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Anonimo

Aug 24, 2006, 5:02 AM

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Dietary Patterns and Acculturation Among Expats in Mexico

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Jennifer's post about Dietary Patterns Among Mexican Immigrants and Mexican-Americans NOB intrigued me. I would like to turn the proposition around.

It would be interesting to poll the much smaller expat-in-Mexico population, as represented here on Mexconnect, what their dietary habits might be.

Have you converted to a Mexican style dining schedule and have you adopted the foods of our host country, or clung to those of your native land?
We touched on this recently in the "Do you eat tortillas or bread with your meals?" thread, but that was but a facet of this topic.

Personally, I would say that we were already following a Mexican dining schedule, even back in the States. On the other hand, our consumption of local dishes has, if anything, declined since moving here, and we tend toward "good ol' home cookin'" and international, ethnic fare. (We rarely eat tortillas at home, except for some special dish. This is a bread, potatoes, pasta and rice household.)

I fervently hope that this topic doesn't deteriorate into one of those "What foods from NOB do you miss the most? I'm more interested in what basic foods you all dine on now, not wishful nostalgia, while living in Mexico.

Saludos,
Anonimo



jennifer rose

Aug 24, 2006, 11:03 AM

Post #2 of 11 (2399 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Dietary Patterns and Acculturation Among Expats in Mexico

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I'd have to characterize my diet as hybrid. It's a meat and fish and vegetable house.

I maintain Mexican eating times.

Breakfast is meat or lox, along with a sliced tomato and perhaps some melon or avocado. Comida is a green salad, some kind of green vegetable, usually asparagus, rajas, green beans or acelgas, and red meat or fish. Cena is usually a bowl of vegetable soup and perhaps another salad. Sometimes I'll supplement the comida with beans or bulgur. Rice is reserved only for special occasions. I'm sick and tired of chicken, so I rarely have it. Olive oil is the principal fat used in my household. The only bread that I have on hand is pita.

Despite the availability of fresh fruit, I really don't eat much, because I really am not that fond of fruit. I am severely addicted to eggplant, which is one of those vegetables that I'll buy without regard to price. The same goes for artichokes.

When I cook beans, it's almost always garbanzos or white beans. My housekeeper always gets half the pot of beans, and she's remarked that she never had tasted those kinds before. She also thinks my habit of eating cold white beans with lemon juice and olive oil somewhat odd.

I enjoy traditional Mexican cuisine, but I almost never prepare it, because it's too much trouble. And dirties up the kitchen. Why make it yourself when someone else can do better?

Aguas frescas seldom find their way into my house. I prefer ice tea. Coke is the primary beverage.

All the food consumed in my house, save the imported beef and Chilean farmed salmon, is Mexican.


MazDee

Aug 24, 2006, 9:09 PM

Post #3 of 11 (2371 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Dietary Patterns and Acculturation Among Expats in Mexico

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Interesting question! I certainly eat differently here than I did in the US, but my menu is all over the map. I prefer Mexican mealtimes, but some of my friends are still into the Lunch At Noon nonsense, so I change my schedule accordingly and call it a late breakfast. I really prefer a big lunch around 3 in the aft and a snack at night. I have moved just the opposite way from the Mexican immigrants to California in the study Jennifer posted. I eat more tortillas (although it is not a daily thing), consume more lard (oh, those tamales), etc. And I eat WAY less prepared foods. (Remember the convenient Marie Callendar dinner in the freezer?) And they didn´t ask those women how many chiles they ate before and after immigration, but I bet they eat fewer now in the US and I eat MORE. Salsas of all colors, with all kinds of complex flavors. I don´t like really hot food, but I LOVE chiles. I live alone, and when I cook for myself it is pretty simple, some pasta or an omelet or sandwhich or quesadilla. Or, I will cook up a pot of chicken soup or ratatouille and eat it for 3 days. When I have guests, I either cook "comfort food" from my former life, or I get the lady who works for me to cook Mexican. Depends on my mood. Or whether I want to spend all day over a hot stove! I bring Asian ingredients down when I visit the US, and use them occasionally, because you really can´t get that kind of food in Maz. I buy lots of mushrooms and (like Jennifer) eggplant. I guess those and spinach are my favorite veggies. I get the butcher to cut my porkchops thick, and cut thick slabs of shoulder of beef or pork when I want to make a stew, since everything in the market is sliced SO thin. Other than that, I eat what´s here, at the mercado or supermarket. I eat out a lot. I finally have decided that eating Mexican food in a cenaduria or a comida corrida place is often much more satisfying (and cheaper!) than eating in an expensive restaurant which wants to lure tourists. Those restaurants try to cook what they think is international food and often don´t have a clue. And it is expensive. I probably eat at one of those places once a week, but have begun to be very careful about what they offer vs what I get! Sorry to go on for so long. Dee


