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shoe

Oct 1, 2003, 10:34 AM

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Newbie Wonders Why??? Fish, Napkins, Toast and Waitstaff

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Sitting at a restaurant eating breakfast this morning in Ajijic, I started wondering why some things in Mexico are the way they are. I couldn't figure it out. Anybody know the answers to the following and they aren't restricted to Ajijic as I find this stuff everywhere:

Why are the paper napkins so small?

What is the toast? It is brown bread of some sort (many times) that is toasted but I don't know what it is, tastes good but it isn't white bread or rye bread.

The establishments seem to have a tradition of not bringing you the bill until you ask for it. I sat at a place one day waiting for the bill and it never came. I had to ask for it. I later found out that you really have to ask for it normally. What ever started that tradition? You can probably sit there and eat three meals without them bringing you a bill if you want to sit at one place all day. What a difference from stateside. Really pleasant not to seem rushed out the door.

I ate in a restaurant yesterday and had a fish filet and they didn't know a English word for the fish. It was good but is this normal as the place spoke English and the menu was in English and Spanish? They knew it was a salt water fish (ling something or other as I couldn't understand well) but that was all they could tell me.

By the way breakfast was two eggs, two bacon, two pieces of ham, two link sausages, toast and coffee or tea for $35 pesos, no tax. Not a bad price. In fact a great deal.

The waiters and waitresses are great. I have screwed up their tip badly at times and they don't seem to care. It doesn't effect the service the next time. I fix it the next time and tell them about it and they do remember though. I love it.

These are the kinds of adjustments I seem to have to make to life in Mexico and boy I tell you this stuff is nothing. Life here is good!!!

shoe

Nothing is intrinsically good or evil, but its manner of usage may make it so.
-St. Thomas Aquinas

(This post was edited by jennifer rose on Oct 2, 2003, 7:11 PM)

dumois

Oct 1, 2003, 1:13 PM

Post #2 of 9 (1180 views)

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Re: [shoe] A few answers

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Why are the paper napkins so small?

That one is easy. We don't eat as much as you do.

What is the toast?

Usually, toasted pan Bimbo. It comes in different shades, from white to brown.

The establishments seem to have a tradition of not bringing you the bill until you ask for it. I sat at a place one day waiting for the bill and it never came. I had to ask for it. I later found out that you really have to ask for it normally. What ever started that tradition? You can probably sit there and eat three meals without them bringing you a bill if you want to sit at one place all day. What a difference from stateside. Really pleasant not to seem rushed out the door.

I think Americans and other Northerners are mainly focused on the job. Mexicans and other Latin peoples, Spaniards of course included, a little bit more on the pleasure of accomplishing the same job. Most important verb form for Americans: Done. For us: Doing. Efficiency above all, that's American. If you have to get drunk, do it as fast and as to the point as you can. Get on with the martinis, now! We prefer to spend a tranquil afternoon in front of the table with a couple of nice friends, reaching oblivion with slow tequilas or anises or the poison of choice, "fixing" the world while we say Salud!

I will leave the rest now for others to answer. An agreeable friend is waiting for me.

Saludos desde Guadalajara,

Dumois

esperanza

Oct 1, 2003, 2:07 PM

Post #3 of 9 (1165 views)

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Re: [dumois] A few answers

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Yep, Shoe, that's the difference..."really pleasant not to be rushed out the door." It's considered to be extremely offensive to ask someone to leave the premises, whether it be your home or a restaurant, and handing the bill to you without your asking for it is tantamount to saying 'SCRAM'. It's not done. Once that penetrates the mind of the diner from the North, one stops fretting and snarling about why the waiter disappeared after dessert was served. You get all the time you want, and then you ask for the check.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

juan david

Oct 1, 2003, 2:27 PM

Post #4 of 9 (1154 views)

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Re: [shoe] Newbie Wonders Why???

