I think you’ll find that Rick Bayliss’s Mexican Kitchen would give you a superb cook’s tour of Mexico. The background info on what is really available there is astounding.
He actually has two restaurants in Chicago-Frontera Grill and Topolobampo. Book ahead about a month. But you will be eating real Mex, only prepared by a great chef.
I think that’s the difference, as others in the thread have offered.
The Griffin You asked what is cilantro?
It used to be called coriander or Chinese parsley. These days it is just cilantro.
Bren-Cameron Rick Bayliss offers in his book that “…while sprigs of the large-leafed variety are beautiful as a garnish, smaller cilantro seems to be tastier, with no soapy, bitter flavor.”
You might try a different supplier.
Cilantro is also known as Coriander. The seeds are called coriander, while the leaves are known by their spanish name. Coriander roots are sometimes used in Thai cooking.
pugluvr - I don’t have a recipe of my own, sorry to say. But I found this link that pretty closely matches what I’ve seen here. (I misstated pecans in my earlier post, should have said almonds.)
I’ve been to the Bayless’ Frontera Grill in Chicago, several years ago. It was pretty good, but they definitely made some “adaptations” from the traditional recipes.
I don’t know if it’s still there, but the Hacienda Tecalitlan (on Ashland at Chicago Ave., I think) had some very authentic regional cooking from Jalisco state, as well as live mariachi music.
Lupita’s in Evanston had some pretty good Mexican fish dishes.
For taquería food (and pancita/menudo on weekends), try Atotonilco on 26th Street.
KarlGrenze - Agreed, much of the “typical” ethnic food that nonnative diners get excited about is not standard fare at the finer local restaurants. If the jet-setting crowd wants to pay eight dollars for a dallop of bean dip at the Guatemala City Sheraton, more power to them. But then again I suppose shit on a shingle is American peasant food, and Easterners still pay good money to eat Chipped Beef on Toast at Cheyenne Days.
I’ll check it out. I always wonder what I’m missing when I hear people rave about cilantro.
I’ve always heard that it’s a genetic difference, like rolling your tongue, that to some people cilantro tasted like soap, and some thought it tasted great. I asked the all-knowing Google, and got a number of folks saying things like “of course it’s well known that there’s a genetic difference that causes cilantro to taste soapy to some people” but nothing that seemed definite–just anecdotal stuff, “someone told me” kind of things.
Anybody know what the story is with that?
Authenticity - in China, that would mean pig intestine soup, rice with grit in it, etc. In Vietnam, pickled pigs’ ears. There’s a limit to how much authenticity we want.
Cilantro - usually called Coriander here - is an indispensible ingredient in Thai, Vietnamese, some Chinese, some Indian, and much Middle Eastern/N African cuisine, as well as Mexican. Wonderful stuff.
Now - my turn to display ignorance. What’s a pasilla chili? Drooling all over the keyboard after reading JavaMaven1’s reference to Chiles Pasillas Rellenos de Papa , I did a search and found these…
http://www.pepperfool.com/recipes/mexican/pasilla_stuffed.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~rlusk12/recipes/article_dk.html
I must try them. Am I right in assuming you need the large, not particularly hot chillies (can’t imagine stuffing anything into the little 1 inch Thai-type chillis)?
The first few times I tried cilantro, it tasted soapy and unpleasant to me, so I didn’t eat it again for a few years. Then I tried it again, and it tasted great. I eat it often now. It’s as if I had lost the ability to detect that soapiness. Also, I think that I Read Somewhere (sorry, that’s the best I can do for a cite 
) that that is what happens - you lose your sensitivity to that soapy flavour after a while.
I think like any “spice” like ajo (garlic) or cebolla (onion), whether it taste good or bad depends much how you eat it and if you grew eating food with it. I know a good number of people who avoid onions at all costs. Mustard for example is not well loved by a good number of Mexicans, many prefer mayo in their burgers. So, yes, DON’T eat cilantro by itself. Why would you? 
No, eat it with frijoles a la charra. Eat in tacos with onions and fajita/trompo/bistek. Eat sopa de vegetales with cilantro. Man, I would NEVER imagine eating frijoles (beans) WITHOUT cilantro. It’s just not the same.
XicanoreX
Pasilla is the dried form of the Chilaca pepper. It has a sweet, almost raisin-like flavor. Somewhat spicy, but the chile paste is tolerable for most palates. Very good with shrimp and other seafood, as well as a variety of chicken dishes.
Also, when you order tortilla soup, the chile strips that come on the side are pasilla.
Wow.
Thanks for all the info guys!
