A Mining Tradition

Learn about a mining tradition in Mexico

Also Appears In: Discovering Your Roots (Mexican Spanish) Culture File: Mexico

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Lesson Transcript

Hello, and welcome to the Culture File: Mexico series at SpanishPod101.com. In this series, we’re exploring essential cultural information about Mexico, Mexican Culture, and Mexican People. In this lesson, we will start another chapter of this series, where we talk about Mexican folklore and traditions. I’m Michael, and you're listening to Season 1, Lesson 9 - A Mining Tradition.

Real del Monte, or "Mineral del Monte", is a picturesque town that was first utilized by the Spanish and later on by the English, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It was an important producer of silver, in Spanish "plata", and gold, in Spanish "oro", until the beginning of the twentieth century. It was here, in Real del Monte, that the first mining strike, or "huelga minera", of the continent, and the first soccer match, or "partido de fútbol", of the country took place.

Nowadays some of the mines, or "minas", continue their operations with limited production, with the majority of most locals’ income coming from foreign visitors. This little town is located in east-central Mexico, in the State of Hidalgo, and is known for its historical buildings and Spanish Colonial architecture.

Another representative feature of this place is the pastes, are a mixture of English baking and Mexican cuisine, a splendid mixture that leaves even those with the most demanding tastes satisfied. In other parts of Mexico, this dish is known as empanadas, and is made of puff pastry filled with different kinds of meat, chillies, potatoes, beans, green or red mole sauce, and there is a range of sweet versions, filled with pineapple, apple, or berry jam.

This remarkable treat emerged from the need of miners, and the practicality of their wives, to take a nutritious and easily transportable lunch to work. This has been enriched over the centuries with regionally flavored dishes, giving rise to a delicious contribution to Mexican cuisine.