The aim of the Southwest Food Culture and Mexican Immigration website is to provide evidence that the food culture of the United States Southwest was shaped by the waves of Mexican Immigration. The website will also be culturally beneficial in that it will provide real recipes passed down through a Mexican family.		The topic of this website was chosen because the members of the group are interested in Tex-Mex and Mexican food and wanted to make a website that was interesting to a broad audience. We feel that even someone without a specific interest in United States Southwest Food Culture would still visit the website to learn about ingredients and look at the recipes.
A brief overview by Wilbert Jones: (14)		---------continued---------
Narrowing down the definition of Tex-Mex cuisine can be confusing, as it is a mixture of several cultures. Tex-Mex cooking has its origins in Mexico , and features the early influences of the Mayans and Aztecs. These native cultures used tomatoes, avocados, papayas, vanilla, cocoa, several types of beans and a variety of chile peppers that were indigenous to the area. After being conquered by the Spaniards, the Europeans added their own elements, including cattle, sheep, chickens, wheat, rice, nuts, wines, oils, cloves and cinnamon. As time progressed, the missionary nuns of Mexico developed new foods combining products of both the Indian and Spanish cultures, such as mole poblano, which is made of a spiced chocolate sauce laden with fruits, nuts and chilies, served over meat such as chicken.		Mexican-style cooking spread along the Southwest border of the U.S. , and American Indians and frontier cooks adapted ingredients, cooking techniques and flavors to their tastes. New food ingredients such as corn, squash, melons and pumpkins, were eventually added to their diets. Today, dishes such as tacos, burritos, enchiladas, chili (authentic chili has no beans) and salsa make up an important part of Tex-Mex cuisine. Other popular items are beef fajitas made of skirt steak; flautas, corn tortillas that are filled with shredded chicken or meat and then deep fried; and carnitas, pork chunks in red ancho chile sauce. The cuisine also features tortillas, rice, beans, corn, potatoes, cheese, cilantro, squash and onions.