Materials: Photos selected from slide show

Background Notes for Teachers:
Many important foods originally came from Mexico. These foods were brought back by Spanish explorers to Europe. The tomato revolutionized Italian cooking. Europeans added sugar and milk to chocolate to make the product we eat today. Corn is the staple food, essential for making tortillas. And chiles, which originated in South America, spread so rapidly around the world that many people thought they originated in India. Other foods like prickly pear cactus, grasshoppers, and maguey worms remain as regional specialties.

Strategies:
1. Photo 1. Ask students whether they like tomatoes and/or jalapeños. Ask how often they eat each one. Ask them to think about the grocery store. Are there more tomatoes or more jalapeños? Show students the photo labeled jalapeños y tomates. What can they conclude about the popularity of jalapeños in Mexican grocery stores? (Answer: That's a lot more jalapeños than are found in a typical U.S. store, so they must be very popular.)
2. Photo 2. Ask students what they eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Show the photo of chilaquiles. Ask students which meal they think chilaquiles are. (Answer: Chilaquiles are a typical breakfast dish made from leftover tortillas.) What do chilaquiles and French toast have in common? (Answer: French toast is made from leftover bread.)
3. Photo 3. Show students the painting of the Last Supper. Ask them to identify the scene and the people in it. (Answer: Jesus and his disciples) Ask students to name the foods on the table. Students should notice that these foods were not available in the Middle East in 33 A.D. Ask students where they think the painting was made. (Answer: Mexico). Ask why the painter would include the food. (Answers will vary.)
4. Choose several pictures from the supermarket and from the market. Ask level 1 students to tell where each picture was taken. Ask why people would choose to shop in each place. (Answer: The supermarket is convenient because everything is in one place. The market is cheaper, sometimes has fresher food, and provides a social and community network.)

Assessment: will vary

Follow-up activities:
1. Ask students to research the origins of the ingredients in their favorite meals.
2. Encourage students to prepare a new recipe at home.
3. Have a chile tasting in class. (Caution: Cut very small pieces of very hot peppers like habaneros!)
4. Have students create their own anachronistic art work.
5. Visit a Hispanic grocery store in your area.
6. Interview the produce manager of your local grocery store to ask how immigration in your area has affected what is available in his or her store.