If they can do McDonalds, they can do Taco Bell. Chicken Maharaja Mac anyone?
It is indeed true that if you ask for a “burrito” in most of Mexico, they will wonder why you want a little donkey. The burrito eating region includes the extreme north of Mexico and the American Southwest/California. Flour tortillas are rarely eaten in most of Mexico and most tortilla-stuff combinations fall under the realm of “taco” (incidentally, these tacos can be rolled like burritos and “hard” tacos are not widely eaten) This doesn’t mean some guy named “Stanley” invented it though- these areas have had a continuous Mexican presence since well before the Anglos came to town. The burrito- like the majority of Mexican food in the US (most of which actually originates from Tex-Mex cuisine…refried beans, flour tortillas, even spicy hot sauce are all far more popular here than in Mexico)- is a culinary phenomenon that is both wholly Mexican and wholly American.
Indeed, different American cities with high Mexican populations have developed their own burrito styles. A Taqueria in San Francisco, even one with a nearly entirely Mexican clientele and Mexican staff, will serve the regional Mexican cusine of San Francisco- not the regional cuisine of some city in Mexico, and it will be quite different than a Taqueria in San Diego or Houston.
Mexican-food addict from California here. I too have wondered why the miracle of Mexican food has not reached the rest of the world. When I was living in Germany, I had been there for about 5 months and for Christmas my family sent me chips, bean dip and a salsa/cheese dip. It barely counts as Mexican food but I ate every last crumb. I can’t even remember anything else I got for Christmas that year!
I tried a Mexican place in Berlin - it was decidedly “meh.” I think much of Europe really can’t handle the peppers. I have a german girl staying with me right now and she thought my store-bought mole sauce was way too hot - and it barely even tingles! She could never handle raw jalapenos. I don’t recall ever even having spicy food in France or Germany. In England and Scotland the only spicy food available was Indian or Chinese. Now Mexico, on the other hand…:D.
That’s only Taco Bell, though - most “mom & pop” Mexican eateries do use pure lard. Lard was one of the staples I noticed in Acapulco groceries when I visited there years ago.
And I strongly suspect Taco Bell changed their refried bean recipe - I worked at one as a young gal, and I could’ve sworn the refrieds had lard then (this was in the 80’s).
I came across a decent Taco Shop–Las Olas–in Torquay, Australia. It advertised itself as a “California-Style” mexican eatery. Being from San Diego, I asked the the owner if he had ever considered fish tacos. He told me that it was tough enough selling “regular” mexican food–even though Aussies love their fish ‘n’ chips, battered cod and cabbage in a tortilla just wouldn’t go over too well.
I love fish tacos. The best was from a taco shop in Pacific beach (San Diego). But I like Rubio’s too. Unfortunately, there are no Rubios here in the PNW – at least in my area. I’ve had a fish taco at the Tacos del Mar chain. The fish was the size of my finger. I had a couple at Casa Que Pasa. Bigger piece of fish, but hidden in two tortillas under lettuce! and tomatoes and stuff. It ain’t a fish taco if you can’t pick it up with your fingers. I did find a decent fish taco at the mall, but they don’t do it quite right.
Maybe it’s a good thing I haven’t been able to find a job up here. If I move back to L.A. I can get decent Mexican food.
I’ve never had decent Mexican outside the Southwest US or Mexico itself. It’s like when you cross a certain magical latitude, the Mexican restaurants start sucking. I used to love visiting Texas and going to local diners with waitresses with names like Maria Luisa Teresa Rosario Jones and Nancy-Sue Gomez. Yum, enchiladas.
Dude, that stuff is not Mexican food! It’s Tex-Mex, or SouthWestern cuisine, call it anything you like but it ain’t what they eat in Mexico!
For the record, when done well - simple crisp fresh flavour of tomato and tasty chilies, beans, and corn - it’s wonderful, and it’s one of the saving graces of having to travel to the US as often as I do.
