Back in the 1800s, Mexico was in a huge economic crisis and in debt to Spain, England and France. When Mexico decided to stop paying the debt, the situation was solved diplomatically with England and Spain,” recollects chef Victor Manuel Murguia Mancilla of the Mumbai-based restaurant Bastian, who grew up in northern Mexico. However, Mexico’s diplomacy couldn’t win over France, at the time ruled by Napoleon III, who decided to invade the country. On May 5, 1862, a much smaller Mexican battalion defeated the French army at the Battle of Puebla - a day, which has since come to be celebrated as Cinco de Mayo. Although the French were not entirely driven out for another four to five years, Cinco de Mayo, literally translating to the fifth day of May, became an important symbol of Mexican resistance.