Did you know that Mexican cuisine is a part of Unesco's Intangible Cultural Heritage list?

Also, Mexico has given the world 31 foods like potato, tomato, vanilla and chillies. Authentic Mexican food is toothsome, fun and fresh.

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It is spicy, colourful and uses an amazing spectrum of fresh and dried chillies. Many of these ingredients are readily available in India too.

To graphically convey the message and promote Mexican cuisine, the Embassy of Mexico in India, in collaboration with the India International Centre is hosting an intriguing exhibition "Seeds of Identity: 31 Foods that Mexico Gave the World."

Inaugurated by Deputy Chief of Mission in Mexican Embassy, Minister Eduardo Martinez Curiel and Air Marshal (retd) Naresh Verma, Director of India International Centre, the exhibition would go on till 23 May.

The exhibition aims to catalogue the Meso American culinary history through an overview of foods, taking the viewer on a short, entertaining journey showing the natural beauty of the foods out of which Mexican culture has emerged.

The exhibition showcases alluring photographs by two Mexican photographers, Ariadna Cuadriello and Juan Pablo Cardona.

The photographs were originally a part of the magazine Artes De Mexico, the journal in which the history, culture and origin of these foods was published. For the Indian visitor, the exhibition also brought out the fact that there are numerous similarities between Indian and Mexican foods.

All 31 foods exhibited can be found in India.

Tomatoes, chillies, corn, beans are all indigenous to Mexico ~ and form a part of our everyday diet. Very few in India know this. Rajma (kidney bean) which we proudly consider an important north Indian staple food, also came from Mexico. Beans are an essential part of the Mexican cuisine, loved by both rich and poor.

The exhibition also highlighted the health benefits the food items have. For example, cacao, that magic bean used for making chocolate, is beneficial for chest and stomach aches.

The diverse flavours of Mexico include avocado which can be used as a greenish butter, and peanuts, which are usually sweet and are known to excite the sexual appetite.

Then there is squash, which is used by us for its seeds, while others have it roasted or cooked. Chillies ~ green, red and yellow ~ are Mexican by birth too. Indians love potatoes and tomatoes. We use both in every curry but Mexicans have a claim to fame on these too.

Most Indians who visited the exhibition were intrigued to note the glaring similarities between Indian and Mexican foods. Stunned visitors would go back home and spread the Mexican invention to their friends and family, of so many of our own ingredients actually originating in Mexico.