And real Mexican food is ... this, I guess? I've never eaten 'real' Mexican food, but I'm from Australia, so we don't get to Mexico too often. As for the 'Subway war' ... this is the one and only area where "The customer is always right" is correct; the customer is always right in matters of taste. If you like Subway, fine. If you don't like it, that's fine too. You do you.
Um ... pardon my ignorance, not being from the USA and all. But can someone please tell me what the difference(s) are between Calmex and Texmex? Sorry for asking such a dumb question. *blush*
I don't know either but my guess is... Texmex = Mexican food done in some sort of Texas style. Tex... as in Texas... and Mex as in Mexico. Calmex = California styled Mexican food. I wonder if the Mexicans would like to throw any objections here, though. The Italians certainly would. But I tend to dislike a puristic approach to food. I make food however the heck I want and you can't stop me! And I break my pasta in half!
I didn't say it was Tex-Mex. There's way too much cumin in it to be Tex-Mex. I only mentioned Tex-Mex because people accuse Texans of not knowing the difference, when the truth is we do have real Mexican, too.
All this picking at nits!! Sheesh! It doesn't matter whether Taco Bell is authentic anything, of COURSE it isn't! It's freakin' fast food, processed to death and five steps beyond! @Rzero got it right on the previous page—we just like what we like. I ate in a real Mexican restaurant once (right next to the border) and they were the worst tacos I've ever had anywhere, bar none! I say 'real Mexican' because it was actually in Mexico, but it was far from authentic Mexican cooking. My sister and I had flown down to Texas to visit our dad and he drove us across the border, but we only went a little ways in—just enough to say we had been there—and we stopped at a little joint. When we sat down this big burly guy came over in a greasy apron and took our order. My sister wanted to order because she had studied Spanish for a while, so we all told her what we wanted and she said "Quatro tacos por favor." The guy said "Ya want foah tacos eh," in a thick New Jersey accent, scribbled on his greasy little pad, she said si, and he stumped off into the kitchen and eventually brought four taco shells with some cubes of beef in them and nothing else. And if I remeber right the beef was cold. We had to call him over and explain that we wanted some filling too, and some sauce would also be nice, and then we had to assemble the tacos there at the table. It was like getting one of those Old El Paso kits from the store that have the shells and seasoning packets and you dice up tomatoes etc. Not authentic anything. But the restaurant was authentically in Mexico. All that to say authentic can mean different things, and isn't important except to support food snobbery. We like what we like. When I was a kid I loved when our mom would make boloni sandwiches and serve Bugles with them, and we'd put the bugles on our fingers like claws. I also loved when she made chili or spaghetti or rouladen or one of her more gourmet meals. It isn't how expensive a meal is, how authentic it is, or what ingredients go into it that matter, it's how much you like it. Comfort food is real yo, and it's a legit choice.
My daughter and family are staying with us right now. Her husband is from Zacatecas and does a fair amount of the cooking. Mexican food is more than tacos, lemme tell ya. My sister-in-law is from Mexico City, but my brother is the one who cooks, and his TexMex (foods typical of the Texas/Mexico border) is out of this world. Then there is New Mexican food, which I love, given the prevalence of green chili. Or maybe when I eat New Mexican food, I always opt for green chili and never expand from there, so know nothing about it. Doesn't matter. I am content.
Yeah, it certainly isn't a monolith. Mexico is huge and has a LOT of cultures meeting at the table. European, African, Caribbean, Indigenous... just about anything you can think of. I have several Mexican restaurants and they apply a bit of Oaxaca here, a bit of Jalisco there, some classic Spanish, the American interpretation and the postmodern American interpretation. My chef who runs that wing of Culinary is a mad scientist with at least 30 regional cookbooks on his shelves at home.
Same. I watch a lot of cooking videos for a lot of different dishes and the amount of spices people put in their food shocks me! No way I would survive them. Mexican and Korean cuisine are both way out of my league.
I'm kinda the same, to an extent, but I can eat Taco Bell with mild sauce. Nothing much stronger than that. Actually it varies—when I'm more healed up from the irritable vowel (lol, I'm keeping it in as a writer's joke) I can eat some spicy food, but not very often or much. When it's more in effect I have to be really careful.