Now comes problem #2; where to find these tasty-sounding dishes in freaking Massachusetts…
Do what samclem sez…pick yourself up a copy of Rick Bayliss’s Mexican Kitchen. And make it yourself.
I WORSHIP that cookbook. It’s worth the hardcover price for the taco recipes alone.
Damn, it’s worth the price for the chicken-and-greens-in-tomatillo-sauce-taco recipe alone.
Well, depends where ya live or who you hang out with. 
Any Mexican neighborhood in Boston? If not, try hangin’ out with Mexican farmworkers. No, seriously, many of my pips migrate from the Lower Rio Grande Valley (near the Mexico border in Texas) and go to Mass to work in the fields. A good number should make good Mexican cooking . . .oh, well, is worth a try.
XicanoreX
arisu Somehow, I just knew Uke would arrive. Just bait the hook with the name of Rick Bayliss or John Thorne and you caught yourself a tuna.
Since you appear to be a student, I doubt that you’ll be taking Ike’s advice and cooking your own. If you can, go for it. It will make you a better person later in life. And, women love guys who can cook good stuff.
Otherwise, pick up a copy of Zagat for Boston/Mass. and try out some of their Mex places. While it may be more commercial, it might point you away from mediocre places and in the direction of better food.
Also, try to find out how to implement xicanorex’s suggestion. Inquire in the local Mexican community. He/she makes me want to travel to Mexico City for a week of serious eating.
That may all be very well and good, but do guys like a woman who can cook? I’m a girl 
I am indeed a student, but I think I might pick up a few o’ these cookbooks. Without question it’ll be cheaper than eating out in Boston (The City Where Everything Is 25% More Expensive Than It Would Be Back Home In The Midwest).
:o Guy? Did I say “guy?” How chauvanistic of me.
Seriously, if you are at all interested in cooking, Bayliss is the way to go. Enjoy.
Just in case you think he’s joking: he’s not. Follow the Mexicans. Look for a Mexican restaurant somewhere and if there are people who look like they might be Mexican inside… well, it’s worth a shot. (Many will have a Mexican flag inside)
I did a quick Google, if Boston’s not too far away for you give this place a shot:
I haven’t been to this place, so can’t give it a reco, but it sounds like a good start in your quest. Let us know what you think.
. . .and has our Virgencita de Guadalupe, Judas Tadeo, and a cd player kickin’ the latest jams from Intocable, Los Tigres del Norte, Ramon Ayala, Jose y Jose, Banda El Recodo, Los Cadetes de Linares, etc. ¡Ajua!
XicanoreX
Hey, the place I go nearby when I’m jonesing for Mex (Taqueria Mercado) has all of that. And they sell the CDs. Actually, it’s in a small strip mall that consists of the restaurant, a bar attached to the restaurant, a Check-N-Pay (check cashing service), Mexican bakery and a small bodega. There’s also a check cashing and phone call service in the restaurant.
Hmm real Mexican food…I live in El Paso - where I would boast that the Mexican food is better and more authentic than in much of the rest of the country.
However, even here most people will tell you that for “real” Mexican food you still have to cross the border for a restaurant, or eat in someone’s own home. However there has been a local trend of sucessful restaurants from the Mexican side opening a version on this side.
In the area of Mexico south of us, Chihuahua, the food uses more red meat and dairy products than in most of the rest of Mexico. Sometimes a whole hog or cut side of beef will be prepared for a fiesta. Most of the cheese is light white and creamy, not cheddar type cheeses. Carnitas (fried bits of pork) are popular, as well as gorditas (real ones…not tacolike ones).
As you can tell, the local version of Mexican food isn’t too kind to the waistline.
But there is a whole range of cooking from proper dishes like mole poblano and other moles, pastries, and other foods far more elegant and refined than the stuff in a typical American Mexican restaurant to very humble dishes that you won’t find in most American restaurants, like morcilla (cooked hog blood), tripitas, buche, menudo, chicharrones, and so on.
In other parts of Mexico there are different dishes, along the coasts, seafood and fish are important. Along the lower Rio Grande and Northeast Mexico, cabrito (goat) is popular. Since migration usually goes along certain lines, Los Angeles Mexican food, Albuquerque Mexican food, and Houston Mexican food are probably pretty different.
Oh and another thing…Tex-Mex doesn’t always mean “Americanized” (even in Texas people often make say that though). In the back country and barrios of Texas you might find foods, customs, words, music, etc. that are local to the area and not found in Mexico - but hardly influenced by mainstream American culture.
Here’s a pretty detailed article on rural Tex Mex cooking.
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/TT/lgtlt.html
I think stuff like Nachos and Chilli are what most people associate with Tex-Mex though.