# The Mexican Food Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 11, 2001, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035 "2001-02-11T13:16:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035/21 "2001-02-11T23:20:51Z")
hey zenster, ever eaten the tacos from the el toyanense taco trucks on harrison st in SF? man, o manischevitz! one dollar buys: two beautiful lil corn tortillas, a big hotel spoon of carne asada, or al pastor, or cabeza, a spoon of nice spicy red sauce (not salsa) and some chopped onions and cilantro. heaven! no beans, rice, lettuce, cheese, any of that. i always order one more than i should really eat. my guatemalan pal taught me to bite the tip offa the pickled jalapeno and pour the juice all over em. ai dolor! theyre good. chiles en nogada get me really really hot. ive never seen em on a menu, i make em myself. i love enchiladas in a most unreasonable fashion, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035/22 "2001-02-11T23:22:54Z")
As you can see, I love my Mexican food. **Java** is correct when she says that true Mexican food does not use scads of cheese. If you pause to consider it, cheese is a very expensive and difficult food stuff to make. It requires large amounts of pasture and specialized equipment. This is definitely not the norm for most of Mexico. More frequently it is Tex-Mex dishes that are slathered in melted cheese. This is why I strongly recommend trying a well made Chile Relleno. It is one of the truly sublime Mexican dishes as **beckwall** noted. When you see Cheddar cheese on your food, you can be assured that it is not authentic. I will disagree about tacos however. One of the quickest ways to tell if you are getting the real thing is to order a beef taco. It it arrives filled with ground beef, you can immediately assume that the rest of the menu will be suspect as well. That said, some of my very favorite Mexican restaurants serve ground beef in their tacos, I just do not order them when I go there. As strange as it sounds, even here amidst the rich Hispanic heritage of Silicon Valley it can be difficult to find good Mexican food. I am continually astounded by this. Good Mexican food is fairly easy to make and pretty difficult to ruin. Yet all too often, the slop that I run into in these restaurants is many grades below what I can make myself. I would like to think that this is due to them adjusting the flavors for us gringos, but that is both egocentric and incorrect. Lots of these restaurants have an almost exclusively Hispanic clientele, so that cannot be the answer. It’s not just you **samclem** , lots of places really muck up what should be fine and tasty eats. I cannot believe that I left out one of my favorite combinations in the OP. [li]Refried beans and Spanish rice with yellow corn tortilla chips.[/li] This combo is fabulous in its depth of flavor. The complete nutrition formed by the corn and beans is overshadowed by the almost cashew-like flavor. Scoop up some of the rice, beans and melted cheese on a chip and get ready to forget your name (it’s that good). The compendium below reprises all of my Mexican food submissions to the recipe [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=52447). The link will take you to the Active Index for easy navigating. There are many other excellent recipes there that are not included in my personal compendium. Be sure to peruse them as many are quite authentic. [li][\*\* Sopa De Arroz Con Pollo\*\*](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=750276#post750276)[/li]_Chicken and Rice Soup_ [sup]Submitted by **Zenster** [/sup] [li][**Guacamole**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=752733#post752733)[/li]_Mexican Avocado Dip_ [sup]Submitted by **Zenster** [/sup] [li][\*\*Pico de Gallo \*\*](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=756265#post756265)[/li]_Hot Mexican Relish_ [sup]Submitted by **Zenster** [/sup] [li][**Carnitas**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=764904#post764904)[/li]_Crispy Mexican Style Pork_ [sup]Submitted by Zenster[/sup] [li][**Chili de Guaillo**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=776095#post776095)[/li]_Authentic Old Style Mexican Chili_ [sup]Submitted by Zenster[/sup] [li][\*\*Ensalada de la Bandera \*\*](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=785683#post785683)[/li]\*Mexican Flag Salad \* [sup]Submitted by Zenster[/sup] [li][**Spanish Rice**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=805574#post805574)[/li]_Seasoned Rice_ [sup]Submitted by Zenster[/sup] [li][**Carne de Res**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=810894#post810894)[/li]_Shredded Mexican Beef_ [sup]Submitted by Zenster[/sup] [li][**Mexican Style Beans**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=820824#post820824)[/li]_Chili