Tribe76: tell me about authentic Mexican food

[321Nole]

I've heard countless people tell me about what isn't authentic Mexican, but as of yet nobody has been able tell me about what IS authentic Mexican food.

I figured I should go straight to the resident LR expert for advice. I could Google but I prefer to get your more descriptive take.

So what gives, burritos are out right? Is stuff like carne asada authentic? What else?
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[DefNotPanHandler2007]

Not tribe, but let me take a crack at it.


Mexican cuisine is primarily a fusion of indigenous spices.
While the Spanish initially tried to impose their own diet on the country, this was not possible and eventually the foods and [2]

 

[DFSNOLE]

 

[Fijimn]

Mole...they that chit on everything.

 

[seminole4life1]

Originally posted by DefNotPanHandler2007:
Not tribe, but let me take a crack at it.


Mexican cuisine is primarily a fusion of indigenous spices.
While the Spanish initially tried to impose their own diet on the country, this was not possible and eventually the foods and [2]

Haha. Perfect.

 

[Bartdog]

Originally posted by Fijimn:

Mole...they that chit on everything.

ewwwww

 

[2noles1cup]

I could eat eggs chilaquiles every day of the year.

 

[mnole03]

After watching a few episodes of Mexico: One Plate at a Time with Rick Bayless, I can safely say I'll never understand all that is Mexican food.

 

[F4Gary]

A lot of white mexican cheese on everything. Either melted or crumbled.

 

[Naught-Nole-Buc]

I can't explain the difference... but I've come to realize I prefer Tex/Mex as opposed to authentic Mexican food. I've been to a few proclaimed "authentic" Mexican places here in Orlando and the food seems to be more bland than Tex/Mex, IMO
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[SWFNole]

Originally posted by Naught-Nole-Buc:
I can't explain the difference... but I've come to realize I prefer Tex/Mex as opposed to authentic Mexican food. I've been to a few proclaimed "authentic" Mexican places here in Orlando and the food seems to be more bland than Tex/Mex, IMO
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It is more bland, that's why.
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[cmanole]

Tribe, you have arrived...

 

[FSUTribe76]

Originally posted by cmanole:
Tribe, you have arrived...

Yep, but I haven't had enough time to draft my treatise yet. The short version is that there's a ton of different Mexican cuisines maybe almost as many as Chinese yet in a smaller country. But you can break it down to about a handful of different general categories. And almost none of them match up with what Americans consider "Mexican" except for Sonoran. Sonoran has a lot of the burritos and tacos Americans know and love.

 

[FSUTribe76]

Originally posted by FSUTribe76:

Originally posted by cmanole:
Tribe, you have arrived...

Yep, but I haven't had enough time to draft my treatise yet. The short version is that there's a ton of different Mexican cuisines maybe almost as many as Chinese yet in a smaller country. But you can break it down to about a handful of different general categories. And almost none of them match up with what Americans consider "Mexican" except for Sonoran. Sonoran has a lot of the burritos and tacos Americans know and love.

Actually this website breaks down the general cuisines (there's a lot more subcategories that are as different as New Mexican versus Arizonan versus CalTex versus TexMex, for example they just say "the North" but Baja (a lot of seafood) is pretty different from Sonoran (the typical beef and cheese we Americans think of) pretty good so I don't have to.

Link to breakdown

 

[FSUTribe76]

I personally prefer Yucatan and Oaxacan places when you can find authentic versions of them, but I just read an article on Pueblan versus Oaxacan and now I'm ready to hunt down a Pueblan place.

 

[321Nole]

That's a lot of $&@& man! No wonder it's so difficult to explain... there's dozens of varieties.
I'm surprised there aren't more restaurants out there that try to take that on. I guess getting all the ingredients and styles would be tough, but it seems like any average sized city should have at least one good restaurant specializing in a few of the styles.
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[321Nole]

P.s. Thanks for posting the link
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[FSUTribe76]

Originally posted by 321Nole:
That's a lot of $&@& man! No wonder it's so difficult to explain... there's dozens of varieties.
I'm surprised there aren't more restaurants out there that try to take that on. I guess getting all the ingredients and styles would be tough, but it seems like any average sized city should have at least one good restaurant specializing in a few of the styles.
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I agree 100%. Now when you're in LA you can usually find quite a few specialized places but not even there you can't find all subcategories (that article I just read on Oaxacan versus Pueblan specifically said that while there were lots of Oaxacan places in LA there were no Pueblan just people who cooked their homeland cuisine at home. I'd definitely love to be able to go to a specialized Baja or Yucatan place.

Even an my favorite semi-authentic place in Tampa (Taco Bus) is all over the map. Their pibil is Straight up Yucatan but they also make carne asada in the more typical Sonoran style and their al pastor is likely based on a Pueblan recipe. So you could say that Taco Bus is authentic I suppose but it's all over the map like going into an American restaurant that has Phillies, Eastern Carolina bbq and crawfish jambalaya.






This post was edited on 3/23 12:29 AM by FSUTribe76