The answer to your question though is simple proximity. I complain about how hard it is to get good Thai in the US, but you don’t have it hardly at all so you don’t miss it. Here in Australia it’s ubiquitous and I can’t understand how we got on before it was so.
There’s a Thai restaurant a quarter-mile away from me. But it’s not as good as in L.A. (where they are ubiquitous), and more expensive to boot. They don’t even have beef satay. And they make their pa neang with jalapeños. What’s up with that?
If you want to make decent Mexican food outside the US, you do run into some problems. First, it’s impossible to find any sort of masa. It just doesn’t exist. This means no masa-based tamales and no corn tortillas. That’s a significant blow right there. Also, I’ve never seen tomatillos in Europe. The types of peppers you find there, too, are quite different than what’s used in Mexico.
Not to say that I haven’t had decent Mexican/Tex-Mex fare in Europe. In Budapest, where I spent 5 years, they had a place run by Americans called Iguana. It was surprisingly good–they even made their own Mexican-style chorizo. They were also the only place I saw with real corn chips and good Mexican salsa. You’d be able to find salsa at the local groceries, but these were weird, sometimes even ketchup-based concoctions. Iguana did it right: tomatoes, cilantro, onions, garlic, jalapenos. (I’m not sure where they got their jalapenos–perhaps they grew their own somewhere, as I’ve never seen them in Hungary).
Honestly, I think a big part of it is the availability of ingredients.
Hm. Every Thai place I’ve been to has had satay. The one on the beach has chicken satay, but it’s not the same. Sometimes I can get them to make the pa neang with cerrano chilis. But they don’t seem to like making food too spicy. Lots of food up here is pretty bland. Surprising, since there are a lot of Canadians here and Asian and Indian foods are readily available just 35 miles away in Vancouver.
As for prices, the local place charges 50% - 100% more than I’d pay in L.A. Kind of rough when I can eat Thai food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner three or four days in a row.
In the late 70s my mom had to mail my sister care packages of California chili powder and corn tortillas to Arlington, Virginia so she wouldn’t starve while her husband was in the military. She’d call home and tell us there wasn’t any food there. Not even ingredients!
I was in Florida last winter and found Cuban restaurants and bakeries, but no Mexican ones. My mom could make a fortune!
My mom had a woman come in to clean and cook occasionally. I loved coming home from school and hearing the slapping sound as Maria made tortillas. Warm tortillas with butter make a great snack. The bulk of the tortillas would be used to make enchiladas. She’d do the meat from scratch too, and shred it with a fork.
Okay, this thread is making me A) hungry; and B) miss California.
Thai isn’t hard to get in the US…at least I’ve never had a hard time finding a good Thai restaurant in nearly every city I’ve been too (and I’ve been to quite a few).
For the OP…I’d say its hard to find good Mexican food outside the US because there aren’t that many Mexicans outside the US…nor is there a built up appreciation for Mexican food (so no ready market). In addition the ingrediants are hard to find (the RIGHT ones that is…ever tried to make home made tomales for instance?) outside of the southwest…and substitutions really radically change the final dish. Finally, its hard to find good AUTHENTIC Mexican (not that California/Texas crapola :)) in the US outside of Arizona and New Mexico…and its not even that easy to find good places THERE all the time. (Just kidding you wacky Californians…there are a few good Mexican places there. You guys in Texas though… ).
And some Mexican foods I’m unsure of how the wider world would take. Menutho and calavacitas for instance.
Give it a couple of years. We are well on our way to taking over the US…the next stop is THE WORLD!! MUAHAHAHAHA!
My genuine Mexican teachers-aide told me his mom visited from Mexico to Los Angeles. He said, “Let’s go out for Mexican.” As a joke, he took her to Taco Bell.
She asked him, “When are we going for Mexican?” She didn’t realize that “tortilla” means “Mexican” to Americans, despite the blandness of the contents.
There are plenty of Mexican restaurants around here (South-East Queensland), which include a local restaurant chain (and they are restaurants, not McFood places) called Montezuma’s, who do Mexican Food as good as anything I’ve eaten in the US…
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