I like it hot. I also like to make up my own recipes mixing ingredients from various regions. My favorite invention is Chicken Chipotle Fettuccine Alfredo with crumbled Bacon and Ghost Pepper. Sometimes I make it with cheese tortellini instead of fettuccine noodles. It's delish! My kid likes the hot stuff, too. We eat flaming hot chips and Cheetos and throw at least cayenne or sriracha on almost everything we make, if not something hotter. For about a year there, we ate a lot of meals with my girlfriend at the time and her son. They were from Pennsylvania, and I had to make two versions of everything we ate. They couldn't handle even a little heat. Sometimes they would tell me something was spicy when I hadn't put anything spicy in there. Heat is relative to region. For instance, I've had barbecue in many states, mostly in the South. Outside Texas, the sauce is milder, even sweet in places like Mississippi. Ours usually comes in mild, medium and hot. Other places do this, but their hot is like our mild. Even our mild tends to have some black pepper bite, if nothing else. Medium and hot are full of jalapeno or hotter. The best I've had outside Texas, though, was in Kansas City, Missouri. It wasn't hot, but it wasn't overly sweet, either. It was quite tasty. Oh, and they had a picture on the wall of Obama drinking a stein of beer there, lol.
Irritable Vowel Syndrome. A disease that was the consumption of Beat poets. Once upon a time, I could taste the different chiles used in a given dish. Age (and maybe too many hot peppers) has deprived me of that pleasure.
OK. Yes, obviously "Mexican" food is far more than tacos. (For that matter, it's also much more than nachos, burritos, quesadillas, fajitas, guacamole, chili con carne, salsa, and chimichangas). Mexican cuisine is incredibly diverse. It just depends what you like. Taco Bell (or, as one of my former acquaintances has it, "Taco Hell") is nothing more than a pale approximation. I also know that "Texmex" is a blend of Texan and Mexican food, and "Calmex" is the same (except California-Mexican, obviously). But what are some of the differences? *looks it up* Never mind -- I think I found it. Here's the answer (or at least one answer): https://www.foodservicedirector.com/menu/cal-mex-culinary-trend-golden-state#:~:text=In%20contrast%20with%20Tex%2DMex,tacos%20gobernadores%2C%20tlayudas%20and%20alambres.
If I were supreme dictator of the world, it would be illegal for nations not to have access to Mexican food. Mexican food should be a right for all!
Spoiler The words to Weird Al's "Taco Grande". As seen above. This is almost all the Spanish I know. Taco ... Grande Taco ... Grande Yo quiero chimichangas y chile colorado Yo tengo el dinero para un steak picado Las flautas y tamales, siempre muy bueno Y el chile relleno You see, I just gotta have a tostada, carne asada That's right, I want the whole enchilada My only addiction has to do with a flour tortilla I need a quesadilla I love to stuff my face with tacos al carbón With my friends, or when I'm all alone Yo tengo mucho hambre y ahora lo quiero Un burrito ranchero So give me something spicy and hot, now Break out the menu, what you got, now? Oh, would you tell the waiter I'd like to have sour cream on the side You better make sure the beans are refried Taco ... Grande Taco ... Grande Well, there's not a taco big enough for a man like me That's why I order two or three Let me give you a tip, just try a nacho chip It's really good with bean dip I eat uno, dos, tres, cuatro burritos Pretty soon I can't fit in my Speedos Well, I hope they feed us lots of chicken fajitas And a pitcher of margaritas Well, the combination plates all come with beans and rice The taquitos here are very nice Now I'm down on my knees, we need some extra tomatoes and cheese And could you make that separate checks, please? Taco ... Grande Taco ... Grande "Buenos noches, señor. bienvenido a Enrico's Casa de Salsa Tenemos muchos platos muy sabrosos Si puedo recomendar el ardiente pollo al infierno muy delicioso Sus ojos se quemarán, su estomago estará en fuego Se quedarán en el baño por una semana Entiendes lo que digo gringo estúpido tonto?" Well, the food is coming, I can hardly wait Now watch your fingers, careful hot plate! What you think you're doing with my chile con queso? Well, if you want some, just say so! Oh boy, pico de gallo -- They sure don't make it like this in Ohio No gracias, yo quiero jalepeños, nada más You can toss away the hot sauce ¿Dónde están los nachos? Holy frijole! You better get me a bowl of guacamole ¿Y usted, Eugene? Why's your face turning green? Don't you like pinto bean? You want some more cinnamon crispas? If you don't, hasta la vista Just take the rest home in a doggie bag if you wanna You can finish it mañana Well, it's been a pleasure, I can't eat no more Señor, la cuenta, por favor If you ain't tried real Mexican cooking, well, you oughta Just don't drink the water Taco ... Grande Taco ... Grande Taco ... Grande
I don't listen to "Weird Al" Yankovic's music for its cultural value (in the same way that I might, say, listen to Franz Schubert, or see the plays of Oscar Wilde). I listen to his music because it's fun. Also, Al is a talented and successful musician, a hard worker, cares about his family, and on top of that, he is also a genuinely nice guy in an industry where nice guys usually finish last. For all those reasons, I respect him.
I'm obviously not in the petri dish (lacking culture) because I have no idea what weird Al Yankovic has to do with anything. Was that his song?
Oh. (When ya talk about Dylan, he thinks you're talkin' about Dylan Thomas... whoeveh he was. The man ain't got no culchuh.)
