Long Live The Alam0!

Latin Trade, August, 1999 by Laura Martinez Ruiz-Velasco

Mexican culture invades daily U.S. life.

BETWEEN GUTIERREZ AND DE LA GUERRA STREETS, A DOZEN SHOPS SELL everything from sarapes, and spinning tops to tamarind ice cream and Canals chewing gum. In the background you can hear the music of the Regios del Norte.

A huge sign says: "Order Your Fiesta Dress Now!" Meanwhile on the street, for every American flag waving on the street there's a Mexican flag. No, we are not on the border, but in the California tourist city of Santa Barbara, about 70 miles north of Los Angeles, where people are preparing to celebrate the great fiesta of the Cinco de Mayo.

Cinco de Mayo? "Yes! It's Independence Day in Mexico, it means the Fifth of May ... you know? Like the Fourth of July is for us," says a friendly American teenager working for Borders Bookstore.

Mexican independence? Not quite. It is simply the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla, which took place in 1862 between Napoleon III's French troops and a peasant Mexican army. Historic details aside, what matters is that Cinco de Mayo is becoming a symbol of Mexican culture north of the Rio Grande, and not just in California but in other states as well. The U.S. Post Office has even issued a commemorative stamp.

Ethnic explosion. "I think Cinco de Mayo is becoming more and more popular in the U.S. It's sort of like the St. Patrick's Day of the next millennium," says Pete Hamill, a Brooklyn-born author who divides his time between Mexico and New York.

Mexican culture, once considered part of a tiny ethnic market, is becoming part of the U.S. mainstream. Everything that smells of Mexico--from food, beer, music or national holidays--is selling like hotcakes. "Mexico is recovering its lost territory gastronomically," says Carlos Monsivais, a well-known Mexican author.

To get a sense of how the U.S. consumer is assimilating, one need only look at the changes in eating habits: at what is selling on supermarket shelves and at the latest hot restaurants in large cities. Mexican food is packing them in.

"Food is the way Americans start to experience other cultures," says Hamill. "It started with Italian; then Americans discovered some Jewish and German foods, and now it's Mexican... and that's because everyday hay mas y mas mexicanos! (there are more and more Mexicans!)"

True enough. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 59% of the 30 million Hispanics living in the U.S. are of Mexican origin. By the year 2010, there will be an estimated 41.5 million Hispanics in the U.S., 25.6 million of them Mexican, (See chart on page 54.)

"The Mexican presence is growing not just in California, Texas and New York. but also in places like Minnesota and Michigan, where no one ever imagined there could be a significant Mexican population:' says Andrew Erlich, head of market research firm Erlich Transcultural Consultant. He concludes: "We're talking about something deeper, from lifestyle to food to dance and music."

More and more, those checking out Mexican food are not necessarily Hispanic. The typical U.S. consumer discovered long ago that Mexican food is more than the familiar Tex-Mex.

The American stomach is quickly becoming used to the exotic flavors brought by immigrants who come to stay. It is no coincidence, say many, that at least when it comes to fast food, tacos have begun to take the place of hamburgers among the younger set, not to mention spicy salsa, which is leaving the traditional ketchup in the dust.

"Americans are getting to know Mexican food. Not only are they familiar with mole poblano, they can tell the difference between a good mole poblano and a not-so-good one," says Gregorio Camarillo proudly. Camarillo is an employee at The Gardens of Taxco, a Mexican restaurant in the heart of Hollywood frequented by the likes of Janet Jackson, Charles Bronson, Dolly Parton and Quentin Tarantino.

Dave DeWitt, editor of Fiery Foods Magazine, an Albuquerque, N.M. publication dedicated to spicy food, says Americans have realized that hot peppers are no longer exotic, and they're learning to like them. The reason, DeWitt says, is simple: Shifting immigration patterns.

"A hundred years ago, we were Europeans. Now we are becoming more Latin, though spicy food is certainly not exclusive to Mexicans. Indian and Thai dishes are hot, too. But it was definitely Mexicans who led the way," says DeWitt, adding: "Spicy food is now part of life in the U.S., and not only in states like California, Texas or New Mexico ... it's all over the place."

Salt and lime. Americans have learned to eat Mexican food, but the preference toward low or no-fat foods has made it necessary to play around with some traditional recipes. You can find fat-free pozole, light enchilada sauce, soy chorizo sausage or non-fat tortillas in U.S. supermarkets, creating a neither-here-nor-there cuisine.

The changes are not limited to food. Although it is no longer news that Corona is the number one imported beer in the United States, American beer drinkers now brag of their sophisticated ways.

That's because' they have a lot to choose from. According to New York market research firm Beverage Marketing Corporation, of the 30 top imported beers in the United States, seven are from Mexico. Corona is number one, followed by Tecate, Dos Equis, Modelo Especial, Corona Light, Pacifico and Negra Modelo. And while Canadian beers are experiencing a marked decrease in volume of U.S. sales, Mexican beers are growing at an annual 40% rate. By comparison, Heineken, once the number one import, is growing at a 5.3% yearly clip.