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A couple more notable Mex dishes... Pollo Mole, Carnitas and their variants. No cheese or red/green sauce required. There are plenty of others too (previous poster listed some) ...go to a better restaurant (not necessarily more expensive) if you don't like basic Tex-Mex fare. Liking lively and spicy helps...
Many Mex dishes are served with tortillas (corn or flour usually offered..take the corn) ...similar to other cuisines serving breads of various types.
BTW, a real fav of mine is a well prepared Huevos Rancheros type breakfast.
Note that as in other cuisines, interpretation, recipes, preparation vary so don't give up if you don't like the first you try
And that's all I'm saying. A person who's never heard of ramen and never had egg rolls - not ONCE - simply hasn't had a variety of food, therefore it doesn't surprise me that they don't really know what "Mexican" food is.
I'm about the last the person to try something new, but even I've sampled cuisines from almost every culture, just to know if I need to avoid it or not. Indian cuisine - REAL Indian cuisine - for example, doesn't agree with me. Someone who likes shrimp diablo will likely enjoy half of Indian dishes.
A person who's only ever ate Taco Bell just doesn't know any better. And perhaps that's the OP's real point: "Ignorance is bliss, let me enjoy this even if you say it's not authentic." Which is fine - as long as it's not referred to as Mexican food, but inspired by.
I won't get into the whole "I associate these beans with this and this chorizo with this, I don't associate those with Mexican" despite there constantly being crossover with cultural foods. Why do you think pizza is available outside of Italy?
Sichuan, Szechuan, both are transliterations, makes no real difference.
The only proper way to spell it is 四川. :-)
As far as the authenticity of Mexican food in America, Most of it is either based on the cuisine that developed organically in border areas (and thus contains American ingredients) such as Tex-Mex, or from areas close to the border like Sonoran and Baja California, and thus represents a limited sample of what the rather large and ecologically diverse country of Mexico can produce, ingredient-wise and the development of food culture in the country and its border regions.
Authentic Sonoran is as authentically Sonoran as Chiapas' food is authentically Chiapan as Veracruz food is authentically Veracruzan, and all three are substantially different from one another. The fact that Americans might only really recognize the Sonoran variety (with its flour tortillas, cheese, and hot red sauces), however badly manifested in some New Jersey restaurant, should not be an indication that Sonoran is any less authentically Mexican.
Well put.
I once served huachinango al Veracruzana to guests at a dinner party I was hosting. One of whom was surprised, saying, "I thought we were having Mexican food?" No filled tortillas, no cheese, no frijoles or yellow rice... can't be Mexican according to that guy.
I'm about the last the person to try something new, but even I've sampled cuisines from almost every culture, just to know if I need to avoid it or not. Indian cuisine - REAL Indian cuisine - for example, doesn't agree with me. Someone who likes shrimp diablo will likely enjoy half of Indian dishes.
There are a lot of different things called 'Indian Cuisine', if you don't like the heavy creamy North Indian stuff try an uttapam or dosa or a bowl of bhel puri.
Very good points. I think our perceptions of authenticity are very much influenced by our own cultural influences. For example, being in NY, Italian food is very prominent here. One thing I learned very quickly when I moved here is that each family practically has it's own perception of what is or isn't authentic Italian cooking! My mother-in-law's parents were from central Italy, while my grandmother's parents were from a poor region in southern Italy. Any time I've served my grandma's recipes, I was informed that it is not "authentic" Italian food, simply because it's not the cuisine they know as Italian. One of my favorite stories is when my husband's aunt (who is from Ireland) served a particular Italian dessert to the family, and was asked probably a dozen times what it was... finally, she got fed up and told them "It's an authentic Italian dessert that only Irish people know about!"
Quote:
Originally Posted by revelated
And that's all I'm saying. A person who's never heard of ramen and never had egg rolls - not ONCE - simply hasn't had a variety of food, therefore it doesn't surprise me that they don't really know what "Mexican" food is.
I'm about the last the person to try something new, but even I've sampled cuisines from almost every culture, just to know if I need to avoid it or not. Indian cuisine - REAL Indian cuisine - for example, doesn't agree with me. Someone who likes shrimp diablo will likely enjoy half of Indian dishes.
A person who's only ever ate Taco Bell just doesn't know any better. And perhaps that's the OP's real point: "Ignorance is bliss, let me enjoy this even if you say it's not authentic." Which is fine - as long as it's not referred to as Mexican food, but inspired by.
I won't get into the whole "I associate these beans with this and this chorizo with this, I don't associate those with Mexican" despite there constantly being crossover with cultural foods. Why do you think pizza is available outside of Italy?
