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New Mexico does have a lot of native Hispanos who are not Mexican at all and who are descendents of the original Spanish settlers of the state. However, people should be careful not to downplay the state's Mexican population and its contribution to the state. New Mexico has a very large Mexican population, especially considering how much larger the other states which beat it in sheer numbers are when compared to New Mexico.
OK, I may have been guilty of that. Mainly I wanted to challenge the assertion that New Mexico's dominant Hispanic culture is Mexican rather than Hispano, and more importantly in the context of this topic, that "Mexican" food (i.e. cuisine originating south of the US-Mexican border) would not only be the dominant local cuisine, but even the "traditional" local cuisine.
Also, I will concede that 90% of my knowledge of New Mexican food comes from Albuquerque and north, which has historically been the least Mexican and most Hispano part of the state. The Mexican population of Albuquerque has skyrocketed in the last 10 years or so, and with that there are a lot more options for Mexican food. Much of that consists of small, unpretentious (and delicious) restaurants offering Sonoran and other northern Mexican/borderlands menus with typical, but limited, offerings of the region.
Other parts of Mexico are not really well represented, if at all, with the exception of a few mariscos and perhaps the odd Mayan place. The majority of Mexican restaurants in Albuquerque fall into what one workmate of mine (a cook from Mexico wouldn't you know it) calls "Amarillos" which are basically glorified stands selling hearty filling Sonoran comfort food mainly to a labor-class Mexican immigrant population, and are characterized by their yellow (hence "Amarillos") and red decorative scheme and named like Federico's, Filiberto's, and variations on the theme.
I have to admit, the Mexican food scene has improved immeasurably in the last decade or two, but we are still a century behind the other border states. Maybe, with the way things are going, it is only a matter of time before Hispano culture is swallowed whole and New Mexican cuisine becomes a curious niche, a relic of New Mexico's cultural past as a remote Spanish colonial outpost, distant from Mexican cultural influence. But for now, I would definitely say that New Mexican cuisine is king, at least in central and northern New Mexico.
Now for those that might say, "Mexican, New Mexican, what's the difference?" Well, New Mexican is certainly on the spectrum of the Mesoamerican-Spanish fusion that is centered on Mexico but extends past the country's borders into the US to the north (most notably as the unfairly maligned Tex-Mex) and south into Guatemala, Nicaragua, and the other central American states.
But New Mexican food is distinguished from the breadth of that paradigm by its emphasis on simplistic dishes with relatively few ingredients reflecting New Mexico's position in a high elevation, relatively northern latitude and the few crops that have traditionally been successfully grown here: wheat, corn, chile, onions, potatoes; the corresponding absence of subtropical/tropical ingredients more common in Mexico proper, such as avocado, papaya, etc., (even tomatoes and imported rice were a rare ingredient prior to truck farming and the interstate transportation system); the presence of northern Mexican ingredients like flour tortillas, American influence like cheddar cheese; and most notably, the chile preparations consisting of New Mexico land race and hybrid chiles like those from Chimayo and Hatch region.
In the 20th century transportation advances made some Mexican ingredients more common in New Mexican restaurants (if not traditional kitchens) such as avocado, lettuce and tomato garnish, "Spanish" rice, exotic herbs spices like cilantro and cumin, and so forth, but even today those ingredients tend to be on the side or as appetizers rather then enmeshed with traditional dishes. Additionally, New Mexican restaurants have been offering Tex-Mex dishes such as Nachos and Fajitas. Often listed as "special" dishes rather than under the main entree list.
Oh, and finally, back to the topic of proper Mexican food in New Mexico, here is a link to a website any visitor or resident of New Mexico will find useful and informative concerning any type of food available in New Mexico.
1. Los Angeles/Orange County/Inland Empire
2. Phoenix
Honorable mentions:
Central Valley CA
Central WA (Wenatchee/Quincy/Yakima/Tri-Cities/Moses Lake/etc)
San Diego (to me, they do it too differently from my "standard" in LA).
Colorado and New Mexico don't quite do it "right" IMO. It's a bit off, there is a big NM influence that tends to over water it down (especially with green chile in both states). For example, it's even painfully difficult to find tortillas and beans done right in CO/NM as well.....I've kind of had to accept it living here in CO.
I agree with ABQConvict that New Mexico (and to an extent, Colorado) is a vastly different animal than what most of us have come to know about Mexicans/Mexican-Americans in the US. Many Mexicans and Hispanos in these states have been in CO or NM for well over 3 generations, and have developed their own culture(s) that do not relate directly to the "Mexican" we are speaking of here. tl;dr: New Mexican is not Mexican.
I lived in Del Rio, Texas back in the 70's. I worked as a dishwasher at the local Ramada Inn. As I remember, all the cooks were Mexican. They showed me AWSOME Mexican cuisine. They had to test the "Gringo" by showing me how they ate raw Jalapeno peppers, about 3" long and full of spice. One bite and I had the hiccups for about 5 minutes. I love spicy food, but that was too much!
OK, I may have been guilty of that. Mainly I wanted to challenge the assertion that New Mexico's dominant Hispanic culture is Mexican rather than Hispano, and more importantly in the context of this topic, that "Mexican" food (i.e. cuisine originating south of the US-Mexican border) would not only be the dominant local cuisine, but even the "traditional" local cuisine.
