"Walking into Mirra cold, it might be hard to guess what kind of food will show up on your plate. Earthy colors and organic materials might suggest South Asia or perhaps Mexico, but only if you can decode the quiet hints: the painting on Oaxacan amate by the entrance, nodding to Diego Rivera's famous "Mujer con Alcatraces." The soundtrack is a Bollywood melody that fades into a song by Peso Pluma."
"Fusion food gets a bad rap, thanks to poor executions of forced combinations. But long before chefs began deliberately experimenting with Mexican fusion, Mexico's complex culinary identity had already been shaped by centuries of migration, trade, and upheaval. With colonization came the Spanish culinary traditions that had themselves been transformed under Moorish rule and influenced by trade routes that went as far as Asia."
Mirra combines visual and sonic cues from South Asia and Mexico while serving dishes that meld techniques and flavors from both regions. Menu examples include aguachile paired with Indian yogurt-based chaas and biryani presented in a sealed clay pot evoking barbacoa. The melding of techniques and flavors is described as natural rather than performative. Mexican cuisine resulted from centuries of migration, colonization, Moorish influence, and long-distance trade, producing dishes like mole, carnitas, pambazos, pan dulce, and chamoy. Restaurants in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and Milwaukee increasingly explore grounded, chef-driven culinary intersections.
Read at Eater Chicago
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