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Bubba

Mar 14, 2007, 5:10 PM

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Shamefully Bad Cooking

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I want to talk about cooking in public houses whether restaurants or street stands or mamas on the corner selling their left-overs or people killing iguanas or endangered desert species or whores selling sex and tortillas at truck stops in the desert near San Luis or anywhere else in this country. Why do those of you reading these forums think this is cute or quaint?

Why is it that you brag about eating greasy crap you wouldn´t feed a possum in your yard where you came from?

In my native South Alabama when I was growing up in the 1950s, most of the restaurants were so gross and utterly filthy that you could pass out from smelling the odors of foul used grease emanating from the disgusting kitchen just as you passed by. You would never lower yourself to eat in those dives but here you brag about eating tainted food cooked and served with no decent standards. Not only is the food cooked in an unsanitary manner but it is normally tasteless, unhealthy gruel unnatractive even to a piglet.

People forget that the reason McDonalds and other franchises made it so big in rural America starting in the 50s is that they introduced sanitation and consistency standards in places all over North America where you could poison yourself just by stopping for a hotdog in some craphole in Kansas. Maybe some of you don´t remember those hideous days.

Dick Gregory was famous for having said that the Freedom Riders were not heroic for facing off the Kluxer thugs in Montgomery but for eating a ham sandwich in the Greyhound station there.

I just tried a new restaurant in Ajijic today specializing in beef and seafood and I realized while eating lunch there that they had no idea what they were doing. Brand new and already the grease smells as if it came over with Columbus. Disgusting, repulsive crap and, get this, they are proud of it!

I love Mexico but the food here is shamefully bad.

(This post was edited by Bubba on Mar 14, 2007, 5:11 PM)

Gringal

Mar 14, 2007, 5:24 PM

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If you could smell the bad grease when you went in, why did you go ahead and eat there?

That's my "canary in the mine" signal. Sniff.

Septiembre

Mar 14, 2007, 5:40 PM

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Well, I've eaten all over the world and in some pretty fancy places too boot. I think you're engaging in a bit of the old hyperbole but as usual, your rants are very well written and entertaining as all get out.

Pray tell, where did you eat that was so awful?

Bubba

Mar 14, 2007, 5:43 PM

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You misread my post Gringal, Darling but I forgive you. I did not smell the grease at the Ajijic restaurant today until I sat down and then it was too late.

As I sat there an Eastern European couple sat down next to me and demanded food immediately in this hilarious accent as he was a diabetic about to pass to the happiness zone from whatever kills diabetics.

It was something like;

"Vee must haf foot immediatelty do you understant? Immediately. Bring ous de french fries immediately!"

Thay got the fries and I am happy (more or less) to report he is still among us.

(This post was edited by Bubba on Mar 14, 2007, 5:47 PM)

Septiembre

Mar 14, 2007, 5:54 PM

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Write the book! Write the book!!

LOL

Bubba

Mar 14, 2007, 6:10 PM

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Pray tell, where did you eat that was so awful?

I will not be telling you where I ate, Septiembre, for two reasons:

(1) I do not wish to hurt people trying to eke out a living in a tough business even if they are incompetent. After all, the only people more stupid that they should be parted fron their money as a matter of principle.

(2) People in Ajijic would eat and actually enjoy a gravy laden cockroach covered in rancid cheese if you told them it was the ancient food of the gods of the huitzoles who were actually the Huamatopeces but the other idiots from NOB don´t know this and only by eating this will they become blessed among the ancient ones.

(This post was edited by Bubba on Mar 14, 2007, 6:16 PM)

Septiembre

Mar 14, 2007, 6:20 PM

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OK, I'll settle for the book!

LOL
LOL
LOL

jerezano

Mar 14, 2007, 6:37 PM

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Hello Bubba,

Not where did you eat that was so awful, but what did you eat that was so awful?

After all a restaurant specializing in steaks and sea food should be able to turn out at least edible steaks etc.

Was it the specialty of the house that was so awful?

When I go to a new steak house I usually order a rib-eye, medium rare, and a baked potato and tossed salad. If that turns out bad I never go back.

If it is seafood, a shrimp cocktail is enough to tell me whether to come back or not.

And of course the grease smell, which you didn't smell until you sat down, (in a brand new restaurant?) Even after sitting, if you smell that before ordering, leave. You still have that option. Once ordered, you are at their mercy.

