vegetables, pulses, beans, and corn. Creole cuisine in Hispanic America Hispanic American creole cuisine fuses Spanish and indigenous elements from Spanish-speaking areas. It is prepared with key local ingredients such as potato, tomato, or corn, planted and harvested in their place of origin. Creole influence is clear in the case of Cuban, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Central American, Colombian, Ecuadorian, Venezuelan, Peruvian, Mexican, and Bolivian creole cuisine. Cuba Cuban creole cuisine is typically centered around beans, pork, and rice as the main ingredients. In the 1850s, the emergence of Cuban cookbooks on the island began to highlight a distinct "Cuban" or "creole" cuisine. In addition to making use of foreign ingredients, Cuban creole cuisine also made regular use of produce endemic to the island of Cuba, especially , which are a category of carbohydrate-rich produce that include sweet potatoes, cassava, and green plantains. Interestingly, besides their seeming ubiquity in Cuban creole cuisine, viandas are also known for their medicinal qualities, commonly being used to ease upset stomachs. Mexico In Mexico, the term creole differs slightly, since it refers to agricultural products native to Mexico that are considered to be vegetable relics, meaning, fruits or vegetables that are cultivated on a local scale (typical to a particular region), following the ancient techniques that pre-Columbian societies used, without variations in the cultivar (their size, color, and flavor are all the same). Examples of this include creole corn, cacao, and chili, which are the "purest" of their cultivar types. Creole can also refer to an imported fruit or vegetable that, after adapting to the local climate, has taken on a new form entirely. One example of this is the creole peach, which is smaller in size and is sweeter, yellower, and harder than the original peach. Or, in rarer cases, the term can refer to hybrid varieties. Peru A creole cuisine has also developed along the coast of Peru, with Spanish, African, Italian, and Chinese influences. One of the signature dishes of Peruvian creole cuisine is ceviche, which is prepared with fresh fish that has been cured in lemon juice. Other dishes are ají de gallina, carapulca, and . See also List of cuisines Creolization Criollo cheese Salsa criolla Pabellón criollo Mexican Creole hairless pig References Creole peoples Cuisine of the Americas Syncretism