Anonimo

Aug 25, 2006, 4:39 AM

Post #4 of 11 (2360 views)

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Re: [MazDee] Dietary Patterns and Acculturation Among Expats in Mexico

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Sorry to go on for so long. Dee

No, that's good, Dee. I may go back later to my OP and elaborate on our food, shopping habits and diet here, but from now, I want to encourage others to post.

Buen provecho,
Anonimo


Bloviator

Aug 25, 2006, 6:10 AM

Post #5 of 11 (2355 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Dietary Patterns and Acculturation Among Expats in Mexico

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If Zucaritas instead of Honey Bunches of Oats for breakfast is Mexican, then I'm eating Mexican. Of course our morning coffee is Vera Cruz french roast and Chiapas blend instead of Starbucks Nob.

Almost all my soft drinks are varieties that are not available NoB - Manzana, mandarina, Kaz (though this is almost the same as Squirt), navamango, and Sangria Senioral. I don't drink that most Mexican soft drink - Coca Cola - very often. I'm addicted to del Valle juices in boxes - particularly durazno, mango and guanabana - none of which I ever drank NoB.

I now drink tequila and never did Nob (and don't when Nob. The prices there are just outrageous). Drink Mexican and Chilean wines, particularly Domeque (Mexican) and Concha y Toro (Chilean). Have drunk Chilean for years, but never cared for Mexican wines before. Now I have found several that I find very enjoyable.

I eat durazno and quanabana yogurt instead of ice cream for the evening snack, though for a special treat I stop at Helados Bing and have an espuma de angel cone. That is not available Nob and is just what it says, breath of an angel.

We often seek out restaurants that cater to Mexicans and we often eat Mexican plates when dining out, though I cheat and look for carne asada as part of the plate. We occasionally eat at the Mexican fish restaurants at Piedra Barrenada. My wife loves the fish plates. However, we are informed that the crud in the fish will kill her, so we are giving that up.

I know the above is driving Anonimo mad, as he wants to hear about the great Mexican cooking that we are doing. Unfortunately, we eat out a lot and neither my wife or I are particularly adventurous cooks. We pretty much stick to things that we have cooked for years. One exception is the use of nopales as a vegetable.

As to time of eating, I don't know what the Mexican hours of dining are. What are they? I eat breakfast - such as it is - before going to tennis. We eat lunch whenever we happen to be hungry or when we are in the village if we are eating out and eat dinner anytime from six to eight. We tend to eat later if we are going to go to a restaurant that has music.

We shop at Costco about once every two or three months, seldom go to Sorianos (the only semi local super market). We get all our shrimp, fruits and vegetables at the tiangus or local shops, our meat and fish at places that cater to Ex-pats - Tony's and Chicken Lick'n. We get milk and Zucaritas at farmacia Guadalajara and cheat by shopping about once every week or two at Super Lake or El Torito, where we buy some Nob stuff, but try to avoid doing so if possible.


(This post was edited by dlyman6500 on Aug 26, 2006, 6:10 AM)


Anonimo

Aug 25, 2006, 6:03 PM

Post #6 of 11 (2324 views)

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Re: [dlyman6500] Dietary Patterns and Acculturation Among Expats in Mexico

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I know the above is driving Anonimo mad, as he wants to hear about the great Mexican cooking that we are doing.

You're doing fine. I have no bias nor agenda here towards any particular type of cooking.
If you eat meatloaf and mashed potatoes more than albóndigas al chipotle, I'm interested in that.

