I was laughed at once in a Xican@ studies class for not knowing what pulque was. I thought it was like pruno (any fermented fruit juice that can be made in prison/jail that will give you a slight buzz). :)

They have those lil tacos in San Fran. The taquerias stay open after the bars close so that people can get their fix. Although, I frequent the papuserias at 3:00 am.

Burritos are the same TexMex thing--they don't have 'em in Mx.

But 7 layer burritos... those are authentic, right?

What is it with Atlixco? I've been friends with like four or five cooks that grew up there. Something in the spring water running off of Popocatepetl, I guess.

I am looking for the pulque recipe, I have plenty of maguey.

Now if only we had the real recipe for all the other crap the big fast food corps feed to us, we'd really be in business :-X

good post, btw

What about taco DIP? That's authentic, right??!!

;)

Nez:

I once saw a movie with Marlon Brando doing his tough guy thing, drinking what looked like a litre or better of pulque in one go--because that's what tough guys do. It kinda reminded me of that beer they make in Africa by chewing on some sort of tuber and then spitting the resultant mess into a big pot where it ferments to a rather nasty looking and smelling cocktail. A friend of mine said, "I'll bet it's hard to start drinking that stuff."; I said, thinking about its unique consistency, "I'll bet it's harder to stop"

I've had both kinds of tacos, I like both kinds. The ones I've gotten from street vendors in LA, Redwood City and a couple of other places have always been excellent. They are like a wonderful egg rich, lovingly made birthday cake with buttercream frosting--whereas Taco Hell's are like twinkies--but I like twinkies (the concept anyway, I haven't eaten one for at least 10 years).

But you have to remember that you can get pretty sick if you eat a taco that was prepared by someone whose sanitary practices aren't what they should be. I got very, very sick after eating one such taco, from a Taco Bell at the St. Louis Airport.

..so basically a taco is the same thing that I ate when I grew up. though I liked it when my grandpa made fresh pico de gallo in the morning with the veggies from our garden.

I'm thinkin' that Taco Hell makes their tacos in a very similar way to your Tuber Beer, Democommie. ;)

--

Meep, that sounds righteous.

Funny to read this now, just yesterday mi novio and I ate at an awful place called Fajita Grill. We both got "tacos," which were only slightly more authentic than those from Taco Hell. I told him, what we need here in upstate New York are some taco carts serving the real thing. Of course, they'd probably just get run out of town like those in Nueva Orleans. I loved the taquitos in Sonora by the roadside, you could get 3 for 10 pesos (I think; it's been many years ago), shredded meat on a little corn tortilla and you add the pico de gallo, of which there were 2 or 3 different kinds. I haven't had anything like that since, and boy do I miss it.

Mine aren't authentic at all, but I buy instant masa at the store and make my own tortillas for lunch most days. It's really quick, and it gives me a little mental break from life in the northeast.

Janna:

I don't know where you are but I'm 6.5 miles from the Fajita Grill in Fulton and 19 miles from the one in Oswego. I ate in each one, once, probably won't go back. The burritos are lousy, mostly rice and starting at something like $5.29 and then .59 for each additional ingredient. A complete fucking rip-off. Even if they were heavenly burritos--they were not even close--they are way overpriced.

Nez:

Good Tex-mex is okay with me, but that's just about impossible to find. The chains have basically run the places that try to be "real" off the map.

I remember going to a place in Marblehead, MA once that had a chicken in mole and it was pretty damned good--not Mexican, I was informed, but pretty damned close.

Ha! I remember after coming back from staying in Mexico for an exchange progrem, I could NOT find real tacos. Heck, I couldn't find cilantro, either. The ones I remember were called taquitos, and the meat was layered on a vertical spit and constantly being rotated/roasted. The vendor would slice off slivered bits of meat, roll in fresh salsa and a pile of cilantro into a tiny [freshly made] corn tortilla. You'd eat 5-10 of them (depending on how hungry, etc you were) in one go. YUM. In later years I've started finding places that make proper Mexican food, but you really have to avoid the big ol' chains that Tex- or Cal-ify the food in order to cater to "local" taste...

I make 'em myself all the time (well, improvising the meat part, of course, heh...)

For that matter, what is it about corn tortillas in this country? They're all dry and rancid and YUCK. But in Mexico they're so sweet and tasty you can eat them by themselves...