Forums > Specific Focus > Mexican Kitchen

Marth

Oct 19, 2010, 9:05 PM

Post #1 of 8 (9587 views)

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Mexican food is overrated.

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English isn't my first language, so please bear with me. I find Mexican food to be overrated. There are few things that stand out in Mexican cuisine and they are the moles and cochinita pibil(some mayan food), that's it. They say that there's much more to mexican food than your average mexican restaurant in US , but there isn't. Enchiladas, tacos, stuffed peppers, meats drowned in salsas and slow cooked are what the average mexican region has (antojitos too). Mexico has states with alot of coastlines but other than 1-2 dishes Mexicans have never put the seafood to good use . Every region has the same dishes as the other regions, but they just modify abit. Oaxaca is known to be the gastronomy heaven of Mexico, but you put the Moles aside all you have is grasshoppers, a mexican pizza , and a few caldos?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????!?!?! You would think that a country with alot of mixed history with the french, spanish and some asian would have a diverse and outstanding cuisine, gee. I hope someone replies to this and proves me wrong. I think Peruvian food is a much better and more diverse cuisine.

Peter

Oct 19, 2010, 11:31 PM

Post #2 of 8 (9562 views)

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Re: [Marth] Mexican food is overrated.

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I think Peruvian food is a much better and more diverse cuisine.

Tacos, Tamales, Enchiladas, Chiles Rellenos are all popular Mexican foods, but that is just scratching the surface to what is available in Mexico. These are some of the most well-known examples of Mexican dishes that have been popular for decades in the US and now have some recognition throughout much of the world. Tequila also deserves honorable mention.

Some basic Mexican food items that have seen use in much of the world would include chiles, chocolate, avocados, and corn (maíz).

You may well be correct but I would have no idea about that, having never visited Peru. Would you please provide some names and description of some Peruvian foods?

I hope someone replies to this and proves me wrong.

I am not sure I could or would care to prove you wrong but this may make for interesting discussion.

(This post was edited by Peter on Oct 19, 2010, 11:58 PM)

Hound Dog

Oct 22, 2010, 12:52 PM

Post #3 of 8 (9476 views)

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Re: [Marth] Mexican food is overrated.

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English isn't my first language, so please bear with me. I find Mexican food to be overrated.

Well, damn, Marth; I never knew Mexican food had been "rated" by anyone one would take seriously.

OK; I apologize; Mexicans present some of the best breakfasts on the planet my favorite being Eggs Motuleños. A gift from heaven. Here is Dawg´s own recipe for Sangrita to go with eggs motuleños and cafe de olla:

SANGRITA
Two cups of tomato juice
1/4 Cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
Crushed fresh garlic to taste
Chopped chiles according to your tolerance for same. Include seeds if you have the balls. The types of chiles is personal. Dawg suggests habaneros or serranos.

If you are no longer feeling responsible and not going to confession within short order, drink this between shots of Herradura Tequila Blanco and swaths of eggs motuleños with some highly charged salsa.

Return to bed.

(This post was edited by esperanza on Oct 22, 2010, 1:59 PM)

Peter

Oct 23, 2010, 7:52 AM

Post #4 of 8 (9427 views)

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Re: [Hound Dog] Mexican food is overrated.

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I never knew Mexican food had been "rated" by anyone one would take seriously.

I have prepared Mexican dishes that have been "berated" by persons someone might take seriously.

Curious about how your Huevos Motuleños were prepared as there seems room for some variation. Some versions could simply pass for Huevos Rancheros served with black beans. You seem to suggest, as I would, that some of these foods could best be enjoyed in versions spiced to the point that they could start a fire through spontaneous combustion. Unfortunately my Mexicana counterpart doesn't agree so I have to add my chiles after the fact. Too bad, I miss the kick these foods would have if the chiles were cooked into the food, and even then I would usually add more afterwards.

Mexican foods are certainly popular in California though some would claim these are not truly "Mexican." Aside from these foods not being prepared in a kitchen located in Mexico proper I would beg to differ about many of the California offerings not being "authentic" as most of the cooks and recipes came straight from Mexico and many if not all the ingredients are the same as those that are found here in Mexico. Of course if one were to suggest Taco Bell is less than authentic I would whole-heartedly agree, but any true Californian would not even bring that up as that is so obvious as not to need mention.

