Forums > Specific Focus > Mexican Kitchen

La Isla

May 23, 2011, 7:04 PM

Post #1 of 11 (4188 views)

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Favorite Mexican Food [detached from Re: [Flaekingur] Favorite mexican things]

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Food- Tacos de Carne Asada, Chiles Rellenos, Chimichangas

Al

Are chimichangas Mexican?

(This post was edited by tonyburton on May 24, 2011, 5:16 PM)

chinagringo

May 23, 2011, 7:10 PM

Post #2 of 11 (4183 views)

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Re: [La Isla] Favorite mexican things

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Supposedly known in Sinaloa and Sonora but may have been a southerly direction export from NOB:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimichanga
Regards,
Neil
Albuquerque, NM

joaquinx

May 24, 2011, 5:08 AM

Post #3 of 11 (4137 views)

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Re: [La Isla] Favorite mexican things

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Are chimichangas Mexican?

It depends on how much of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California you consider Mexican. Of course, at one time they were and still have a sizable Mexican(?) population. It's sorta like saying New York Pizza is Italian. If you buy it in Little Italy, it might be, but at Dominos, it probably isn't.

La Isla

May 24, 2011, 9:03 AM

Post #4 of 11 (4109 views)

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Re: [joaquinx] Favorite mexican things

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Are chimichangas Mexican?

A good point about the pizza. No doubt Italians would not think that the pizza I eat in Philly or New York was "real pizza". I´ve never seen chimichangas on the menu in any place I've eaten in Mexico, but then I've never been to Sinaloa or Sonora or any of the other border states.

joaquinx

May 24, 2011, 9:34 AM

Post #5 of 11 (4098 views)

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Re: [La Isla] Favorite mexican things

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Are chimichangas Mexican?

A good point about the pizza. No doubt Italians would not think that the pizza I eat in Philly or New York was "real pizza". I´ve never seen chimichangas on the menu in any place I've eaten in Mexico, but then I've never been to Sinaloa or Sonora or any of the other border states.

La Isla

May 24, 2011, 9:38 AM

Post #6 of 11 (4091 views)

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Re: [joaquinx] Favorite mexican things

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While in Xalapa, one of the smaller restaurants was passing out fliers about their grand opening and their menu was included. One of my Mexican friends was reading it and asked, "What's a Chimichanga?" I told her that it is a fried burrito. Then she asked, "What's a burrito?"[/reply

Amusing anecdote. I wonder what part of Mexico the owner of this restaurant was from and why he put chimichangas on the menu. Maybe he liked the sound of the word. "Chimichanga" sounds like a new dance rhythm!

Flaekingur

May 24, 2011, 3:58 PM

Post #7 of 11 (4058 views)

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Re: [joaquinx] Favorite mexican things

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Los Chimichangas son completamente comunes en Sonora, estos en el "Plywood Palace" de Luis en Kino Viejo son muy deliciosos, como son su Chiles rellenos.
Al

mazbook1

May 24, 2011, 7:00 PM

Post #8 of 11 (4014 views)

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Re: [Flaekingur] Favorite mexican things

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Well, IF a chimichanga is a fried burrito, it had to have originated NOB, as that's where burritos came from. Raised and lived most of my life in northern New Mexico, I had never heard of a chimichanga until I was in California one time a long time ago. Burritos, however, were ubiquitous in New Mexican cuisine. Back in the early 1940s, the guy selling hot, fresh bean burritos from an insulated box in front of the Santa Fe primary school was about the most popular guy around.

And in the early 1950s, in Albuquerque, there was a guy with an insulated box selling hot, fresh, bean burritos from an insulated box on the front of a scooter was a popular guy. In the hot months, he added dry ice to the box and sold frozen popsicles, and such things.

About that same time, I made my first trip to México, to Chihuahua (city), about 250 miles south of the border, and there was nary a burrito on any menu in any restaurant we went to.

I rather believe that they are probably a "borderlands" thing that has slowly crept both north and south. I've lived in southern Sinaloa, and just last week saw a sign out in front of a small restaurant advertising chimichangas. Even burritos seemed to be unknown here when I first came, many years ago, but now they are offered in many of the smaller, convenience food sort of places.

Bennie García

May 24, 2011, 7:48 PM

Post #9 of 11 (4001 views)

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Re: [mazbook1] Favorite mexican things

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Nonsense. They have been eating tortillas de harina in Mexico, especially in the north, for centuries. A burrito is nothing more than a taco made with a flour tortilla.

Burritos made with the extra large tortilla sobaquera in Sonora are famous and they have nothing to do with anything NOB.

esperanza

May 24, 2011, 8:53 PM

Post #10 of 11 (3997 views)

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Re: [Bennie García] Favorite mexican things

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Amen, Bennie. If anybody wants more burrito information, read here:

http://mexicocooks.typepad.com/...for-those-of-yo.html

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

Flaekingur

May 24, 2011, 10:36 PM

Post #11 of 11 (3983 views)

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Re: [esperanza] Favorite mexican things

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The Chimichangas we used to get in Kino Viejo and Hermosillo were flour tortillas filled with mashed potatoes and shredded pork or chicken. They had crumbled queso fresca on top and or salsa. They were cooked on a pan like a quesadia. No beans, although refried beans were always on the plate as a side dish.
As a side note, flour tortillas as they are made in Mexico, thin like crepes, are impossible to get up here in Canada. The only tortillas we can get up here are mostly made in the U.S. and are thick as a slice of bread. Fortunately, Sonoran tortillas freeze well and we always bring a good supply back from Mexico. ¡Dios mio, ya tengo mucho hambre!
Al