Mexican Food or "Fed up...."

I suppose this post is really OT but the topic has been explored at
length in "Fed up..." As some people have pointed out, Mexico is a big
place with different climatic zones and available foods and there is
no single "Mexican Cuisine". Some cuisines, particularly Sonoran, have
also developed into quite respectable styles in the border states of
the US. IMHO, a very good discussion is given in:-

http://www.foodreference.com/html/ar...ancuisine.html



On the European mainland, it has been my experience that quite
pleasant "Mexican Restaurants" exist but they are often run by
American expatriates with a rather limited knowledge of the different
cuisines and thus the food is mostly Sonoran (border) food and
Tex-Mex. In honesty, I suppose that is what most people want!




--
James V. Silverton
Potomac, Maryland, USA

On the European mainland, it has been my experience that quite
pleasant "Mexican Restaurants" exist but they are often run by
American expatriates with a rather limited knowledge of the different
cuisines and thus the food is mostly Sonoran (border) food and
Tex-Mex. In honesty, I suppose that is what most people want!

I wouldn't honor it with the Sonoran/Tex-Mex label. The Mexican food I've
had in Europe, as epitomized by this really GREAT sounding menu at a place a
few blocks from where I spend the summer in Hamburg:
http://www.bolerobar.de/food/food_set.htm
LOOKS nice, but tastes like colorful, warmed-over cardboard. They left the
SPICES in old El Paso.

On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 18:37:55 -0600, Douglas W. Hoyt wrote:
On the European mainland, it has been my experience that quite
pleasant "Mexican Restaurants" exist but they are often run by
American expatriates with a rather limited knowledge of the different
cuisines and thus the food is mostly Sonoran (border) food and
Tex-Mex. In honesty, I suppose that is what most people want!

I wouldn't honor it with the Sonoran/Tex-Mex label. The Mexican food I've
had in Europe, as epitomized by this really GREAT sounding menu at a place a
few blocks from where I spend the summer in Hamburg:
http://www.bolerobar.de/food/food_set.htm
LOOKS nice, but tastes like colorful, warmed-over cardboard. They left the
SPICES in old El Paso.


"mexican" food in the northeast of the U.S. is like that. I've had
frozen tv-dinners (new mexico's beuno brand) that were better.

Pizza in california is equally bad. white bread, ketchup, mystery
meat.

"Hatunen" wrote in message
Pizza in california is equally bad. white bread, ketchup, mystery
meat.

I'm not sure how much pizza you've had in California, but I think
you're making one of those sweeping generalizations based on
limited experience. There's all kinds of pizza available in
California.

Let's be honest, it may not be be too "authentic" and it *is not*
particularly healthy but the chain "Mexican" food is often quite
tasty and my kids loved it; chimichangas and all! IMHO, Sonoran food
is not the stuff of "haut cusine" and when people migrated over the
border they modified it with available ingredients; not really an
improvement.

Chain pizza is an "American" rather than an Italian thing but I think
it is not bad tasting as a snack and the crust does not usually
deserve description as soft and bready even if it's unhealthy and
productive of indigestion in me (g).


--
James V. Silverton
Potomac, Maryland, USA

On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 18:56:58 -0800, Hatunen wrote:
On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 18:53:18 -0600, TCS
wrote:

On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 18:37:55 -0600, Douglas W. Hoyt wrote:
On the European mainland, it has been my experience that quite
pleasant "Mexican Restaurants" exist but they are often run by
American expatriates with a rather limited knowledge of the different
cuisines and thus the food is mostly Sonoran (border) food and
Tex-Mex. In honesty, I suppose that is what most people want!

I wouldn't honor it with the Sonoran/Tex-Mex label. The Mexican food I've
had in Europe, as epitomized by this really GREAT sounding menu at a place a
few blocks from where I spend the summer in Hamburg:
http://www.bolerobar.de/food/food_set.htm
LOOKS nice, but tastes like colorful, warmed-over cardboard. They left the
SPICES in old El Paso.


"mexican" food in the northeast of the U.S. is like that. I've had
frozen tv-dinners (new mexico's beuno brand) that were better.

My guilty pleasure is Swanson's frozen Mexican TV dinners. I add
my own Tobasco and sour cream.

Pizza in california is equally bad. white bread, ketchup, mystery
meat.

I'm not sure how much pizza you've had in California, but I think
you're making one of those sweeping generalizations based on
limited experience. There's all kinds of pizza available in
California.

No ****, really?