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Not being rushed....doesn't that fit perfectly for us lucky retirees living in Mexico! If we're rushing, what's the point? No amber lights to run, no traffic jam angst, no drive thru windows for food, whatta life!
" let sleeping dogs lie"

Oct 2, 2003, 12:00 AM

Post #5 of 9 (1102 views)

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Re: [shoe] Newbie Wonders Why???

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Quote

Shoe writes:
....I ate in a restaurant yesterday and had a fish filet and they didn't know a English word for the fish. It was good but is this normal as the place spoke English and the menu was in English and Spanish? They knew it was a salt water fish (ling something or other as I couldn't understand well) but that was all they could tell me. ....

1. There's a high degree in local/regional variations in fish names. Take robalo (Centropomus undecimalis) as an example. On the English side of the menu should they be calling it snook, sargeant fish, kelp bass, or a linesider? Translating it to any one of the three names will leave some people scratching their heads, and/or posting about the dumb translations on menus.

2. Species of fish that are found in one location, area, or region may not have names in other languages because the fish don't live in the area. The bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus, aka bream, sun perch, copperbelly, blue sunfish, or roach), as an example is commonplace in lakes in many parts of the United States. You may, however, have difficulty finding what the Spanish name for bluegill is anywhere on the Yucatan peninsula.

3. If you've relocated to Mexico do you really need to know what the fish's name is in English? It's sort of pointless considering that you'll be identifying it on the menu (unless you stick forever to places that have bilingual menus) and ordering in Spanish.

alex .

Oct 2, 2003, 8:45 AM

Post #6 of 9 (1060 views)

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Re: [ET] fishes

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I don't even want to imagine the translation for the Crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus)

Alex

jennifer rose

Oct 2, 2003, 9:44 AM

Post #7 of 9 (1043 views)

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Re: [dumois] A few answers

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The paper napkins are small, because we use more than one.

It’s not common for the waitstaff to slap the bill down on the table along with your order, like Flo down at the Mel’s Diner might’ve done. You might change your mind and order something else, which would then mean that the waitperson would have to pick up the bill, enter the additional charges and re-calculate it. It’s more civilized to wait until the diner’s ready to settle up his or her account in anticipation of departure. The waitstaff doesn’t want to give you the bum’s rush.

“Pescado” is a common term for any kind of fish that the chef may have selected at the market. There’s not the tendency to describe a tilapia, mojarra, blanco de Nilo, merluza or some generic fish as “the frisky spawn hand-plucked from the sparkling crystalline waters of the Rio Lerma by the light of the moon” except in white tablecloth venues. It’s not an issue of speaking English or having a bilingual menu. Trout, salmon and huachinango may be identified by name, but other fish is just “pescado.”

It’s not unlike coffee. I served some fresh Uruapan coffee to an American friend, who asked, after being told it was from Uruapan, “Is this a Bourbon Santos or a peaberry?” No, I replied, it’s coffee. Just coffee.

David Eidell

Oct 2, 2003, 2:11 PM

Post #8 of 9 (998 views)

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Waiters And Waiting

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I would like to ascribe to the notion that Mexican waiters await the whim and fancy "command of the diner" rather than try to anticipate and synchronize every movement in advance. The arrival of "la cuenta" therefore means that the party is over. It is entirely different to view a meal as an event rather than a hurried necessity. All of these platitudes of course fly out the window during the World Cup. A wise Mexican mesero once described the week of the world cup as a time of self-imposed fasting and cerveza flush for Mexican males.

I am so far into the sticks that I don't know the name of this place! Cool, foggy and few speak clear Spanish. Now a return to no electricity, campfire smoke, and a vital connection to the tamale lady... Adios for another several weeks.

Judy in Ags

Oct 3, 2003, 5:36 AM

Post #9 of 9 (941 views)

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Re: [shoe] Newbie Wonders Why??? Fish, Napkins, Toast and Waitstaff

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I always assumed that the small napkins were a conservation measure (most Mexican TP we've all noticed is more narrow that stateside TP also). I just figured that they are saving their trees, since overall they really don't have very many. You'll notice you also don't see paper plates for sale very often. Most disposables are styrofoam.