In America, there are almost zero Americanized versions of Sichuan dishes. Because Americans just can't eat real spicy food.
Correction: In America, 99% of Sichuan dishes are Americanized. Because Americans don't know the difference between the numbing hot/spicy sensation that's Sichuan and drowning every dish in Red chili oil indiscriminately.
If you are ever in the Carolinas, I will treat you to a "real" Mexican dinner. As for chorizo, it's common in most Spanish cuisines and is different from country to country. Mexican chorizo is often fresh made and spicy. It's usually made to be cooked crumbled. Cuban chorizo is dry/cured with wine. Vastly different. The portugeuse place you mentioned with the chorizo sandwich sounds yummy.
Thanks, I don't think I've ever had Mexican chorizo, then.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gichicago
I don't think its too perplexing. Diverse areas do certain cuisines better than others, and mexican (whether its authentic mexican, cal-mex, tex mex, etc..) is not a strong point in NY/NJ. However, there are a few good solid taquerias to explore in Manhattan should you find yourself across the Hudson.
Oh, I cross that river far too often (have to attend meetings in the city frequently).
Quote:
Originally Posted by ABQConvict
Sichuan, Szechuan, both are transliterations, makes no real difference.
The only proper way to spell it is 四川. :-)
Hahaha, I will copy that into an email to my daughter so I sound smart.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sskink
Well put.
I once served huachinango al Veracruzana to guests at a dinner party I was hosting. One of whom was surprised, saying, "I thought we were having Mexican food?" No filled tortillas, no cheese, no frijoles or yellow rice... can't be Mexican according to that guy.
That would have been me! What you described was the only experience I've ever had with Mexican food, so I can understand that. I think most people I know do not think of Mexican food as being anything beyond cheese/rice/beans/meat wrapped in a tortilla. Except I think of yellow rice as Cuban. Well, apparently the food I like best that I THOUGHT was not really Mexican turns out to actually BE authentic Mexican...I will just have to SUFFER and go out and try some new dishes...
And that's all I'm saying. A person who's never heard of ramen and never had egg rolls - not ONCE - simply hasn't had a variety of food, therefore it doesn't surprise me that they don't really know what "Mexican" food is.
I'm about the last the person to try something new, but even I've sampled cuisines from almost every culture, just to know if I need to avoid it or not. Indian cuisine - REAL Indian cuisine - for example, doesn't agree with me. Someone who likes shrimp diablo will likely enjoy half of Indian dishes.
A person who's only ever ate Taco Bell just doesn't know any better. And perhaps that's the OP's real point: "Ignorance is bliss, let me enjoy this even if you say it's not authentic." Which is fine - as long as it's not referred to as Mexican food, but inspired by.
I won't get into the whole "I associate these beans with this and this chorizo with this, I don't associate those with Mexican" despite there constantly being crossover with cultural foods. Why do you think pizza is available outside of Italy?
Tut tut, Bad Message Board Form to twist what someone said into something different. What, ya thought I wouldn't come back and see that? Everyone else here can go right to Post #158 and read it for themselves.
To summarize what I actually wrote: I have HEARD of ramen, but I have never eaten it. I have had no reason to. Doesn't look like something I want to eat. I have had egg rolls--MORE THAN ONCE--don't like them. I've eaten and enjoy quite a few different cuisines, which I listed in that post, but I have not had what everyone else apparently calls authentic Mexican food.
I don't get that tactic you use, but whatever blows your skirt up. Thanks to everyone else for informative, mature responses.
Last edited by Mightyqueen801; 02-01-2015 at 11:42 AM..
Ramen gets a very bad rep from those whose experience is from the 7 for $1 packets that you get all over the place. Here is what good ramen looks like. The link has some great pictures:
Ditto. It's like using Ragu as a frame of reference for pasta sauce: it'll do in a pinch, but in now way replicates the real deal.
I came across a ramen noodle cookbook recently, and every recipe so far has been a hit! Even my pasta-hating kid loves the different noodle bowls we create, especially on Clean-Out-The-Fridge-Night (aka Monday).
Quote:
Originally Posted by jlawrence01
Ramen gets a very bad rep from those whose experience is from the 7 for $1 packets that you get all over the place. Here is what good ramen looks like. The link has some great pictures:
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As for chorizo, it's common in most Spanish cuisines and is different from country to country. Mexican chorizo is often fresh made and spicy. It's usually made to be cooked crumbled. Cuban chorizo is dry/cured with wine. Vastly different. The portugeuse place you mentioned with the chorizo sandwich sounds yummy.
--don't like them. I've eaten and enjoy quite a few different cuisines, which I listed in that post, but I have not had what everyone else apparently calls authentic Mexican food.
