Ex-Mex

Last week someone commented on how our area “now” has several good restaurants, and included all the Mexican restaurants as being good, to which I disagreed. I wish to elaborate on my reasoning.

Often people will enter a restaurant and see they are being patronized by people of the same heritage as the restaurant. You might think that the place is really good because the Mexicans are eating in a Mexican spot or Asians are eating in a Chinese restaurant. But consider how many Americans eat at McDonalds every day. Just because a lot of Americans eat at an American restaurant doesn’t make the food good.

Though the Mexican restaurants here may have Mexican owners, cooks and wait staff; Mexican name and décor, and their menus may have Mexican or Mexicanish items on it, doesn’t mean that it is good.

Here are the problems I have with all the Mexican restaurants in this County:

First, when your meal comes out you will see that everything is flat. The beans are flat; the rice is flat and boring. Then it is covered with melted cheese and ends up resembling a bad looking pizza. I often wonder if the rice is real or is it instant rice. Is there a rule against longer grained rice in Mexican cuisine?

Next where are the fruits and vegetables? If one is lucky you will find a dish that has onions, peppers and tomatoes, but that’s it. They only use iceberg lettuce. Rarely will you ever taste cilantro. Rarely will I see anything else that is green. And where is the corn?

Now for other missing items: I have yet to see chevon or cabrito on any menu here. Goat is an absolute essential in Mexico. I have friends who are in the meat goat business, and they are deluged by Mexicans wanting to buy whole goats for their traditional fiestas. Why are they keeping this from us? Also Mexico has a rich tradition of knowing what to do with seafood, which I find no emphasis on here. I’ve had some seafood selections and they are anything but flavorful. They are a salty mess covered in sauces that only detract from the taste of the flesh that made the ultimate sacrifice to nourish us.

Finally where is any of the good texture of coarsely ground grains? Everything seems to be made of ground white flour. The texture of Mexican food should be so much more interesting. I think it has all been adapted for the boring American food consumers.

So I challenge them to get back to basics. Make it fresh, make it interesting, make it authentic, and most of all make it flavorful. We can take it.