Re: [CH] Mexican Food

The Old Bear (oldbear@arctos.com)
Sun, 17 May 1998 09:50:07 -0400

In Chile-Heads Digest, v.4 #421, wrote:

| Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 12:00:45 -0700
| From: "Doug Goldenberg" <dgoldenberg@sprintmail.com>
| Subject: [CH] Mexican Food
| 
| > there are mighty tasty dishes in all these places that reflect 
| > the foods of Mexico, with local influences, but that there is 
| > no local food that could represent "Mexican" any more than 
| 
| Maybe so - in the US, "Mexican" food invariably comes with cheddar 
| cheese - that's not what you'll find in Mexico!


For fear of bringing up a topic which has probably been beaten to 
death in this list, "Mexican" cooking is arguably more diverse than 
"American" cooking, especially if you remove from the American menu 
those dishes which are unabashed imports as opposed to indigenous 
invention.  

To assume that Mexican cuisine is limited to the ubiquitous burrito, 
nachos, taco and enchilada, is to make a seriously flawed assumption.  

Diana Kennedy's books do an excellent job of documenting the range 
of culinary styles within Mexico:

    The Cuisines of Mexico
    by Diana Kennedy
    Published by HarperCollins (1989)
    ISBN: 0060915617    391 pages

    The Art of Mexican Cooking: 
    Traditional Mexican Cooking for Aficionados
    by Diana Kennedy
    Published by Bantam Books (1989)
    ISBN: 0553057065    526 pages

    Recipes from the Regional Cooks of Mexico
    by Diana Kennedy 
    Published by Harper & Row (1978) 
    ISBN: 0060123486    288 pages

And, on the web, take a look at the Mexican Cuisine pages maintained 
by the University of Guadalajara at:

    URL: < http://rulfo.dca.udg.mx/cocina/ingles/ >


Cheers,
The Old Bear    <-- born on El Cinco de Mayo!