Posted on 05/16/2012 2:34:51 PM PDT by mojito
....There is nothing remotely Mexican about Potato Olés—not even the quasi-Spanish name, which has a distinctly Castilian accent. The burrito was more insulting to me and my heritage than casting Charlton Heston as the swarthy Mexican hero in Touch of Evil. But it was intriguing enough to take back to my hotel room for a taste. There, as I experienced all of the concoction’s gooey, filling glory while chilly rain fell outside, it struck me: Mexican food has become a better culinary metaphor for America than the melting pot.
Back home, my friends did not believe that a tater tot burrito could exist. When I showed them proof online, out came jeremiads about inauthenticity, about how I was a traitor for patronizing a Mexican chain that got its start in Wyoming, about how the avaricious gabachos had once again usurped our holy cuisine and corrupted it to fit their crude palates.
In defending that tortilla-swaddled abomination, I unknowingly joined a long, proud lineage of food heretics and lawbreakers who have been developing, adapting, and popularizing Mexican food in El Norte since before the Civil War. Tortillas and tamales have long left behind the moorings of immigrant culture and fully infiltrated every level of the American food pyramid, from state dinners at the White House to your local 7-Eleven. Decades’ worth of attempted restrictions by governments, academics, and other self-appointed custodians of purity have only made the strain stronger and more resilient. The result is a market-driven mongrel cuisine every bit as delicious and all-American as the German classics we appropriated from Frankfurt and Hamburg.
(Excerpt) Read more at reason.com ...
And I make my chile con queso proudly with American cheese.
Bad timing dude. Just my opinion.
Still, a "tater tot burrito?"
Say it isn't so ~ please!
“Mexican” and “Chinese” food in the USA is completely Americanized.
Sort of like Cinqo de Mayo is really an American (advertising) holiday that isn’t really celebrated in Mexico.
Talking about Mexican food is like talking about French or Italian or Spanish food. Which part? Brittany isn't the French Med food, Northern Italian is very different than southern, it's all regional.
Vive la difference!
/johnny
I have nothing against Mexican food. I have enjoyed it on occasion. No more. I don’t like what’s happening to our country, and the militant invasion of our Southern border, so I will not patronize anything Mexican. Sorry, but that’s just me. When the illegals return to their country, and Mexico becomes a good neighbor, then I’ll reconsider. Not before.
...just as St. Patrick's Day was never celebrated in Ireland until American tourists started coming expecting to see the celebrations.
If ya can stomach Moe's skunk flavored cooking oil.
I'll drink a beer to that. And I did.
/johnny
We are all doomed!
There is a big difference between “Mexican” food in San Diego and Mexican food in Tijuana. Burritos and tacos on the U.S. side are much bigger than they are south of the border. My favorite Mexican food are tamales. Good tamales are very hard to find here. They have to be made fresh every day. The best tamales are the Oaxacan style wrapped in banana leaves (hojas de plantana). I think they taste so good because they are made with real lard.
Don't confuse illegals with legals, and the addition to our culture that they bring. Including cooking styles.
/johnny
I like the homewrecker at moes. I was surprised when I went to Mexico and the taco meat wasn’t ground beef. It was chunks of steak.
Two nightmares I have experienced:
1. A pizza in Paris (” Did they just plop an egg on that?”)
2. A lasagna in Landstuhl (Germany)
I will boldly state from experience that the average Mexican food in America is better here than there. Ditto for Chinese food. Better ingredients and bigger portions. I don’t care about “authentic”, I care about what tastes good.
/johnny
What grows where I live lends itself to American cooking. Mexican restaurants here are an outgrowth of the illegal farm workers the migrated to the area. Sorry, but I’ll stay with my American cuisine.
>>“Mexican” and “Chinese” food in the USA is completely Americanized<<
When I want Mexican food, I go to Mexico. It is amazing just how much Americans destroyed it. For example, Gringos seem to think that you slather salsa of some kind or another on EVERYTHING. That is wrong — you marinate the meat and add salsa sparingly (or, better still, eat small chiles between bites).
And how we changed things I don’t know. What we call a “burrito” (generally) they call a “taco.” What we call a “taco” they call a “taquito.” What we call a “taquito” they call a “flauta.”
And they still cook on open mesquite ovens and use the BLESSED ingredient LARD (heaven!).
American Mexican food is just American Food — a few steps from a hamburger.
Heck, there is a big difference between Calif and what I get in Tenn when it comes to tacos and burritos.
We buy tamales from a Mexican woman that makes them in her home. But they are the bready kind with lots of masa. Filling though.
I like dishes from New Mexico such as green chile stew and stuffed sopaipillas. I also like cuisine from central and southern Mexico, such as pollo en pipián or mole poblano. Incidentally, I first tasted pollo en pipián in a restaurant in Australia whose waitress was from northern England.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.