its about expectations. I grew up in California and have some specific expectations about Mexican food. they are different than if I was raised in Jalisco. I went to a “Mexican” restaurant in Budapest and their interpretation of Mexican food is VERRY different.
Mexico, like the vast majority of countries, has wildly different food styles by region city so anyone who immigrated elsewhere will start with their local style and then adapt it. In the US there are a ton of Mexican restaurants that vary significantly. I find it interesting how Americanized Chinese food is actually very consistent between restaurants compared to Mexican food.
I remember watching a video somewhere that touched upon this. IIRC, whenever a Chinese immigrant came to a city in the United States with a large Chinese population, such as San Francisco, they would seek out people from their hometown and would often be directed to benevolent societies. These societies help provide means for the immigrant to start looking after themselves, by offering different professions folks can jump into. Often times that would include providing recipes for dishes they could fix up at restaurants.
I think the video was a documentary about General Tso’s chicken.
Okay I made a quick pop in to Wikipedia just to check, and I can tell you that General Tsao and General Tso were different people. Several different people in fact, some fictional and others real, but they don’t overlap.
It’s “General Tso’s Chicken” and has been a NYT Crossword clue, which got me started with “in case you ever need it for a crossword clue,” because I know accurate spelling is not really necessary here.
Did you see there’s a national chain of Mexican restaurants that just shuttered their doors in the US after a failed expansion here? It was founded by two Australian men. I’m really curious what their interpretation is.
Tex-Mex is “actual” Mexican food, the cuisine formed from the Tejanos and is older than either Texas or Mexico. Mexico is a big place with lots of regional variation. Most Mexican food that Americans are familiar with is from or inspired by stuff near the border (which makes sense) with a mix from all over the country like mole, birria, and tequila.
its about expectations. I grew up in California and have some specific expectations about Mexican food. they are different than if I was raised in Jalisco. I went to a “Mexican” restaurant in Budapest and their interpretation of Mexican food is VERRY different.
Mexico, like the vast majority of countries, has wildly different food styles by region city so anyone who immigrated elsewhere will start with their local style and then adapt it. In the US there are a ton of Mexican restaurants that vary significantly. I find it interesting how Americanized Chinese food is actually very consistent between restaurants compared to Mexican food.
I am well aware of the regional differences in Mexican food (why I used Jalisco as an example).
shit, California was a part of mexico for a a few decades and we definitely have some local variants (CA Burrito is so good)
Modern Mission-style burritos, with rice and beans on the inside, were invented in California.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_burrito
I remember watching a video somewhere that touched upon this. IIRC, whenever a Chinese immigrant came to a city in the United States with a large Chinese population, such as San Francisco, they would seek out people from their hometown and would often be directed to benevolent societies. These societies help provide means for the immigrant to start looking after themselves, by offering different professions folks can jump into. Often times that would include providing recipes for dishes they could fix up at restaurants.
I think the video was a documentary about General Tso’s chicken.
-editted for accuracy-
Okay I made a quick pop in to Wikipedia just to check, and I can tell you that General Tsao and General Tso were different people. Several different people in fact, some fictional and others real, but they don’t overlap.
It’s “General Tso’s Chicken” and has been a NYT Crossword clue, which got me started with “in case you ever need it for a crossword clue,” because I know accurate spelling is not really necessary here.
Much appreciated! Accuracy is important
Did you see there’s a national chain of Mexican restaurants that just shuttered their doors in the US after a failed expansion here? It was founded by two Australian men. I’m really curious what their interpretation is.
Very different to what you experience in the USA? or very different to what you’d experience in Mexico?
Most Mexican food in the USA is TexMex which is inspired, but fairly different, from actual Mexican food… same with Chinese food
Tex-Mex is “actual” Mexican food, the cuisine formed from the Tejanos and is older than either Texas or Mexico. Mexico is a big place with lots of regional variation. Most Mexican food that Americans are familiar with is from or inspired by stuff near the border (which makes sense) with a mix from all over the country like mole, birria, and tequila.