Beans_ [sup]Submitted by Zenster[/sup] [li][**Salsa Casera**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=827294#post827294)[/li]_Seranno Chilie Salsa_ [sup]Submitted by Zenster[/sup] [li][**Agent Orange**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=827370#post827370)[/li]_Habanero Salsa_ [sup]Submitted by Zenster[/sup] [li][**Chicken Enchiladas**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=882346#post882346)[/li]_Mexican Main Course_ [sup]Submitted by Zenster[/sup] [li][**Salsa 101**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=913701#post913701)[/li]_Salsa Making Techniques_ [sup]Submitted by Zenster[/sup] [li][**Jalapeño Salsa**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=913701#post913701)[/li]_Mexican Hot Sauce_ [sup]Submitted by Zenster[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035/23 "2001-02-11T23:23:21Z")
i have rick bayless’ authentic mexican cooking and it is very very good. ---
**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035/24 "2001-02-12T00:35:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by beckwall \* > I had a Rubio’s fish taco last night - add a squirt of lime and the white sauce and it’s perfect. You suck!!! 😉 Though I did find Rubio’s website and happily found that they have a restaurant a mere 90 miles away. Time for a roadtrip. ---
**Author:** ![jaimest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/48db29/32.png) [@jaimest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaimest)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035/25 "2001-02-12T00:56:14Z")
In Northern Mexico there are Mennonites who make incredible cheese, usually just called “queso menonita”. It is soft and white and its sold everywhere in Chihuahua. A brick of it can be bought for a dollar or so. Away from the northern states such as Chihuahua and Sonora, where there are Germans, and American influences from Mormon colonies, most Mexican food has almost no cheese or dairy (aside from a little crema), and beef is a rare treat. Pork, turkey, or chicken are almost always use in dishes that American “Mexican” restaurants use beef. In many ways “Mexican food” is an American invention, people in Mexico have different cuisines ranging from “Tex-Mex” along the border, seafood along the west coast, Afro-Carribean influenced in Veracruz to essentially pre-Columbian Indian in the far south, and American or European in the bigger cities. ---
**Author:** ![Fletch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/919ad9/32.png) [@Fletch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fletch)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035/26 "2001-02-12T01:06:55Z")
We have multiple mexican food restaurants, one or two are good, the rest are an insult to hispanics. We also have dozens of taco wagons, most of these have excellent food. My favorite food from our local taco wagon, Marthas’ Tacos, is a carne asada torta. This is a sandwich made from a mexican bakery roll, chopped marinated beef steak, lettuce, onions, salsa, and guacamole. The sandwich is garnished with sliced radishes and a whole jalapeno and includes a lime wedge. My favorite food at our favorite mexican restaurant is carne asada. But, absolutely annthing they serve is delicious. Taco Bell, Taco Time and the other joints that serve up swile should be banned. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035/27 "2001-02-12T01:26:00Z")
The locker here in town has started making chorizo. I don’t know how authentic it is – the ingredients are “pork and spices.” Our food choices are pretty limited here, and I always buy anything exotic, to encourage the grocer and the meat processor to keep experimenting. But I don’t know what to do with it. (I have a freezer full of fresh ginger for the same reason.) Seems like it’d be good in tacos, for sure, but what else? The best Mexican food I’ve found so far was in a little place near Pioneer Square in Seattle – I think it was on 1st Avenue at about Yesler or Cherry. Can’t recall the name, darn it. Excellent chicken mole. Heck, El Tapatio’s in Greenwood ain’t bad either. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035/28 "2001-02-12T02:26:01Z")
Anyone close to northern New Mexico (say, for example, within a continent or two) owes it to themselves to find a little village called Chimayo and go eat at a place called the Rancho de Chimayo. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035/29 "2001-02-12T17:28:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AuntiePam \* > **The locker here in town has started making chorizo. I don’t know how authentic it is – the ingredients are "pork and spices."** Actually, the official ingredients for chorizo are “lips and assholes.” ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035/30 "2001-02-12T17:43:07Z")
