On Dinner

So I made Kebabs the other day, Middle Eastern style with hummus and pita bread. As I'm putting the food out on the table, my MIL somehow mysteriously added a dish of frijoles, salsa and corn tortillas to the mix. I say mysteriously because I really don't remember seeing her cooking and more importantly since when did salsa go with hummus? The first time she did this I have to say I was a offended. I had made Indian, Chicken Tikka Masala with Naan and lentils and suddenly there was a dish of frijoles, corn tortillas and salsa on the table. My MIL proceeded to top her chicken masala with salsa and scoop it up with a tortilla. I had to ask myself, what did I do wrong? I know i'm not the best cook in the world (ok that's not even close) I know I'm not a good cook, (that's better) but still did it taste that bad? I stewed about it for a few weeks until my husband made sushi and chicken fried rice one night for dinner. Suddenly as we are sitting down to eat out comes the corn tortillas, frijoles and salsa. Ahhhhh... I started to see a pattern. Dinner, no matter what you are having, is not complete without frijoles, tortillas and salsa.
I'm not sure if this is really true for all of Mexico or all Mexicans but food in Mexico seems to be fairly homogeneous. Aside from the occasional hamburger, pizza and of course Chinese (those Chinese have really found a place in world in terms of food. Even in the smallest of towns there is always a Chinese restaurant) Mexicans generally seem to eat a fairly homogeneous diet of Mexican food. I went to college in LA and am used to a variety of different foods. But I suppose just like language food isn't stagnant either. There is a Mexican Sushi restaurant in Tucson. The wife is Mexican and the husband Japanese. You can order tacos followed by chicken tempura and green tea fried ice cream. Or another fusion favorite of mine was in Azusa. There was a Thai Taco stand. You could order a Pad Thai or a Burrito from the same small take out restaurant.
So maybe my MIL is onto something, creating new flavors and cuisines. Or more likely dinner just isn't dinner without frijoles, salsa and tortillas!