How do you say "Dos Equis" in Spanish?

Although I can’t speak for all Mexicans, my research points to the fact that the use of a lime wedge in beer is primarily a custom of the tourist trade. Among my family here in the Guadalajara area (some 40 members) and those friends and acquaintances whom I’ve asked, no one has ever seen a lime wedge served with beer. By the way, as I mentioned in another post the citrus fruit that we use in many foods and beverages, called limón (lemon) in Mexico, is known as key lime in the US.

There exists a story, the truth of which can’t be absolutely proven, that purports to explain the history of the lime wedge sometimes served with Mexican beer. According to the story, when Corona Extra (another beer bottled by Grupo Modelo) first appeared on the market it was served exclusively at Hussong’s Cantina, a bar located in Tijuana. Since Hussong’s is close to the border and the drinking age in Mexico is 18, it became very popular with underage drinkers from the US. Supposedly, many of these “beginning drinkers” preferred a watery beer and Hussong’s began to serve each bottle of Corona Extra (the only beer served there) with a lime wedge in the neck, to cut the beer flavor. This soon became a custom in California, and eventually spread to the rest of the US and to other English-speaking countries such as Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom.

Mi estimada Marie-Ora,

Our discussion of Dos Equis beer seems to have developed a life of its own and spread into other areas. I’ll leave it to you to decide where on your website these new comments belong.

The idea of what constitutes a “typical” selection of foods for any given country can be a complicated one, filled with pitfalls for the unwary. I’m reminded of the (apparently) simple use of rice in Chinese food. In western countries it’s widely believed that fried rice is a typical Chinese dish; certainly it’s served in virtually every Chinese restaurant outside of China. However, I was once invited to a formal dinner by a group of Chinese nationals where I learned otherwise. When they asked me whether I preferred fried rice or steamed white rice and I chose the latter, they exclaimed “You eat like a real Chinese!” The television coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics included a review of foods popular among the Chinese people that included such things as fried rats and insects-on-a-stick!

Mexican cuisine is characterized by a vast selection of different dishes, many more than those few that are known and served in other countries as “typical” Mexican food. It has many distinctive flavors and numerous condiments, derived from a mixture of African, Spanish, Asian and indigenous foods. One of the principal characteristics of Mexican food is its diversity, with distinct presentations in each of the 32 Mexican states, all with their own recipes and culinary traditions. So, if you decide to visit Mexico, depending on the location you may sample dishes with flavors and appearances so distinct that you’ll feel you’re eating in another part of the world. There are dishes that have come to be known as national foods of Mexico that actually originated in one particular city or state. For example, mole poblano, pozole, birria, churipi, mole oaxaqueño and cabrito al pastor.

The ingredientes most used in Mexican foods of all regions, in spite of the regional differences in the dishes themselves, are chiles, corn and beans. Those ingredients make the dishes economical, nourishing and spicy to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the region. Tomatoes in all their varieties and tomatillos (a green fruit that is not actually a tomato) are also much used.

The dishes best known as Mexican food outside of Mexico are probably tamales, atole, quesadillas, tortillas, enchiladas, tacos, chilaquiles and huevos rancheros, several of which appear on your website. However, for those who might be interested Wikipedia has published a list of Mexican foods, drinks and deserts at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mexican_cuisine_dishes. That list contains more than 200 items, most of which are little known outside of Mexico.