Corn as a staple
Corn is the most eaten staple among Mexican consumers. It is the base ingredient of tortillas, a type of slim flatbread and, one of the most representative and widely consumed food products in the country, used for the preparation of tacos, quesadillas, and other dishes. In 2021, tortilla sales in Mexico reached a value comparable to that of dairy at more than 61 billion Mexican pesos.Along with tortillas, meat is the main ingredient in most tacos. One of the most popular tacos, tacos al pastor, uses pork marinated in a special chili sauce. This kind of taco is particularly known for being cooked on a vertical rotisserie, similar to its distant cousins, shawarma and kebab. Poultry, beef, and occasionally even seafood are other common fillings in tacos. Following a high demand for meat, animal slaughtering and processing generates over two and a half times more sales value than the tortilla or the dairy industries.
