Mexican Name Finder
Main dishNahuatlcentral Mexico

Mixiote

"maguey membrane"

Say it

mee·SHYOH·teh

Where it comes from

mexiotl (the outer skin of the maguey leaf)

What Mixiote means

Mixiote is a Mexican main dish name of Nahuatl origin meaning "maguey membrane". It comes from mexiotl (the outer skin of the maguey leaf). It is pronounced mee-SHYOH-teh, and it is most associated with central Mexico.

The word names the wrapper, not the filling: the thin cuticle peeled from a maguey leaf. Peeling it damages the plant, so paper and plastic wrappers are now common.

Mixiote is one of the many Mexican food words formed in Nahuatl. Spanish borrowed it, and in several cases English borrowed it again from Spanish. See how Nahuatl builds words and the full list of Mexican food names.

This is a site about what Mexican words mean, so there is no recipe here. For the name itself: The plated dishes, most named for a cooking method or a place. Cochinita pibil is pork cooked in a píib, the Maya earth oven. Barbacoa gave English the word barbecue. Chiles en nogada is named for the walnut sauce that covers it.

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Mixiote means maguey membrane

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