In the past 10 years, a dozen or so writers researched prehispanic foods, shopped modern supermarkets and tianguis (street markets), sought old (and new) family recipes, toured centers of Mexican cuisine, reviewed restaurants, translated the names of traditional dishes and then typed hundreds of thousands of words so you could experience the sights, smells, and tastes in the 124 "Mexican Kitchen" monthly columns published in this magazine.

We've created and tested recipes and learned about moles, carnitas, empanadas, carne asada, burritos, tamales, tacos, tequila, sangrita, salsa, chiles, nopales, and tortillas. We've assembled traditional dishes for holidays — the icon-containing rosca for Three Kings Day, capiritada for Lent, tres leches cake for Mother's Day, arrechera for Father's Day, chiles en nogada for Independence Day, pan del muertos for Day of the Dead, turkey with all the trimmings for Thanksgiving (both American and Canadian) and tamales, bueñelos, and ponche for Christmas.