I see from reading online from my California hometown newspaper, the Ventura County Star, that Diana Kennedy had stopped off in Westlake Village to cook up a couple recipes while on a book-signing tour. It is reassuring to know some of her recipes can be somewhat replicated in a modern kitchen and ingredients found that do not require foraging for a particular insect that can only be found in caves in a particular region of Oaxaca and that culinary gymnastics are not required for all dishes in order to be considered authentic. This aged gringa out-authentics better than 95% of the Mexican cooks!

Culinary Luddism may have its place but not necessarily in my kitchen, nor the kitchens of many of the Mexican middle-class. One year I got the muñeca in my slice of the Rosca de Reyes but opted-out of joining the tamal party that 2nd of February when everyone picked up their masa from the corner tortillería for the event. I made tamales in my own kitchen making my masa from scratch so I could add my own ingredients.

The tamales were made with my own tinga de pollo starting with dried chiles chipotles. I cooked a bunch of muslos de pollo in a stockpot and after they cooled removed the skins which I then placed in a blender with some chicken stock and added that to harina de maíz to make my masa. The grease was cooked out of the skins in the stock pot and later used in preparation of other foods including using it for frying tortillas for tacos dorados. I used much of my chicken stock later for won ton soup but before I receive any hate mail I should add that my soup was made on a different day and served in the context of Chinese food and not alongside the tamales.

I do not think Mexican food is overrated. That would be like rating hamburgers, you can do that as a side-by-side comparison to determine the best burger but you cannot overrate hamburgers as a genus, they are perhaps the world's number one fast food item. As a Californian now living in Mexico I say the same rule applies to Mexican food, it is just too much part of my diet either side of the border to rate it as a genus, only in a side-by-side comparison would it be possible to rate it. but why bother? It's all good.

Hound Dog

Oct 23, 2010, 12:00 PM

Post #5 of 8 (9408 views)

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Re: [Peter] Mexican food is overrated.

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Peter:

You are such a Mexican food snob. How can one extoll the food of a place where one cannot find RC Colas and Moon Pies. What a wasteland.

Dawg

Toll...

Oct 24, 2010, 2:02 PM

Post #6 of 8 (9346 views)

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Re: [Hound Dog] Mexican food is overrated.

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Hey Guys! As a Chef, here is my take on all food ... it is subjective. To demonstrate I will use pizza. Countless ways to make it, condiments to top it, and methods to cook it. Thin crust, thick crust, New York, Chicago, Mexican, you name it, everyone has their own idea of how it should taste. In the end, be it tacos or tamales, highly spiced or mellow, it is in the eye ... or the tongue of the taster. As long as it tastes good to the one eating it, who cares! If you like Peruvian food, well, have at it. If you are not impressed with Mexican food ... don't eat it, plenty of others will and be in heaven. I actually don't think it is fair to condemn Mexican food wholesale. Too many variables, so many cooks, methods, and styles to make sweeping judgments. After you have sampled EVERY Mexican dish by Every cook (which is impossible) then you might be qualified to make a pronouncement. And even at that, it is just your opinion and only accounts for your taste.

Mexican Food is Overrated? This just doesn't make sense to me. Why does anyone care what someone else likes food wise?

Toll...

Hound Dog

Oct 25, 2010, 2:43 PM

Post #7 of 8 (9294 views)

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Re: [Toll...] Mexican food is overrated.

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Why does anyone care what someone else likes food wise?

Well, Toll:

Since you claim to be a chef, excuse me; a Chef, presumably you care if those purchasing your food, like it or, alternatively, you would be earning a living doing something less romantic such as scrubbing toilets at 3:00AM in a forlorn WalMart in some hardscrabble and desolate Texas burg everybody with a tenth grade education left on the next Greyhound following the close of the county fair circa 1957.

(This post was edited by Hound Dog on Oct 25, 2010, 2:43 PM)

esperanza

Oct 25, 2010, 3:21 PM

Post #8 of 8 (9283 views)

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Re: [Hound Dog] Mexican food is overrated.

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We are not taking this thread in this direction. Punto.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com