NationStates Jolt Archive

I don't understand why there are so many Mexican resteraunts in my area that are ran by Mexicans that don't serve real Mexican food. It not even Tex- Mex. People love it when I cook authentic Mexican food, so it's not that the average American doesn't have the tastebuds for it.

Anyone else miss authentic food? Where from?

Cultures integrate in America, picking up our existing cultural norms and tastes, while maintaining a major portion of their own original culture. The case with Mexican food is very closely akin to this fact.

I've been raised on Tex-Mex though, my grandmother was born and raised in San Antonio, and she makes the best honest-to-god enchiladas in the world. Crazy-delicious.

There is a lot of good sonoran mexican food to be had here in Phoenix.

There are a few places that rival my friend's mexican mother's cooking. Places *she* likes to go eat.

Cultures integrate in America, picking up our existing cultural norms and tastes, while maintaining a major portion of their own original culture. The case with Mexican food is very closely akin to this fact.

I've been raised on Tex-Mex though, my grandmother was born and raised in San Antonio, and she makes the best honest-to-god enchiladas in the world. Crazy-delicious.

People laugh at me. When I visit San Antonio, eating is on my To Do list. I would sell a kidney for a Taco Cabana bean and cheese burrito. I also buy about $100 worth of tamales, freeze them and take them home.

I just don't understand what's going on with the tortillas in the PNW. They aren't supposed to be flaky, dry, and tasteless.

Real enchiladas. Second best food ever.

What's the best?


I was disappointed when I went to Spain a while ago... The food was pretty much the same as you'd get here. A bit more squid, but nothing really very Spanish. You'd've thought that Spain and England would've had significantly different food on offer.

Best meal I had there was... Thai. In a restaurant owned by an ex-pat Brit and his Thai wife. And we weren't staying in a city, but halfway up a mountain in a village, about a 40-minute drive from the supermarket.

Ho hum.

I moved to Bismarck, ND from Seattle two years ago for a job.

I MISS SPICES OF ANY KIND. :(

You can get decently flavored meals here, but they're only served at the very upscale restaurants. Example -- I can get Thai noodles, spiced up quite nicely, but I have to pay at least $18 for a normal portion, and there's only one option on that menu ('cause the menu's usually filled with steaks, which are great, but not all the damned time). Whereas, in the International District, University District or Capitol Hill regions of Seattle, I can get an equal -- if not better -- quality Thai meal with a full Thai menu for $4-$8.

I could clean up here if I opened a teriyaki place or Thai strip-mall type place and charged only $6 for a heaping styrofoam take-out box full of spicy goodness. I about fainted when Qdoba and Taco Del Mar opened up here. Perhaps if I hold out a few more years...

I miss spices. The Indian and Middle Eastern food at Cedars on Brooklyn in Seattle...or Wild Ginger...of the Flying Fish...mmmmmmm.

Cardamom, cilantro, curry (red, yellow, green, orange), poblano chiles, lemongrass, garlic, mole sauce (that's mo-LAY, for those of you thinking I like rodents -- it's a sweet-spicy chocolate-cinamon based Mexican suace)...THESE THINGS ARE NOT CRIMES!

But that's what I get for moving to the land of the Teutonic Nightmare.

I spent a summer in the HIll Country of Texas around San Marcos. Best damned food EVER. I'd never live there, but I would go back for a week of Tex-Mex gorging any time.

A good enchilada, along with sex, is in the top five of Things What Make Life Worth Living.

What's the best?


I was disappointed when I went to Spain a while ago... The food was pretty much the same as you'd get here. A bit more squid, but nothing really very Spanish. You'd've thought that Spain and England would've had significantly different food on offer.

Best meal I had there was... Thai. In a restaurant owned by an ex-pat Brit and his Thai wife. And we weren't staying in a city, but halfway up a mountain in a village, about a 40-minute drive from the supermarket.

Ho hum.

Tamales. Best food ever.


@ Intangelon: I have no idea what's up with the bland food in the PNW. I am picky about the grade of spices I use. I can't just buy the Spice Island crap at safeway, I like my spice fresh. Whole foods used to have a huge selection of spices, they took it out presumably because no one used it.

Luckily I've found an apothacary that sells food-grade spices. She buys from the same place Whole Foods buys from:).

About once every two years my dad is required to spend a couple of weeks in India for business, and whenever he returns, he always returns with the most amazing spices. There's this chili-powder stuff that he always brings back...absolutely amazing...hot enough to make me cry, in sufficient quantities.

arent Mexicans in the US cooking and serving pizza and cheese steaks?

It would appear I am lucky. I live in a very diverse city, I get authentic Lebanese, Indian, West African, Ethiopian, Caribbean, Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Polish, German, Irish, English, Italian and Greek dining.
As well giventhe diverse immigrant community one can find a market that caters to any type of authentic cooking, I was just in an African grocery the other day just smelling spices I had never even heard of before.

I can honestly say I would not want to loose the ability to eat Labne with an Ethiopian Jew in a Lebanese Reastruant owned by a Yemeni who is eating his lunch from the Guatamalan reasstruant across the street.

I am a United States of American exchange student in Germany right now, and I miss:

1. Authentic American Chinese food: The Germans are terrible at this. Probably because there are a lot of Vietnamese here, brought into East Germany by the communist regime, who do it because there is no market for their own cuisine.

2. Authentic American Pasta: In Germany this is referred to as noodles. They are always soggy, and usually have a disgusting sauce that tastes like sausage.

I don't understand why there are so many Mexican resteraunts in my area that are ran by Mexicans that don't serve real Mexican food. It not even Tex- Mex. People love it when I cook authentic Mexican food, so it's not that the average American doesn't have the tastebuds for it.

Anyone else miss authentic food? Where from?Authentic is one of those words like original or traditional. They've come to mean fuck all. I seem to remember coming across some authentic american-style cola once.

Authentic is one of those words like original or traditional. They've come to mean fuck all. I seem to remember coming across some authentic american-style cola once.

I know authentic is pretty much code for "you've been hosed into paying $5 more a plate for ass food." I figured it captured what I meant well enough. Mexican food is plenty diverse, so calling it "original" or "traditional" isn't really accurate. I assume that's true for most other genre's of food.

If it's not authentic (as in this is how you'd find it if you visited that country), then call it something else. Tex-Mex isn't real Mexican food, it's a spin-off.

Not to beat the Mexican horse to death. My quest for tamales is what got me thinking about this subject to begin with.

It would appear I am lucky. I live in a very diverse city, I get authentic Lebanese, Indian, West African, Ethiopian, Caribbean, Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Polish, German, Irish, English, Italian and Greek dining.
As well giventhe diverse immigrant community one can find a market that caters to any type of authentic cooking, I was just in an African grocery the other day just smelling spices I had never even heard of before.

I can honestly say I would not want to loose the ability to eat Labne with an Ethiopian Jew in a Lebanese Reastruant owned by a Yemeni who is eating his lunch from the Guatamalan reasstruant across the street.

Where do you hail from?