote: a tropical squash, also known in English as christophene and cho-cho. Three varieties are found in Mexico: pale green and pear-shaped; a smaller, cream-colored one, and the dark green spiny chayote. The seed is edible.

Chia: seed of a variety of sage.

Chicharron: pork skin which is first cured with spices, dried, then fried until puffed and crisp. Used cooked in chili sauce, and dry as a taco filling, snack and garnish.

Chilies: a plant native to Mexico, where there are more than a hundred varieties. The name of some chilies used in various recipes are:

Fresh:

Cuaresmeño: a darkish green oval shaped chili.

Chilaca: long and thin, bright to dark green.

Habanero: this small rounded chili, which may be green, yellow or orange, is extremely hot. Used mainly in dishes and sauces originating from the states of Yucatan and Campeche.

Jalapeño: a conical, mid to dark green chili (red when ripe), 5 to 6cm. long.

Piquin: two varieties of chili are called piquin. The tiny round one is pickled while still green. The other, also very small (under 1cm. long) is used fresh.

Poblano: a large, dark green variety.

Serrano: a small (3 to 4cm.), bright green chili. Also used pickled.

Dried:

Ancho: the ripened, dried poblano chili. Wrinkled, and dark red-brown in color.

Cascabel: a small, round (2 to 3cm. across), dark red chili.

Chipotle: small, wrinkled and light brown, in it the ripened, dried and smoked jalapeño chili. Used dried, but preferred in adobo sauce.

Guajillo: a fairly long, pointed, brownish-red chili with a smooth skin.

Morita: small, conical and reddish brown.

Mulato: very similar in shape to the ancho, but darker in color, almost black.

Pasilla: the ripened, dried chilaca chili. Very dark red, almost black.

Piquin: the long variety is allowed to ripen, then dried. Ground, it becomes cayenne pepper.

Chorizo: sausage made of chopped or ground pork, seasoned with various spices, chili and paprika.

Epazote: a strong tasting herb, used sparingly. Sometimes known in English as wormseed or Mexican tea.

Flor de Jamaica: the dried flowers of a variety of hibiscus, sold as sorrel or roselle and available in Latin American and Caribbean markets. Used to make a rather sour drink that is very refreshing.

Guaje: these long (15 to 20cm.), flat pods contain seeds resembling large green lentils, with a strong taste of raw peas.

Hierba Santa: the large heart shaped leaf of a variety of pepper, tasting strongly of aniseed. Also known as hoja santa.

Higuera: the leaf of the fig tree, used as flavoring.

Jumiles: grayish insects used in some sauces.

Lemon: the small green lemons commonly used in Mexico are know elsewhere as sour limes.

Mejorana: an aromatic herb with a strong, spicy taste. Included in the traditional bouquet garni.

Mezquite: an American tree whose sap is used to tenderize corn kernels.

Mixiote: the outer membrane of agave (maguey) leaves.

Nopal: pads of the prickly pear cactus. Use preferably when they are small and tender, after scrupulouosly cleaning off all traces of thorns.

Oregano: sometimes known as wild marjoram. The Mexican variety is not the same as Greek or Italian oregano. Used dried as both ingredient and garnish.

Pingüica: a type of bearberry, yellowish brown and rather bitter. Used dried.

Pepitas: pumpkin or melon seeds, with or without the shell, which are ground for use.

Parsley: two types of parsley are found in Mexico: flat-leaved and curly. The former is the one generally used.

Piloncillo: unrefined sugar which comes in various shades of brown. Sold pressed into comes.

Pinole: ground, roasted corn.

Pulque: a pre-Hispanic drink, low in alcohol, produced by the natural fermentation of the sap of the maguey cactus.

Tamarind: the seed pod of a tree, containing a sour, brown pulp.

Tequesquite: lime (calcium oxide) used in cooking corn for the preparation of tortilla dough (nixtamal)

Tomatillo: indigenous to Mexico, this looks like a very small green tomato but is wrapped in a papery husk. Used both raw and cooked but never skinned.

Tejocote: a very popular fruit in Mexico resembling a very small apple. At first green and red, it ripens to a rich golden yellow. The floury flesh, containing several hard seeds, tastes a little like apple.

Thyme: one of the herbs included in the traditional bouquet garni.

Vanilla: a plant originating from Mexico. The pod or natural extract should be used.

Xoconostle: a small, sour, pink and green prickly pear.