By Anna Halász and Priscila Navarrete
Moving to another country is never easy, this decision makes you get away from your family, friends and other support systems. You’ll miss everyone and everything, and if you’re Mexican, you’ll surely miss your food.
Like many other cultures, Mexican culture revolves a lot around food. Feeling nostalgic about it is no joke, like Danes have the term hygge, Mexicans have síndrome del Jamaicón.
Jamaicón’s syndrome was named after the football player José Jamaicón Villegas, who had a terrible performance during the preparation games leading to Sweden’s 1962 World Cup. According to historian Carlos Calderón, the player was found depressed and wandering away from his teammates, when asked what was wrong, he explained he missed his mom and couldn’t go one more day without tasting Mexican food. “Life is no life if I’m not in my country”, he said. Since then, the longing for the homeland and the food has had a name for Mexicans living abroad.
This happened to Lilith Jaime, a 21-year-old Mexican student, who moved to Aarhus last august as part of an exchange program. One of her first cultural shocks she had was going to a supermarket: “I noticed when grocery shopping that they were lacking some of the veggies we use to cook, so it has been difficult to come up with new recipes”. However, she knew it could be hard to source ingredients and brought some supplies from home.
Despite taking these precautions, she still found herself longing for her favourite dish: chilaquiles.
A typical breakfast of fried corn tortillas simmered in green or red sauce, topped with chicken, eggs, sour cream and cheese. Looking around, she was able to find some ingredients to make it, although, at a way higher price than she would pay in Mexico.
For when she doesn’t feel like cooking, she has found around Aarhus some Mexican restaurants, but only one has felt true to the familiar flavours she seeks.
Lilith feels the majority of the offer here is not really for the Mexican palate, but for the Danish and international one. The Argentinian vendors of MadMex in Aarhus Street food agreed with her.
According to the Mexican embassy, there is more than 3000 Mexicans living in Denmark, with the majority located in Copenhagen, where the offer of more authentic flavours and products is broader.
Living abroad also means exploring new flavours and experiences. Lilith has yet to try traditional Danish food but she’s scared it wouldn’t be for her taste due to the lack of spices and chilli that her mouth is used to.
Have you lived abroad? Which food from your home country did you miss the most and how did you cope with it?