Adiós. jerezano

hopalog

Mar 16, 2007, 6:45 AM

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Ya know, I've been reading your posts on food in Mexico and while I've wanted to respond I Simply Have Not as I just can't relate. But I think I finally figured it out. You eat in restaurants with waiters and all. We have $50/month that I budget for eating out and we rarely hit an honest to goodness restaurant. My folks are in town and we ate at one here in PaaMul. Well, it is the only place to eat in PaaMul as PaaMul is not a city nor a town or anything Mexican other than a ginormous number of gringos living on the property of a Mexican. And the restaurant food SUCKETH GREEN DONKEY BALLS. It was simply awful. It was edible, but the shrimp was awfully salty (the 5yo will eat nothing but cheese and shrimp for protein) and it was completely devoid of any picante.

Normally we eat at roadside comedors, taquerias, rolling carts, the mercado, places where, while you have a choice of what to order; the choice is limited to the food already in the big metal pots. We eat very well in Mexico; I can't think of a bad meal that we've eaten, but again, we don't "do" restaurants. And maybe that is the difference. Or maybe we're just incredibly lucky. Or maybe we have no taste. Coming from the Bay Area, that is a definite possibility. :)

My 10yo still raves about the fish that the duena at La Selva (roadside restaurant along MX186) made him. Where the full dinners don't cost more than 35 pesos. It was a delight of a fish; I wish I could have done as well with the huachinango I purchased in Casitas (along the Emerald Coast in Veracruz) but I never considered deep frying a whole fish. :) It was a taste sensation though.

Hell's Half Acre

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Bubba

Mar 16, 2007, 7:52 AM

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Ya know, I've been reading your posts on food in Mexico and while I've wanted to respond I Simply Have Not as I just can't relate. But I think I finally figured it out. You eat in restaurants with waiters and all.

Normally we eat at roadside comedors, taquerias, rolling carts, the mercado, places where, while you have a choice of what to order; the choice is limited to the food already in the big metal pots. We eat very well in Mexico; I can't think of a bad meal that we've eaten, but again, we don't "do" restaurants. And maybe that is the difference. Or maybe we're just incredibly lucky. Or maybe we have no taste. Coming from the Bay Area, that is a definite possibility. :)

You know, hopalog, I get a kick out of reading many of your posts about traveling and read them when they pop up. I never thought about it before but I think being relatively young and traveling with kids probably gives one a different and more refreshing view of new discoveries here and there. I suspect many of us codgers posting hereabouts have become cynical over the years and your takes on your experiences with your kids are entertaining. I don´t have any kids or grandkids except those we have adopted among some local folk in Oaxaca (who give us tremendous pleasure by the way) so maybe getting old without the constant influence of youth sours one.

I still remember taking these Oaxacan kids to Puerto Vallarta where, at one time, we had (foolishly) pre-purchased nights in a luxury hotel in Mismaloya, and had decided we would never use those 50 nights so we decided to blow it and used multiple nights to book the penthouse suite. We invited our Oaxaca friends to share this unusual experience with us. We would never have stayed in such extravagant digs except for the fact that we were going to lose the pre-purchased rooms if we had not used them and we had found ourselves tiring of Puerto Vallarta very quickly so why not have some fun with money already gone.

Well, I have rarely had more fun over three days. These kids are from an indigenous town near Oaxaca City and they had never seen the ocean in their young lives much less a luxurious beachfront hotel suite. As one drives into Puerto Vallarta from the north, there are normally these magnificent cruise ships docked near the airport and as one travels south of the city to Mismaloya, the drive along beautiful ocean cliffs is spectacular. We have seen it many times. In fact, so many times this trip had become a lackluster experience for us. We, in fact, couldn´t wait to leave Puerto Vallarta in our rear view mirror for all time even though the hotel in Mismaloya Cove has incredible views of that stunning place. I mean, enough is enough and, anyway, we were newly enamored of Southern Mexico (which I consider to be the area encompassing Oaxaca to Veracruz and all places in between) and here we had this stupid pre-purchase contract in a town we had tired of.

The kids opened our eyes and the drive from the Nayarit/Jalisco line to Mismaloya was spellbinding as the kids spotted their first ever huge, mindboggling cruise ships and then their splendid views of the sea from the cliffs south of the city and, finally this extravagant suite overlooking Mismaloya Cove. The Pacific south of Puerto Vallarta can be quite beautiful but I had not enjoyed that view in about three years. Suddenly I was a kid again myself, revelling in this experience not from tired old 64 year old eyes but from the eyes of a kid. The same kid who laid eyes on Paris for the first time in 1966. The kids could not stop going WOW!, Look at That! over and over again and soon I was going WOW! myself. I haven´t had such fun in years.

Now to get back to your subject of food. That was a great line about how I must be speaking of restaurants with waiters and all. Yes, that´s true. I´ve lived in Mexico for six years and I can count on the fingers of two hands the number of times I have eaten at a food cart or street vendor and I have never eaten at a mom´s "comedor" ever. I have probably missed a lot as a result.