Also, I will concede that 90% of my knowledge of New Mexican food comes from Albuquerque and north, which has historically been the least Mexican and most Hispano part of the state. The Mexican population of Albuquerque has skyrocketed in the last 10 years or so, and with that there are a lot more options for Mexican food. Much of that consists of small, unpretentious (and delicious) restaurants offering Sonoran and other northern Mexican/borderlands menus with typical, but limited, offerings of the region.
Other parts of Mexico are not really well represented, if at all, with the exception of a few mariscos and perhaps the odd Mayan place. The majority of Mexican restaurants in Albuquerque fall into what one workmate of mine (a cook from Mexico wouldn't you know it) calls "Amarillos" which are basically glorified stands selling hearty filling Sonoran comfort food mainly to a labor-class Mexican immigrant population, and are characterized by their yellow (hence "Amarillos") and red decorative scheme and named like Federico's, Filiberto's, and variations on the theme.
I have to admit, the Mexican food scene has improved immeasurably in the last decade or two, but we are still a century behind the other border states. Maybe, with the way things are going, it is only a matter of time before Hispano culture is swallowed whole and New Mexican cuisine becomes a curious niche, a relic of New Mexico's cultural past as a remote Spanish colonial outpost, distant from Mexican cultural influence. But for now, I would definitely say that New Mexican cuisine is king, at least in central and northern New Mexico.
Now for those that might say, "Mexican, New Mexican, what's the difference?" Well, New Mexican is certainly on the spectrum of the Mesoamerican-Spanish fusion that is centered on Mexico but extends past the country's borders into the US to the north (most notably as the unfairly maligned Tex-Mex) and south into Guatemala, Nicaragua, and the other central American states.
But New Mexican food is distinguished from the breadth of that paradigm by its emphasis on simplistic dishes with relatively few ingredients reflecting New Mexico's position in a high elevation, relatively northern latitude and the few crops that have traditionally been successfully grown here: wheat, corn, chile, onions, potatoes; the corresponding absence of subtropical/tropical ingredients more common in Mexico proper, such as avocado, papaya, etc., (even tomatoes and imported rice were a rare ingredient prior to truck farming and the interstate transportation system); the presence of northern Mexican ingredients like flour tortillas, American influence like cheddar cheese; and most notably, the chile preparations consisting of New Mexico land race and hybrid chiles like those from Chimayo and Hatch region.
In the 20th century transportation advances made some Mexican ingredients more common in New Mexican restaurants (if not traditional kitchens) such as avocado, lettuce and tomato garnish, "Spanish" rice, exotic herbs spices like cilantro and cumin, and so forth, but even today those ingredients tend to be on the side or as appetizers rather then enmeshed with traditional dishes. Additionally, New Mexican restaurants have been offering Tex-Mex dishes such as Nachos and Fajitas. Often listed as "special" dishes rather than under the main entree list.
Oh, and finally, back to the topic of proper Mexican food in New Mexico, here is a link to a website any visitor or resident of New Mexico will find useful and informative concerning any type of food available in New Mexico.
Can you elaborate on what the Mexicans in both Chicago and LA are doing that those in Texas haven't figured out? I only ask because it is quite common in this forum for people to discredit the Mexican food in Texas, yet no one ever articulates what causes the state with the longest history and longest border with Mexico to pale in comparison.
Yep, I'm wondering about that myself.
And not only does Texas have a very long history and the longest border with Mexico, it also has one of the highest percentages of residents with Mexican heritage, of all the states (I believe it's tied for second place with California, with NM being in first place). So I can't for the life of me understand why all these folks with Mexican heritage living in Texas apparently can't cook while they're in Texas, but seem to be able to cook "real" Mexican food outside of the state.
By the way, I've lived in 11 US states and traveled pretty extensively to many others for business and pleasure, and I've eaten "Mexican" food in just about all of them, as well as in several other countries, and the Mexican food in Texas is generally absolutely fabulous in my opinion. Sure, you can get good (and bad) Mexican food elsewhere as well, but the Mexican food in the state of Texas tends to be terrific.
Which ATL suburbs are known for having a lot of Mexicans? It doesn't seem like ATL proper has that many.
And is it Mexican people running the Tex Mex places? Here in New York, the Tex Mex places seem to predate the wave of Mexican immigrants. In neighborhoods without many Mexicans you can often find "Yummy Taco" places which are run by Chinese people. Thankfully though, most of what you find these days is authentic, even if the places will have a few Tex Mex things on the menu. You can even find authentic Oaxacan food now.
LOL you know what's funny to me? Here in Texas, most Asian food restaurants tend to have a lot of Hispanic folks working there - including behind the sushi bar or as hibachi chefs. And if you go to a local Asian food restaurant, especially a Chinese buffet, most of the conversation surrounding you will be in Spanish.
LOL you know what's funny to me? Here in Texas, most Asian food restaurants tend to have a lot of Hispanic folks working there - including behind the sushi bar or as hibachi chefs. And if you go to a local Asian food restaurant, especially a Chinese buffet, most of the conversation surrounding you will be in Spanish.
It's like that in NYC too, the chefs at Italian, French, Japanese, diners, etc. are usually Mexican. And they're usually from the same region of Mexico.
I think it is getting into pedantry, but I basically agree. the term 'authentic' as applied to cuisine seems to be a tenuous councept relying on defining what is typical.
As 'typical' changes, and it does as ingredients or dishes change over time, so does authenticity.
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