During the first phase of the FIFA World Cup 2022, I chose dishes from the countries of each of Mexico’s opponents, with similar ingredients as a traditional Mexican dish. Then, I prepared one batch of each, and they were tested by my family, next to each other. From the results of the culinary match, I made predictions for the outcome of the corresponding soccer game. First, Mexico’s “Horseman Style Beans” won over Poland’s “Beans a la Brittany” by a good margin, so I predicted the score Mexico 4 – Poland 3; the actual final score was 0 – 0. For the second match, Mexico’s “Raw Salsa Verde” and Argentina’s “Chimichurri Parsley Sauce” got equal points, and so I predicted a draw, Mexico 1 – Argentina 1; the actual final score was 0 – 2. The third game, Mexico vs Saudi Arabia, with a culinary match between “Drowned Eggs” and the popular Middle Eastern Shakshuka, resulted in my one, and only, accurate prediction of Mexico 2 – Saudi Arabia 1. Unfortunately, this victory was not enough to carry Mexico into the next round, and so the team’s journey through the 2022 FIFA games has come to an end.
Four years ago, for the 2018 edition of the World Cup, I shared a post about the origins of Association Football (soccer) in Mexico. It is a very interesting story, which involves economic development as a young nation, mining, and … delicious patties! Click here to visit that post: Of Mining, Soccer and Patties (July 13, 2028).
My Slice of Mexico 
That was a very interesting way to enjoy FIFA! Next world cup may your predictions come true for Mexico!
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Thank you, Punam!!
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My pleasure.
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I enjoyed the story of pasties – I would probably go for the Mexican version for the spice and I thought the crust looked fluffier, too. I’ve read the tales of Knockers, since I read a lot about miners. I also wrote about an English firm in Nayarit that smuggled a lot of silver out of the country in the 1800s, Baron and Forbes.
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I didn’t know about Baron & Forbes, that’s terrible! Both patties were grest, but yeah, I enjoyed the spicy touch in pastes.
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My introduction to cornish pasties was a little hole in the wall restaurant near Arizona State University. It was really good. Both of the kinds you made look really tasty too. I love your annual soccer food matchups.
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Another fun fact for you. Tradition has it that the devil will not cross the river Tamar, which forms the border between Cornwall and the rest of England, because Cornish wives would put anything into a pasty and so he feared ending up in one. 🙂
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😂 those pasties are amazing!
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Good job on ensuring that the filling ingredients in the Cornish pasty are the only ones allowed in the traditional Cornish pasty AND that it is called football (or translations of) and not soccer. We used the term for about five minutes in the UK to distinguish between football and Rugby Football League (now called RFL) and we will never hear the end of it from the USA. Football is football, RFL is rugby and American Football is beginner Rugby for those who are worried about getting their ears torn off, concussion, broken bits and need frequent rest stops 😛
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There’s always interesting stories to tell wirh sports and food! I didn’t know rugby is also football, wow!
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