OK. You saw through me. A lot of people just get pissed off at me to no constructive end. Congrats!

(This post was edited by Bubba on Mar 16, 2007, 7:57 AM)

jerezano

Mar 16, 2007, 8:41 AM

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Hey Bubba,

Congratulations yourself. This last post of yours (Mar 16) is why we enjoy you so much here on the forum. You have just covered up a whole bale of "sins" against humanity.

Let me now join the group which wants to see you write a book.

Adiós. jerezano.

hopalog

Mar 16, 2007, 4:23 PM

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In Reply To

Now to get back to your subject of food. That was a great line about how I must be speaking of restaurants with waiters and all. Yes, that´s true. I´ve lived in Mexico for six years and I can count on the fingers of two hands the number of times I have eaten at a food cart or street vendor and I have never eaten at a mom´s "comedor" ever. I have probably missed a lot as a result.

OK. You saw through me. A lot of people just get pissed off at me to no constructive end. Congrats!

Well, I must admit, that both Jamie and I have contracted typhoid and the kids and I have had amoebas (verified with labs) probably 3 times. I think I have some now. :) We use raw garlic to kill the buggers though. Maybe if we'd stuck to restaurants we never would have had the typhoid experience. But hey, how many Americans can talk about their typhoid experience as non-chalantly as we do? Eh, just another month in bed; took Cipro; got better; yadda yadda. :) If you get typhoid in the US you're probably whisked off to hospital (listening to many British audio books and it just sounds BETTER to say "to hospital" or "at university" and leave the poor little "the" alone in the dark) and think something terrible has happened. We seasoned travellers know it taint nothing much.

Travelling with kids is definitely the only way to travel. I really have no desire to go anywhere (other than grocery shopping) alone as the experience is so hightened by their reactions and the things they discover. I think you need to really adopt some kids. :)

You sound a little deflated at the end, and I certainly wasn't trying to see through you, I just couldn't understand why you rag on the Mexican food and finally figured it must be either our luck, where you eat or your lousy taste buds. :) C'mon down to the comedors! The worst that can happen is HepA or typhoid! :)

Hell's Half Acre

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Bubba

Mar 16, 2007, 6:20 PM

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You sound a little deflated at the end, and I certainly wasn't trying to see through you, I just couldn't understand why you rag on the Mexican food and finally figured it must be either our luck, where you eat or your lousy taste buds. :)

Hopalog:

Now, I´m afraid of that picture of you. I know what typhoid can send shooting out of there.

l have traveled all over the world, especially as a young guy and have eaten in places that would frighten a goat from Kathmandu to Mombasa to Chang Mai´and once crossed the path of Idi Amin before he came to power in Kampala . You want the recipe for Kathmandu oatmeal? You bring the herbs.

Don¨t worry about me. If I seem humble, it´s a charade.

(This post was edited by Bubba on Mar 16, 2007, 6:23 PM)

jerezano

Mar 16, 2007, 6:28 PM

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Hi hopalog,

Amoebas. My doctor here in Mexico suggested some 18 years ago that I take AMENOX every three months. Do you and your family do it? I asked. Religiously, he answered.

It comes in two strengths. Adult and child. The adult form is three small pills. One every 8 hours. A one day shot. I have never had amoebas.

As for eating along the road, there should be no problem if you are careful and scout out the the site. I, too, have had some good meals that way. I also have had some extremely bad meals that way. Not health wise, but simply atrocious cooking.

Mexico's own health service has made several studies of the salsas on restaurant tables. Salsas seem to be the main problem with passing along infections. So much as you are tempted, it is wiser to pass that extra taste boost by.

The basic rule if you are going to eat along the road and on the streets is to eat only food that is HOT. And even there things can go wrong if the tortillas or pan has not been heated. The food from ollas if hot and not allowed to cool before serving is usually OK.

My favorite roadside food is the Jalisco State Comida of Carnes en sus jugos. If I'm ravished and can't find anything else I will usually accept caldo de res--but that can vary from superb to atrocious. Still, it usually is free from harm.

Travelling with kids can indeed be fun provided you can keep those back-seat fights under control. If not, it is misery.

Adiós. jerezano.

Bubba

Mar 16, 2007, 6:57 PM

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Mexico's own health service has made several studies of the salsas on restaurant tables. Salsas seem to be the main problem with passing along infections. So much as you are tempted, it is wiser to pass that extra taste boost by.

