When a neighborhood or entire area gentrifies, certain red lights tend to come on: rents become more expensive, long-standing businesses close and new ones open, local populations move out, more apartments are advertised on Airbnb… It’s just new in Mexico He discovered that there was another symptom that was perhaps not as obvious but was just as revealing. As some neighborhoods in the capital Mexico City (CDMX) progress through this process of urban development, the sauces in their taquerias seem less spicy. Significantly less. As long as they do not offend foreign palates who are less accustomed to intense flavors.

There are already people talking about the “gentrification of food.”

“Sauce doesn’t make enchilas”. The comment comes from Kemocion, a TikToker with 1.5 million followers who recently posted a video describing how the sauce at a taqueria chain in Mexico City has changed to suit the tastes of tourists less accustomed to spicy foods. “The sauce doesn’t make enchilas because there are a lot of Americans who come to live here. When they order their tacos and they’re too spicy, they give them back to the taqueros,” the young woman says, going further: “Why wouldn’t they? Don’t restaurants entertain you?” ? Part of Mexican culture?”

“Do you have anything itchy?”. Kemonio is not the only one to publicly complain about how traditional cuisine has changed, at least in certain parts of the capital. And all the reviews point in the same direction: spicy rooms are now less spicy. In this way for example influencer Lalo Villar, known for his program ‘La ruta de la garnacha’, in conversation with Diego Ruzzarin. “There’s a gentrification effect going on in Mexico City because the bars are no longer hot. I said to the taqueros: ‘This is for the gringos, right? Do you have anything hot?’ And they don’t tell me you’re here for the Mexicans anymore!”

Total number of complaints. It is not difficult to find comments along the same lines. In fact, Infoae reminds me of a stranger on Tik Tok who admitted that it softens the flavor of sauces. “They brought me three and none of them itch,” she complains. The topic was also addressed by Roberto Mtz, who has 2.66 million subscribers on YouTube; or NMasmedia published a report in December with a reporter in CDMX visiting taco restaurants in the neighborhoods with the largest foreign populations to spot-check whether the taco sauce was actually less spicy.

After the test, their correspondent concludes: “From what the taqueros and the rooms we managed to try tell us, it is becoming increasingly common to find bite-free rooms in these central and popular neighborhoods from a tourist point of view.” Comments in the Tik Tok report include statements from people who regret that the rooms already taste almost like “water” or claim that it is foreigners, not foreigners, who adapt to Mexican tastes. The debate there reached such a level that Milenio or the Tribuna took up the matter.

The noblest neighborhoods. The focus is on specific landmarks of the Mexican capital, more specifically neighborhoods such as Roma Norte, Condesa and Hipódromo Condesa, which are often on the list of the most gentrified areas and include some of the neighborhoods with the highest growth. of rent. To stop the effects of this phenomenon and the displacement of the indigenous population in the capital, authorities have proposed a reform of the Tourism Law aimed at regulating traveler accommodation platforms such as Airbnb.

Recently the Expansión newspaper published an article citing data from the Propiedades.com portal; here he identified Condesa, Hipódromo Condesa, Hipódromo, Escandón I, Escandón II, Doctores and Roma Norte as the points where digital nomads are most concentrated. . Secondly, Roma Norte is actually known as an area with a strong American population and an influx of tourists resorting to Airbnb.

“The gentrification of food”. There are already those who talk about “food gentrification”, which, as Ethic recalls, basically involves a change in the consumption habits of a certain population and the transformation of the “food environment”. This phenomenon is not exclusive to CDMX or Mexico as a whole. This has also happened in some of the most touristic places in Spain, such as Barceloneta, where traditional cuisine has taken over.

Changes may also involve a “gourmetisation” and involve both the disappearance of traditional institutions and a change in traditions and the gastronomic offer itself; This is what restaurants now condemn with great regret. influencers Mexicans in taquerias in at least certain neighborhoods of CDMX.

Image | Wikipedia (Padaguan) and Md Jibon Talukder (Unsplash)

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