Cookin again

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Made tamales for Christmas, as is Southern California law. Getting better at it, but still not in the league I want to be in. A lot of it seems to just be down to practice and technique, rather than any particular genius recipe.

 

[Zardnaar]

Made tamales for Christmas, as is Southern California law. Getting better at it, but still not in the league I want to be in. A lot of it seems to just be down to practice technique, rather than any particular genius recipe.

Can't find tamale's here. Mexican places tend to be rare and meh.

 

[trappedslider]

Can't find tamale's here. Mexican places tend to be rare and meh.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Can't find tamale's here. Mexican places tend to be rare and meh.

If you can get corn/maize and dried peppers of roughly the same time, it's all relatively easy -- in theory -- although doing things like making your own tortillas looks and feels pretty intimidating until you do it yourself.

One of the best things about Southern California is the wide variety of different cuisines (you want to get Afghan food at 11 p.m.? Caribbean? We can make it happen!), and it's something I'm definitely spoiled by.

 

[Zardnaar]

If you can get corn/maize and dried peppers of roughly the same time, it's all relatively easy, although doing things like making your own tortillas looks and feels pretty intimidating until you do it yourself.

Yeah but we won't have anything to compare it with.

We have Turkish instead and SEA stuff

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Yeah but we won't have anything to compare it with.

We have Turkish instead and SEA stuff

Hard to argue with great South East Asian.

And yeah, that's my challenge with making tamales: I've had them, but everyone who makes them relies on a lot of muscle memory and look and feel things that are hard to quantify. If it's hard for me to figure out how to do it, when my body is 25% tamale, learning how to do it off a recipe could be disastrous.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

It’s really difficult to replicate recipes away from their native settings, especially if you’re not very familiar with what good results should taste like.

I remember going to be in my college roomie’s wedding in Kansas City, MO. Most of the wedding party had all gone to the same college in Texas, so when we went in some restaurant and someone noticed they had fajitas, most of them ordered them. Several had had any since graduation. And we were in beef country, so how bad could they be?

Although everything looked right, it smelled right, and the beef was juicy & tender. But the flavor was a massive disappointment. It wasn’t even in the same flavor orbit as real Tex-Mex fajitas. Blaaaaaaaand.

 

[Zardnaar]

It’s really difficult to replicate recipes away from their native settings, especially if you’re not very familiar with what good results should taste like.

I remember going to be in my college roomie’s wedding in Kansas City, MO. Most of the wedding party had all gone to the same college in Texas, so when we went in some restaurant and someone noticed they had fajitas, most of them ordered them. Several had had any since graduation. And we were in beef country, so how bad could they be?

Although everything looked right, it smelled right, and the beef was juicy & tender. But the flavor was a massive disappointment. It wasn’t even in the same flavor orbit as real Tex-Mex fajitas. Blaaaaaaaand.

Americans here usually disappointed with our Mexican. It's not authentic or very good Tex Mex.

The one good one we've found and Americans seem to like isn't either one.

 

[Cadence]

A day later than usual, but my (non-Swedish) dad has mastered Swedish pancakes.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Americans here usually disappointed with our Mexican. It's not authentic or very good Tex Mex.

The one good one we've found and Americans seem to like isn't either one.

Tex Mex is also only one type of Mexican-derived food, based on what Mexican states Texas borders, combined with American tastes (MORE CHEESE!) and what's available there.

The Mexican food in New Mexico is significantly different as is the Mexican food in Arizona and California and, of course, in actual Mexico, where Mexican cuisine is an extremely broad category.

In Southern California, for instance, seemingly every other restaurant lists "mariscos" in their window -- "seafood" -- thanks to the cuisine of Baja California, which is lighter and much less sauce-heavy than Tex Mex.