Studies found that 90% of the salsas served in restaurants in Guadalajara in 2003 were contaminated with e-coli bacteria. 50% in Houston, Texas. Restaurant food in Mexico is generally filthy and the street food should never be consumed unless one has a death wish.

People, whether here in Mexico or in the United States are preparing food for you in filthy environments with filthy hands. You don´t see people in Mexico or Africa or India eating raw vegetables in general now do you? Get it or spend the rest of your life near a toilet.

sfmacaws

Mar 16, 2007, 7:00 PM

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That's kind of a scary report, especially for the kids. There are amoebas and other bugs that travel to your brain, lots that travel to your liver, and they can do other nasty things. Are you positive that you've gotten rid of them every time with the garlic? Or, could it be they never left and are returning with bad breath?

I eat from street stands too and while I think there is a little bit of luck involved, I've never gotten amoebas, haven't had typhoid since one time 30 years ago in Mexico and actually have never had the touristas in recent memory. I can't help but think that there is something wrong to have gotten all these bugs.

Taking Cipro is very hard on the liver among other body parts and while it's the best thing there is when you need it, it would be better not to need it so much.

I know, it's none of my business so I'll stop.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

Bubba

Mar 16, 2007, 7:06 PM

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Are you positive that you've gotten rid of them every time with the garlic?

I routinely eat a number of raw garlic cloves every day. Every day. Not for medicinal purposes but because I love garlic. If you think it protects you from disease you should just get back on the turnip truck.

smokesilver

Mar 16, 2007, 9:15 PM

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I never get pissed off at you. I enjoy your company. Thanks. And aren't grand kids great!

Cynthia7

Mar 16, 2007, 10:18 PM

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I think it is best to be tested for amoebas or other causes before taking powerful medicines. Taking powerful antibiotics kill good and bad bacteria and can weaken your immune system. They are wonderful when needed but can be destructive if used when not needed. Most people don't take enough acidolpholus to replace what they kill.

jerezano

Mar 17, 2007, 8:05 AM

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Hello,

Amoebas.

smokesilver said:>>Taking powerful antibiotics kill good and bad bacteria and can weaken your immune system.<<

AMENOX is not an antibiotic. Antibiotics should be taken for at least five days, and yes should be used with caution to prevent the build-up of antibiotic resistant bugs.

But if garlic works which is questionable, by all means use it.

In the meantime I will follow my doctor's advice and take my AMENOX faithfully every three months. It has worked for me.

Adiós. jerezano.

Judy in Ags

Mar 17, 2007, 11:39 AM

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You may not seeing them eating raw vegetable, but they eat LOTS of raw fruit from street vendors. What's the difference?

Ed and Fran

Mar 17, 2007, 11:54 AM

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You may not seeing them eating raw vegetable, but they eat LOTS of raw fruit from street vendors. What's the difference?

Generally speaking, the fresh fruit is usually peeled.

Judy in Ags

Mar 17, 2007, 12:06 PM

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People, whether here in Mexico or in the United States are preparing food for you in filthy environments with filthy hands. You donï¿½t see people in Mexico or Africa or India eating raw vegetables in general now do you? Get it or spend the rest of your life near a toilet.

I was replying to Bubba's statement above and I don't see how peeled raw fruit would be any safer than raw vegetables when in the environment described above.

Ed and Fran

Mar 17, 2007, 1:15 PM

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People, whether here in Mexico or in the United States are preparing food for you in filthy environments with filthy hands.

Maybe things are filthier where you are than down here, I couldn't say.

You donï¿½t see people in Mexico or Africa or India eating raw vegetables in general now do you?

Never been to India or Africa, so I can't comment on that. But in general I wouldn't expect to see a lot of people here eating raw vegetables as street food, with the exception of stuff like shredded lettuce, chopped cilantro or tomatoes and chilis chopped up to accompany tacos and stuff. But yes, we see a lot of people in Mexico (including us) eating that. Just a guess, but I suspect that vegetables are more often served cooked than fruit, which is often served fresh.

We also see a lot of people in Mexico (including us) eating fresh fruit (such as mangos with chili, coconuts, and cups of mixed fresh fruit) that are prepared on the street. And we use cilantro and salsas that we get served with tacos and the like.

Get it or spend the rest of your life near a toilet.

Got it.

I was replying to Bubba's statement above .....

Well excuse me for voicing an opinion then.

Regards

Ed

Judy in Ags

Mar 17, 2007, 8:36 PM

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I'm not at all sure how this subject became such a hornet's nest. I certainly didn't intend to head that way. I have no way of knowing whether food sold on the streets is clean or not. It usually looks fine to me. I have a pretty sensitive stomach so I don't eat out much anywhere, but it's not because I'm passing judgment on any vendor any where.

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