In 2010 Mexican gastronomy was declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Mexican gastronomy was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity because traditional Mexican cuisine is a cultural model that has agrarian activities, rituals, ancient know-how, culinary techniques, customs and ancestral community modes of behavior.
This was possible thanks to the participation of the community in the entire traditional food chain, which goes from planting and harvesting crops to culinary preparation and tasting of delicacies. The basic elements of the system are: corn, beans, and chili. Mexico has unique cultivation methods, such as the milpa (rotation of corn and other plants) and the chinampa. It has culinary preparation processes such as nixtamalization, which is the removal of the corn husk with lime water to increase its nutritional value, and in their traditions they have special utensils such as metates and stone mortars.
To the basic products are added native ingredients such as tomatoes of diverse varieties, pumpkins, avocados, cocoa and vanilla; the Mexican culinary art is very elaborate and is full of symbols, such as tortillas and tamales consumed daily.
