Forums > Areas > Jalisco's Lake Chapala Region

Hound Dog

Apr 16, 2009, 8:22 PM

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Bubba´s

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Georgia wrote me a nice note about a new restaurant in Riberas next to my favorite chicken supplier Puritan Poultry and I am answering her here because before I could respond under the thread she posted upon the thread was locked as well it should have been no doubt but, while I appreciated Georgia´s comment I must tell you all that that new restaurant is not owned by this Bubba but is a Bubba who has been receiving accolades over at Chapala.com and posters are proclaiming that they have this fabulous "Texas" fried chicken which sounds like a self-cancelling phrase to an Alabama boy but we had a bunch of local kids over this afternoon for a swim in our pool and I could not resist driving across town to Bubba´s Riberas restaurant in order to bring those Mexican kids back a "mess" (Bama talk) of fried chicken and accompanying side stuff but when I arrived there at about 6:30PM Bubba´s and Puritan Poultry and just about all of Riberas was closed so I returned to my home in West Ajijic somewhat depressed but I had some hot dogs for me and the kids and Mexican kids love hot dogs simply prepared with ketchup so why should I let this get me down?

Anyway, I am not a huge fan of fried chicken and had been mainly motivated by a desire to serve up some American fried chicken to the inquisitive Mexican kids but we came up with a nice basque omelette in addition to the hot dogs as a substitute which was probably an improvement over my original idea.

I´ll go back to Bubba´s later. I love this guy´s bread and butter style jalapeños so he´s already my hero.

RickS

Apr 17, 2009, 7:13 AM

Post #2 of 10 (4511 views)

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Re: [Hound Dog] Bubba´s

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Had a story related to me a couple of weeks ago about fried chicken and Mexicans. Seems as though the owner of a home being remodeled and a pool added had a fairly large crew working away for months. At the end of the project (maybe this is customary) the owner had all the crew back for a 'thank you' dinner out by the pool.

The owner said he had Bubba's prepare him about 10 fried chicken dinners with all the side dishes included. When he brought them back the Mexican crew just sort of looked at them and basically did not eat any. The owner asked why the maestro why the crew wasn't digging in and he replied that they typically don't eat fried chicken around here, nor do they eat mashed potatoes etc.

There was a lot of chicken & fix'ns put back in the frig after that party was said and done.

Is this typical?

Rolly

Apr 17, 2009, 7:37 AM

Post #3 of 10 (4508 views)

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Re: [RickS] Bubba´s

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In my area, chicken is very common -- grilled, rotisserie, con mole, but not fried. Church's Chicken had a store here, but it failed. KFC is still in business. Other than KFC I don't know anyone who sells fried chicken, nor do I know anyone who makes it at home.

Rolly Pirate

Gringal

Apr 17, 2009, 8:05 AM

Post #4 of 10 (4496 views)

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Re: [RickS] Bubba´s

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So maybe they just increased their life expectancy. lol. Considering the other fried stuff they love, I doubt it...but I think fried chicken is an acquired taste. Didn't have any myself at home growing up, and didn't like it much later. My spouse, on the other hand, had a grandma who made "double fried chicken" and he loved it. The rotisserie chicken around here is delicious, if a bit on the salty side most of the time.

However, I'll betcha there are enough furriners around this area to keep a chicken joint in business.

carlw

Apr 17, 2009, 9:28 AM

Post #5 of 10 (4486 views)

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Re: [RickS] Bubba´s

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In Dallas, TX, the Church's Frid Chicken is packed with Mexicanos all the time and some of my Mexican friends will request fried chicken when we eat at my house. I guess they have learned to like it (and mashed potatoes) here. Maybe the people in Mexico just have not eaten it before.

Hound Dog

Apr 17, 2009, 1:10 PM

Post #6 of 10 (4459 views)

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Re: [carlw] Bubba´s

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carlw:

The very best fried chicken I ever had was on a luxury bus from Bangkok to ChangMai, Thailand and it was a lunch basket of Thai fried chicken you can make at home and enjoy immensely.

The secret to successful Thai fried chicken is the use of ground cilantro root as a marinade and the problem, at least in the U.S. is that cilantro is often sold with the roots removed. Anyway, find a bunch of fresh cilantro in your local Asian (or Mexican) market with the elongated roots still attached, cut off and mash (grind) the roots and rub this savory result all around the chicken pieces with some salt and black pepper until the marinade is sufficient to flavor the chicken pieces. You will want to marinate this concoction for about four hours at room temperature unless you are in Texas in which case you should marinate the chicken in the refigerator or you may die.

