Cross-cultural culinary cross-pollination

Salmon with ginger and Mexican rice, originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado.

We have come to the conclusion, my fiancée (Finnish) and I (Mexican), that she cooks better mole poblano with chicken, whereas my specialty is salmon with dill.

Believe me, Mexican rice and salmon with ginger and dill makes a powerful combination.

Note to self

Mole poblano doesn't always work with foreigners.

At least not the first time...

The fish I can't eat anymore

The fish I can't eat anymore, originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado.

Tuna stocks have declined worldwide to an alarming extent. While searching for fish for sushi, my girlfriend didn't allow me to buy tuna because "she wants our children to be able to eat it as well". I agree, but I think that, hopefully, market economics will kick in and make it more expensive to buy, so less people will buy it until supplies replenish.

But in case that doesn't work as markets aren't perfect, there is an international meeting going on focusing on tuna stocks.

El Fogoncito va a China

La cadena mexicana de taquerías El Fogoncito ha decidido abrir sucursales en China. Yo me pregunto, ¿cuánto tiempo tardará antes de que salgan fotos de versiones piratas en Pinches Chinos?

Disclaimer: No estoy de acuerdo con algunas actitudes del site anterior que podrían ser interpretadas como racistas.

Actualización: Las fotos en Flickr. Como la de abajo. ¿A poco no se les antoja?

Fogoncito, Inauguracion 092, originally uploaded by CRoberts.

Flavours that remind you of something

I was thinking about that the other day, and started making a list of all the flavours and foods that remind me of something, someone or somewhere.

• Meat balls with chipotle reminds me of my mom.
• Tecate beer in a can with lemon and salt of my dad.
• Carrot cake of my sister.
• Leek and bacon stew of my significant other.
• Anything related to tofu of my in-laws (except miso soup).
• Traditionally prepared mole of my grandma.
• Ham and cheese sandwiches of one of my aunts.
• Coffee and Fazer chocolates of my significant other's grandma.
  
• Soba and nori of Japan.
• Salmon of Finland.
• Good meat of Argentina.
• Apple-flavoured tobacco hookah of Dubai and Timón, a friend of mine.
• A good jabugo ham of Spain.
• Frites and good beer of Belgium (a Leffe especially of my first day here).
• Farofa of Brazil
• Marabou chocolate of Sweden
  
• ...

Yes, I really like food.

Tex-Mex is not Mexican food!

Tex-Mex is not Mexican food!, originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado.

I bump into this issue from time to time (this photo is from Helsingin Sanomat), so I guess I have to tell my audience about it. The long rant that follows simply boils down to this: Tex-Mex is not Mexican food! The first time I saw hard-shell so-called tacos was in Europe. The only truly Mexican brand of chillies on sale here is "La Costeña", all others are European or American copycats.

Most of the food on sale in "Mexican" restaurants outside of North America (there are honourable exceptions, but they're few) is unknown to a Mexican, including such things as burritos (which are only found in Northern Mexico, if at all) or nachos with cheese. Those things to us are like a salmon burger would be to a Finn, or mussels with cheddar to a Belgian.

I don't deny Tex-Mex can be good food, just please don't call it Mexican. You have no idea how much you're missing. The funniest thing is that now in the States you can get proper Mexican food, but in Europe we're still stuck with the Americanised adaptation (just like the differences between rodeo and charrería).

Food!

I don't know about you, but I seriously love food. As long as it is good I'd eat almost anything: Mexican, French, Belgian, Dutch, Brazilian, Argentine, Finnish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Italian, Greek, Spanish, German... mussels, kangaroo, ant eggs, crickets, beef, salmon, tongue, chicken, liver, turkey, stomach... dessert, entrée, soup, main course, or whichever way...

I have a couple of pictures of food I've eaten in Flickr, where they also have a great pool from different users on this same subject.

Only problem is that I can't eat beans nor germinated wheat, and for example eyes are too gross even for me. Almost everything else is fair game, as long as it is cooked, it's not toxic and tastes good =).

Mexican food abroad

This is a theme that I'll keep on talking about, so bear with me. I was looking for some other information when I saw this article (The taco that ate Sweden). Whereas the situation is something that I definitely encountered before when I lived in Finland, I really feel the urge to educate all those that can read this that hard shell tacos are not Mexican. In fact, as the article says, most Mexican food found outside of North America is as Mexican as I'm Russian, i.e. not very much, and finding restaurants that don't have nachos with cheese in their menu is really hard (there are some honourable exceptions such as La Fonda de la Madrugada in Tokyo or La Panza es Primero in Madrid). As for the ingredients, it's easier just to ask a Mexican where to get them or just bring them over.

Tex-Mex food can be good food, but it's not Mexican!