Buen provecho,
Anonimo


sfmacaws


Aug 25, 2006, 10:42 PM

Post #7 of 11 (2311 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Dietary Patterns and Acculturation Among Expats in Mexico

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We're not truly ex-pats as we spend half the year NOB but there is a difference in our habits when we are in Mexico. We are night owls, rarely get up early and don't have much besides coffee when we do get up. We eat out a lot more in Mexico, the food is good, it's cheap and what we like to eat is difficult to prepare. So we eat an almuerzo of some sort around 11am, eat our main meal around 2 or 3pm and at a restaurant, around 9pm we often go out for drinks and botanas. If we cook at home we follow about the same time schedule. In the US, we cook more and are more likely to skip the 11am snack and eat a smaller "lunch" around 2pm and a larger "dinner" around 9 or 10pm. It's 10:30 now and we just finished dinner. I think this is because I'm the cook and I never feel like cooking in the heat of the day so don't start making food until it is dark, pretty late during the summer here in these northern climes.

I do frequently cook simple mexican meals, chiliquiles is a favorite as is mole (boxed sauce that I bring north with me) and arrechera style skirt steak. I made some great sopa de limon the other day with the remains of a store bought roasted chicken. I make black beans regularly. For some odd reason people are always wanting to take us to mexican restaurants up here in the north. I try and politely decline and tell them I'd rather go for Thai or good Chinese or Italian when I'm here. Odd, that.


Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán




MariaLund

Aug 28, 2006, 9:16 PM

Post #8 of 11 (2261 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Dietary Patterns and Acculturation Among Expats in Mexico

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When I was acculturing myself to American eating habits I made a decisive line never to be crossed before eating wonder bread, Miracle Whip and that culinary horror of horrors, the artificial cheese ( Kraft singles and other "American slices"). To this day I can't fathom why would Americans conceive (and eat) artificial cheese, when the real stuff is so much better. May be in Mexico I'll also discovert something of the kind.... but I hope not.
Vivere non est necesse, navigare necesse est!

(This post was edited by MariaLund on Aug 30, 2006, 9:28 AM)


Gayla

Aug 28, 2006, 10:27 PM

Post #9 of 11 (2252 views)

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Re: [MariaLund] Dietary Patterns and Acculturation Among Expats in Mexico

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I'm with you on the Wonder Bread, and as an American I am as confused as your about this artifical cheese thing. But, d**n, give up my Miracle Whip? Surely you jest ;-)


MariaLund

Aug 30, 2006, 9:26 AM

Post #10 of 11 (2201 views)

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Re: [Gayla] Dietary Patterns and Acculturation Among Expats in Mexico

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You like Miracle Whip so much? Hmm, must be a childhood memory ;-), not the taste. But now that you are all grown up (I presume) try making a mayo from scratch: just egg yolk and e.v.o.o. Then add lime juice and a touch of salt.
If you want it as a sandwich spread with cold cuts (turkey, ham, etc) try mixing this mayo with fresh, finely chopped herb mixture (chives, flat leave parsley, basil). And if you want it really "rich" add a finely chopped hard boiled egg.... and you should never miss Miracle Whip, childhood memories or not. :-)
P.S. Not a Mexican recipe, but yummy.
Vivere non est necesse, navigare necesse est!


TlxcalaClaudia

Sep 6, 2006, 8:31 PM

Post #11 of 11 (2159 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Dietary Patterns and Acculturation Among Expats in Mexico

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I hit these boards infrequently anymore so am posting late.


I think I converted to Mexican.

I arrived a couple months ahead of starting work here. During that time I had daily cooking lessons from mi suegra. I wrote everything down. Now that I am on my own, it only makes sense to me to use the ingredients most readily available; those from my new handwritten cookbook.

I go to the mercado few times a week and buy all fresh. Only canned thing I have eaten since arriving in Mexico has been a can of tuna fish here and there.

We stopped all sodas. Why? Because I am now buying water that is so delicious to me. I also (SURPRISE!!!!) stopped drinking my iced tea. THat was my only addiction in life. That was hard to quit, but mi suegra wouldn't permit iced tea in her house during my time there (cold turkey! yes I missed it!!). Though I was pissed at not having my daily tea I actually got over it. Yes, she is a control freak, but I love her. She taught me to make various aguas, and yep, that is what my blender now makes if a mood hits me for something other than pure water.

I teach 3rd grade here, so I am at the mercy of the school of when I eat. I skip breakfast, eat at 11 am and then again around 3pm or 4pm. I cook a meal each day for the fam around 3:30 or 4. If we snack later, usually fruit, popcorn or nuts. No pan. Sometimes tortillas unless I go to suegras house and then eat them daily.

I miss nothing from home in regards to food.

I have lost quite a bit of weight since coming to Mexico and feel healthier than I have in years!!!

Claudine
 
 
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