You later fry this chicken in peanut oil and it is mighty fine. It is also often served with a Thai hot sausce and rice but memory fails me on that so I may add that component later.

Hound Dog

Apr 17, 2009, 2:46 PM

Post #7 of 10 (4442 views)

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Re: [RickS] Bubba´s

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The owner said he had Bubba's prepare him about 10 fried chicken dinners with all the side dishes included. When he brought them back the Mexican crew just sort of looked at them and basically did not eat any. The owner asked why the maestro why the crew wasn't digging in and he replied that they typically don't eat fried chicken around here, nor do they eat mashed potatoes etc

I don´t think the answer to this is simple. There are lots of chicken places in Chiapas but I cannot remember seeing any fried chicken places although I may be wrong. In fact, I can´t remember seeing any fried chicken places catering to Mexicans at Lakeside. This problem is further xacervated by the fact that Mexican laborers are not used to dining with the jefe who hires tem. When my wife worked for an important Napa Valley winery, at all parties involving management, winery worker snad vineyard workers, there was very little social interaction between the three groups and any attempt to break the ice would have embarrassed just about everybody. Most of the Mexican winery an vineyard workers were from places like rural Michoacan and they were the least likely to cross social barriers either among themselves or among themselves and American workers and management.

It is more common up there to have employers give the working crew the day off and supply them the beer and food but after a short time - back off and leave the crew alone and that makes everyone more comfortable.

The Mexican owner of the Subway franchise in San Cristóbal told me as a lament that San Cristóbal natives would never eat food strange to their customs including his sandwiches so most of his sandwiches were sold to foreign tourists or residents such as we. Ans San Critóbal is filled with estaurants featuring exotic foreign cuisine. Go figure.

gbatrucks

Apr 28, 2009, 11:09 PM

Post #8 of 10 (4292 views)

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Re: [Hound Dog] Bubba´s

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Indeed...I recall Uncle Donnie mentioned this in one of his books...that their is an unwritten "cast" system in Mexico...that you don't envite your banker and gardener to the same party. BTW where is Uncle Donnie these days?
"The trouble with life is there's no background music."

Hound Dog

Apr 29, 2009, 5:51 AM

Post #9 of 10 (4282 views)

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Re: [gbatrucks] Bubba´s

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At the winery the Mexican workers would separate themselves into two groups: the vineyard workers and the cellar workers.
The cellar workers would be more apt to mix with the office workers but there was no mixing with the vineyard workers.
One day I asked one of the older man who was working the vineyard to work in the cellar. It was harvest time and we need ed more of our regular employees to work in the cellar.
At lunch time we all sat at a long table in the court yard. The winemaker, a few lab workers the cellar master, the vineyard manager and all the cellar workers at the same table. I notice that the old man was seating on the floor in a separate area eating his tortillas, I went to ask him to sit with the cellar guys and he told me he would rather eat where he was. Later on the winemaker asked one of the guys to go and tell him to sit with us and the man finally did it but under great duresse and sat there eating lunch not talking to anyone. The tabu about not mixing was strong.
I notice the same thing happening at the fiesta at the end of the harvest. All the vineyard workers would come dressed to the 9 with new jeans , new hats, shiny boots and expensive belts , they all had a great time drinking and eating but stayed in their own area.
It was interreting to watch as in France too we have a strong class system and people do very little mixing betwen the classes but the barriers usually come down during the harvest and the harvest fiesta nothing like that from the workers who were working for us in California.
The rule was an unspoken one and came from the workers themselves.
Brigitte

(This post was edited by Hound Dog on Apr 29, 2009, 5:52 AM)

Willie1

Apr 29, 2009, 10:53 AM

Post #10 of 10 (4236 views)

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Re: [Hound Dog] Bubba´s

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When we finished the work on restoring our old ruin, we too had a fiesta for the "crew" as well as a few friends and of course, the architect and his family, who by then had become personal friends. We had loads of food but to my distress, they separated and were obviously quite uncomfortable with my efforts to mix with them all at the same time! We were still quite new to Mexico but since have "learned our lesson well" and will never subject either group to such an event....separados en el futuro!!!! I was soooo embarrassed!

Willie