If you've had pizza in new york or connecticut, you'll know what I mean when I
say that california pizza sucks. The yuppy pizza ( duck, chicken in a white
cream sauce etc.) isn't so bad, but the rest is terrible. They can't make a
thin crust pizza to save their lives.


A friend had an ad from pizza hut on his fridge: "Pizza Hut: made by
californians, for calfornians."

On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 18:53:18 -0600, TCS
wrote:

On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 18:37:55 -0600, Douglas W. Hoyt wrote:
On the European mainland, it has been my experience that quite
pleasant "Mexican Restaurants" exist but they are often run by
American expatriates with a rather limited knowledge of the different
cuisines and thus the food is mostly Sonoran (border) food and
Tex-Mex. In honesty, I suppose that is what most people want!

I wouldn't honor it with the Sonoran/Tex-Mex label. The Mexican food I've
had in Europe, as epitomized by this really GREAT sounding menu at a place a
few blocks from where I spend the summer in Hamburg:
http://www.bolerobar.de/food/food_set.htm
LOOKS nice, but tastes like colorful, warmed-over cardboard. They left the
SPICES in old El Paso.


"mexican" food in the northeast of the U.S. is like that. I've had
frozen tv-dinners (new mexico's beuno brand) that were better.

My guilty pleasure is Swanson's frozen Mexican TV dinners. I add
my own Tobasco and sour cream.

Pizza in california is equally bad. white bread, ketchup, mystery
meat.

I'm not sure how much pizza you've had in California, but I think
you're making one of those sweeping generalizations based on
limited experience. There's all kinds of pizza available in
California.

************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 20:53:20 -0600, TCS
wrote:

On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 18:56:58 -0800, Hatunen wrote:

I'm not sure how much pizza you've had in California, but I think
you're making one of those sweeping generalizations based on
limited experience. There's all kinds of pizza available in
California.

No ****, really?

If you've had pizza in new york or connecticut, you'll know what I mean when I
say that california pizza sucks. The yuppy pizza ( duck, chicken in a white
cream sauce etc.) isn't so bad, but the rest is terrible. They can't make a
thin crust pizza to save their lives.

No ****? You've tried EVERY pizza place in California? Flash.. we
also have real Italians in the Pizza business. They make great thin
crust pizza and are not freezing their ass off in New York or
Connecticut while doing it.

Gordon

On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 19:08:26 -0800, Gordon Forbess wrote:
No ****? You've tried EVERY pizza place in California? Flash.. we
also have real Italians in the Pizza business. They make great thin
crust pizza and are not freezing their ass off in New York or
Connecticut while doing it.

When I lived in orange county, yes, I did. There was one OK place (owner
from brooklyn NY but couldn't make a thin crust to save his life) and
all the others ranged from bad to awfull to incredibly awfull.

The yuppy pizza is ok, but the rest is mediocre at best.

I take if you live in california. You just don't know any better.

"TCS" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 19:08:26 -0800, Gordon Forbess
wrote:
No ****? You've tried EVERY pizza place in California? Flash.. we
also have real Italians in the Pizza business. They make great thin
crust pizza and are not freezing their ass off in New York or
Connecticut while doing it.

When I lived in orange county, yes, I did. There was one OK place (owner
from brooklyn NY but couldn't make a thin crust to save his life) and
all the others ranged from bad to awfull to incredibly awfull.

The yuppy pizza is ok, but the rest is mediocre at best.

I take if you live in california. You just don't know any better.

I am native Californian and spent a lot of time over the years on the East
Coast. We have as good of pizza here as you have on the East coast. You
just do not find it in Pizza Hut or Straw Hat pizza. You find it in the
individual shops same as East coast. As to Mexican food, Tex-Mex and
Western US Mexican food is what most of the people think of as Mexican food.
Not the white cheese, bland Mexico city stuff. Or the East Coast
resturants.

Following up to TCS

I'm not sure how much pizza you've had in California, but I think
you're making one of those sweeping generalizations based on
limited experience. There's all kinds of pizza available in
California.

No ****, really?

If you've had pizza in new york or connecticut, you'll know what I mean when I
say that california pizza sucks. The yuppy pizza ( duck, chicken in a white
cream sauce etc.) isn't so bad, but the rest is terrible. They can't make a
thin crust pizza to save their lives.

I went to Napoli recently and the types of pizza people were
eating didnt resemble much of the stuff you see outside Italy.
Simpler, sometimes even plain or just mozzarella and leaves. I
suspect selling a chicken in cream sauce pizza in Naples would
result in a visit by the Comorra :-)
--
Mike Reid
Wasdale-Thames path-London-photos "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap