Posted on 10/10/2007 10:25:36 AM PDT by AngelesCrestHighway
It sounds like a fast-food grudge match: Taco Bell is taking on the homeland of its namesake by reopening for the first time in 15 years in Mexico. Defenders of Mexican culture see the chain's re-entry as a crowning insult to a society already overrun by U.S. chains from Starbucks and Subway to KFC. "It's like bringing ice to the Arctic," complained pop-culture historian Carlos Monsiváis. The company's branding strategy — "Taco Bell is something else" — is an attempt to distance itself from any comparison to Mexico's beloved taquerias, which sell traditional corn tortillas stuffed with an endless variety of fillings, from spicy beef to corn fungus and cow eyes. Taco Bell, a unit of Louisville, Ky.,-based Yum Brands, made its name promoting its menu to Americans as something straight out of Mexico. But it's a very different dynamic south of the border. Here, the company projects a more "American" fast-food image by adding French fries — some topped with cheese, cream, ground meat and tomatoes — to the menu at its first store, which opened in late September in the northern city of Monterrey.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
I had thought of it, but I was hungry. Will get to it in a bit.
Aha - but tortilla prices have been rising dramatically!
Which doesn't affect Taco Bell because their tortillas are made out of some sort of space-age polymer????
Well, many of my co-workers have been to both Mexico AND China. Reports back from Mexico typically state that there are some American chains that serve somewhat realistic Mexican food, but Taco Bell ain't one of them. Reports back from China say that they couldn't stand their cuisine. It was too bland.
I've just always been disappointed that I can't get wienerschnitzel at Der Wienerschnitzel. They just look at me funny.
Not for the last 20 years though. They get the 'meat' prepared in a bag for boiling. There's no telling what's in there.
You can bet your bottom dollar that if you eat taco bell at least part of every taco IS a cow eye taco.
Corn fungus and cow eyes? That is not culture.
I had a piece of something in a burger once, I can’t remember which (McD’s BK or Wendy’s) that I swear was a piece of hoof...............
Corn fungus? Is that what you get on athlete’s foot?.........
Of course the real punchline is there’s no such thing as “Chinese” food, much like there’s no such thing as “American” food. China is a huge country with readily identifiable subcultures that all come with their own cuisine tradition. Most of the “Chinese” food in America is based on Szechuan but is pretty far removed from it’s original structure. We are slowly moving closer to the real thing in many places, largely as part of the overall shift in the American palate over the last couple of decades, assisted by the freer travel to China and the increasing number of people that have actually eaten the real deal.
We’ve gone through similar shifts in other “foreign” food. What we generally call Mexican food in America is really a bastardization of Northern non-coastal Mexican food, which is distinctly different than coastal or central Mexican cuisine. And the number of people that now readily admit Taco Bell isn’t Mexican food again reflects the changes in the American palate, our Mexican food still tends to be very different from the real thing largely because certain American psuedo-Mexican dishes have taken root. But the real thing can be found in some town, and at least our modern fake Mexican food generally tastes better than Taco Bell.
Get over it, guys. Taco Bell is not Mexican culture, it’s American culture. Don’t try to think of it as Mexican and I am sure you will be fine.
In this case, I gotta take the side of the Mexicans.
Slightly food ping list
Hey... I make my pie crust with lard instead of crisco-like products. It never fails to amaze our guests. AND for creations where the flavor is a welcome addition, bacon fat is great. My grandpa was Cajun and my folks from the midwest so cooking is in the DNA.
I have no doubt that what you say is true.And as I said earlier the only exposure I've ever had to Chinese food (here or in or near China) is the "Cantonese" style so that's the only type about which I can speak with any credibility.And for the record,in my neck of the woods "Cantonese" is the most commonly found regional style.Of course that may vary in other parts of the country.
Eww! Yeah, I think so.
Wiki says Cantonese is the most popular in America. I might have to bow to them, Szechuan tends to be very spicy, so it’s definitely more popular down here in Tucson where we’re well trained in food that fights back. Of course Szechuan gets a lot hotter than Mexican, which could be why we go after it, once you’ve gotten to the point where habanero doesn’t scare you any more you’ve got to go find a bigger burn. No idea which places are “more authentic” but if it tastes good I don’t care.
I don’t mind it at all. I’ll eat any fungi that doesn’t eat me first, LOL! :)
Agreed. See my Post #137. :)
There was a time when my older daughter thought Taco Bell had “the best meat in the world”. She was young.
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