Achiote: Yucatan-style paste made from ground annatto seeds, spices and lime juice or vinegar
Adobo: a smoky, chile-based sauce with tomatoes, onions, garlic and spices
Ancho: dried poblano chile
Asada: broiled
Barbacoa: meat cooked in an underground pit, usually wrapped in banana or agave leaves
Carne: meat
Carnitas: pork simmered in fruit juices and used in tacos and burritos
Ceviche: raw fish marinated in Mexican lime juice and mixed with tomatoes, onions, chiles and spices
Chayote: a type of squash
Chipotle: dried, smoked jalapeno chile
Chorizo: fresh, highly-seasoned sausage flavored with chiles and spices
Cotija: an aged, crumbly white cheese
Empanadas: pastry turnover filled with spicy meat or fruit and sweets
Epazote: a wild herb that grows in North America used to flavor Mexican soups and stews
Guajillo: medium-hot dried chile
Huevo: egg
Jalapeno: medium-hot chile pepper
Leche: milk
Masa: dough of ground corn meal, lime and water used to make corn tortillas.
Mole: complex dark sauce with chiles, nuts, spices, fruits, vegetables, chocolate and seasonings
Pasilla: long, thin dark chile
Poblano: dark green, rounded fresh chile used for chile rellenos
Pozole: robust, medium-spicy soup with pork or chicken, hominy, onions and spices
Serrano: small, green, very hot chile
Sopa: soup
Tomatillo: resembles a small green tomato. Relative of the gooseberry family. Used in many sauces