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You spent several of your 6 CD posts badmouthing first Houston and now Albuquerque. You still have dozens of cities to go and I'm glad we got this out of the way early in your posting career. One less disgruntled Texan visiting is a good thing. Since Sugarland is too big and crowded, you might be happier with Waco or some similar small Texas city not part of a suburb.
As long as we're on the subject, how would you al characterize the difference between New Mexican food, and typical Mex? All I can think of is that the NM variation has more of a Native American influence, Pueblo influence, like -- posole, liberal use of chiles, that sort of thing. Still, enchiladas, tacos and huevos rancheros are common, so it's hard to separate NM from M food. I'm open to y'all's wisdom.
As long as we're on the subject, how would you al characterize the difference between New Mexican food, and typical Mex?
What is "typical Mex?" Does it mean the "regional" dishes of Mexico? Or is it Tex/Mex?
From my personal point of view, as one who grew up in El Paso eating Tex/Mex as typically found in El Paso in days of yore, I have always found New Mexican plates blander. And I am not referring specifically to "chile hotness" but rather to the overall bland taste of NMex vs Tex/Mex flavoring. At one time El Paso Tex/Mex was defined by the local family-owned chain of restaurants under the name: Leo's.
As long as we're on the subject, how would you al characterize the difference between New Mexican food, and typical Mex? All I can think of is that the NM variation has more of a Native American influence, Pueblo influence, like -- posole, liberal use of chiles, that sort of thing. Still, enchiladas, tacos and huevos rancheros are common, so it's hard to separate NM from M food. I'm open to y'all's wisdom.
New Mexican food is part of a larger Mesoamerican - and then Spanish and Mexican - food tradition that is thousands of years old and extends from the US Southwest to at least Central America. While Mexican food and NM food share most of their ingredients and even most of their dishes (I hear that a version of carne adovada is popular in Zacatecas, for example), NM versions of these dishes are distinctive to NM, though, and typically have simpler ingredients befitting New Mexico's former status as an isolated, relatively impoverished frontier outpost. Red and green chile sauce, for instance, are both a lot less involved than the moles and other complex recipes you see in central or southern Mexico. If I was going to generalize, I would say that New Mexican dishes tend to emphasize the inherent flavors of our primary ingredients - chile, garlic, onions, cornmeal, etc. -rather than looking to create new complex flavors from a wide mix of ingredients
I agree 100% that NM food tends to emphasize cooking techniques that owe a lot to the traditional cooking methods of the Pueblos: stewed meats, grain-heavy soups or stews like posole, cornmeal-based dishes like tamales, etc. All of these things occur elsewhere in Mexico and Mesoamerica, but the particular combination of dishes we enjoy here in NM owes a lot to local Native American influences and tastes.
Remember, they don't eat chips and salsa and flour tortillas as do Texans (good tortillas at Mary & Tito's . Mexican food in ABQ is mediorce at best-- Santa Fe has some great Mexican food, the bar is set higher there. But there are a few unique, decent Duke City spots like Taco Sal on Menaul at Eubank, been eating enchiladas there since 1962 as a child, standard fare is pretty good, exellent sopapillas; Padilla's on Girard is a local favorite for lunch, pretty good; Mary & Tito's on 4th NW has pretty good chile rellenos and carne adovada.
Sadly, ABQ is notorious for a "languishing population"... But the farther north you go in the City from Central Avenue the fewer problems with crime and homelessness you'll have...
Last edited by Danbo1957; 10-31-2016 at 12:34 PM..
Remember, they don't eat chips and salsa and flour tortillas as do Texans (good tortillas at Mary & Tito's . Mexican food in ABQ is mediorce at best-- Santa Fe has some great Mexican food, the bar is set higher there. But there are a few unique, decent Duke City spots like Taco Sal on Menaul at Eubank, been eating enchiladas there since 1962 as a child, standard fare is pretty good, exellent sopapillas; Padilla's on Girard is a local favorite for lunch, pretty good; Mary & Tito's on 4th NW has pretty good chile rellenos and carne adovada.
Sadly, ABQ is notorious for a "languishing population"... But the farther north you go in the City from Central Avenue the fewer problems with crime and homelessness you'll have...
"They" - by which I guess you include myself and at least half the other people posting on this thread - definitely eat chips and salsa and flour tortillas. How odd that you would have missed that on the many, many NM restaurant menus where both appear.
Mary & Tito's is great, but Taco Sal and Padilla's both exactly fit my definition of "mediocre." (So does Monroe's, for what it's worth). To each their own, I guess - I prefer El Patio or Cocina Azul or Sadie's or El Camino or Barelas Coffee House or Duran Central Pharmacy or Cecilia's or many others...
... definitely eat chips and salsa and flour tortillas. How odd that you would have missed that on the many, many NM restaurant menus where both appear.
Not like in Texas, factory made salsa and store bought tortillas are found mostly in ABQ restaurants, just not good enough. El Patio and Sadie's are why ABQ gets its reputation for mediocre mexican food. Taco Sal is decent, but they do have the best sopapillas.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cactus Hibs
... Taco Sal and Padilla's both exactly fit my definition of "mediocre." (So does Monroe's, for what it's worth).
El Patio and Sadie's, though popular with tourists, are why ABQ gets its reputation for mediocre Mexican food. And I said that Padilla's and Taco Sal are decent, but both places have the best sopapillas generally.
The other issue for Texans is that there is a greater menu of Mexican food styles in the Lone Star state. South Texas fare is different than what one will find in Dallas, say. Also, in Texas there are Mexican restaurants that have menus that are directed to those immigrants from Mexico (not Tex-Mex at all.) Now my favorite New Mexico American-Mexican food is what you find in Southern cities, like San Panco in Roswell and La Posta in Mesilla.
Now my favorite New Mexico American-Mexican food is what you find in Southern cities, like San Panco in Roswell and La Posta in Mesilla.
Never heard of "San Panco" or anything like it in Roswell, NM. There does happen to be a Taqueria San Pancho in Roswell, GA, though I've never been to it (I think I actually have been to every Mexican restaurant in Roswell, NM, which is actually an accomplishment).
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