Barbacoa…Meat from a cows head cooked in a pit. Great stuff, a smile in every bite. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035/31 "2001-02-12T17:54:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zenster \* > \*\*What is your outstanding South-of-the-Border dish? When and where did you encounter your favorite concoction? \*\* That air-dried beef, marinated in lime and garlic, that they make in Tucson, Arizona. _Carne seca._ The Sonoran restaurant El Charro is famous for it. ---
**Author:** ![hapaXL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@hapaXL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hapaXL)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035/32 "2001-02-12T19:23:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zenster \* > \*\* My favorite Mexican restaurant (Mario’s La Fiesta in Berkeley, CA) makes better flautas than any I’ve had. \*\* this is the only restaurant i’ve ever been a “regular” at–the waitstaff know me! i guess eating there at least twice monthly for the past 8 years eventually has some effect. i’m vegetarian now, but i often have fantasies about their carne asada super burritos drenched in tomatillo salsa… Rubio’s fish tacos are also amazing. ---
**Author:** ![egkelly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/db5fbb/32.png) [@egkelly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/egkelly)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035/33 "2001-02-12T19:51:44Z")
I don’t consider Tex-mex to be the real thing. Real good mexican is NEW MEXICAN; the NM green chile peppers are the best in the world! I love green chile and pork stew, as made by MICHAEL’s Kitchen (taos, NM). And…the best thing-New Mexican Sopapillas (with honey butter) are divine! ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035/34 "2001-02-12T21:24:28Z")
I really love tortilla soup…chicken broth, grilled chicken, cheese, avocado, and crispy torillas… mmmm… And guacamole is really easy to make. One avocado. Juice of one lemon or lime. One spoonful salsa. The secret is LOTS of lemon/lime… ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035/35 "2001-02-13T00:43:03Z")
"Actually, the official ingredients for chorizo are “lips and assholes.” WOWZER! The SDMB is made up of the same ingredients as chorizo. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035/36 "2001-02-13T00:50:19Z")
bravo, samclem! ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035/37 "2001-02-13T01:46:16Z")
Ha! So what do I do with lips and assholes? ---
**Author:** ![deb2world](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@deb2world](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deb2world)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035/38 "2001-02-13T02:48:29Z")
While reading this thread I was envisioning my favorite Mexican food. I have only found it in El Centro, CA area. It is called a Special Quesadilla. It is made with cheese and butter deep fried in a pastry shell. It just melts in the mouth. I love good carne asada. It is hard to find a place that actually serves carne asada, what you usually get is just steak–where is the carne? I found a good place in Long Beach called Casa Sanchez. I grew up in a predominately Mexican area and have fond memories of homemade tortillas with butter. Oh, and a Mexican BBQ where the meat is cooked underground for a day. I need to go get something to eat, I am starving now. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035/39 "2001-02-13T03:28:36Z")
Your Mexican barbeque is called a pibil. This really deserves a recipe from Zenster, but what the hey. ---
**Author:** ![JoeyHemlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ba0ec/32.png) [@JoeyHemlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeyHemlock)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035/40 "2001-02-13T03:54:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by samclem \* > **If I can recommend a book-_Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen_ . It won a well-deserved Julia Child Cookbook of the Year Award just a few years ago.** I’ve been fortunate enough to eat at Mr. Bayless’ restaurant here in Chicago, The Frontera Grill. I also have three of his cookbooks (Mexican Kitchen, Salsas That Cook, and Mexico: One Plate at a Time). He also has a PBS cooking show that is INCREDIBLE. Look for his line of salsas and other products at [Frontera Kitchen’s website](http://www.fronterakitchens.com). There are also a load of recipes you can try. From his tutoring, I’ve made a great picadillo-stuffed chili rellenos, braised beef short ribs, tomatillo braised pork-loin, and oh so many more. I buy more poblano peppers than anyone I know. 🙂 Anyway, I can’t recommend his stuff or his show enough. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mexican-food-thread/54035.md?page=3)