Why is American food so bad?

[Picaro]

If by Tejano you mean the ever popular Texmex, popular in states other than New Mexico that is, I personally do not care for it. I can eat it if that's all there is but it would never be my first choice.

But yes our green chilis are legendary though the ripe (red) chilis have their own ambiance as well. But our food much more approximates Mexican cuisine than does Texmex except that we have much more robust flavor and usually more heat in our food than what you can get in most of Mexico.

People who put sour cream on tacos and burritos should be shot. A lot of the 'Santa Fe' style stuff is just californicated glitz and fake. Mexican food north of Tampico should all be made with mesquite or pecan smoked beef, deer, or buffalo meat.

 

[Picaro]

I do put molasses in my baked beans and I use Van Camps beans that are in tomato sauce. With a few bacon bits and other seasonings they are a wonderful dish. 100% healthy? Probably not. But sufficiently so that I do not mind making and serving them. So far I haven't found a soul who hasn't wanted seconds.

I prefer Bush's baked beans, but Van CAmp's isn't bad either, with seasoning.

 

[Zincwarrior]

People who put sour cream on tacos and burritos should be shot. A lot of the 'Santa Fe' style stuff is just californicated glitz and fake. Mexican food north of Tampico should all be made with beef, deer, or buffalo meat.

Real Sonoran/New Mexico is terribly excellent.

As to "American food." Mom grew up on New Orleans cuisine. She'd put that shit against anything on the planet.

The only time I had potatoes or pasta was because Dad would rebel about twice a month.

Thats the thing. I grew up on barbeque, TexMex, and New Orleans. The Wife grew up on German and Chicago stuff. The daughter loves Indian food. The Boy now loves Philly cheese steaks (in Philly). We literally have everything here.

 

[Picaro]

I've always been attracted to the American Southwest and the Great Lakes areas more than any other areas of the U.S.. And also...MAINE! I often find that climate, geography and food preferences are mysteriously intertwined for me. My wife, although from Peru, also visited Spain, has some cousins there.... And was absolutely enamored with the food as well as the geography. So that really seems to be a thing. That makes me think that she would probably also appreciate the food that you described from your area. As a Peruvian she is really a mix of Native American and Spanish herself. As for myself, I prefer food that is kind of blend of meat, vegetable and grain bits. Kind like this simple stuff we had at a Turkish restaurant recently. (And the meat was even a little too much. We had leftovers. The nice salad right next to it made the meat even more enjoyable)

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I'd still love to see a few photos of dishes or links to the local menus you mentioned.

You might find her shows on PBS or YouTube, but "Patti's Mexican Table" is a pretty good cooking show if you're into that kind of stuff. She also travels down there a lot on some series.

Homepage - Pati Jinich

patijinich.com

She has series on regional specialties that are pretty good. I've tried most of these, except for the chicken dishes.

Pati's Mexican Table Season 13 Chihuahua - Pati Jinich

All of the recipes from Pati's Mexican Table Season 13 in Chihuahua.

patijinich.com

​

 

[Zincwarrior]

You might find her shows on PBS or YouTube, but "Patti's Mexican Table" is a pretty good cooking show if you're into that kind of stuff. She also travels down there a lot on some series.

Homepage - Pati Jinich

patijinich.com

Now the US is so awesome, 'Mexican food' now includes Nicaraguan, Chilean, Brazilian, Columbian, Cuban. Its glorious!

 

[Picaro]

Now the US is so awesome, 'Mexican food' now includes Nicaraguan, Chilean, Brazilian, Columbian, Cuban. Its glorious!

Haven't tried those, except I think Cuban once. Pretty good.

 

[Foxfyre]

You just proved my point by saying that it's fashioned after Mexican food and is not traditional American food! I wouldn't be surprised if it has some native American influence too. I wonder how similar it is to Peruvian food. I've had a lot of that over the years as my wife is from there. I'm surprised people aren't sharing more photos of food in this thread. Can you share a few pics of the food you described, or maybe some links to menus of local restaurants?

Our New Mexican cuisine is popular and we likely have more restaurants specializing in that than for any other cuisine. But It certainly isn't the only American food.

Come to my house and you can find gloriously fried (or broiled or baked) chicken or a marinated pork loin or a great meatloaf, well seasoned mashed potatoes with pan gravy, slow cooked and yummy green beans, more savory than sweet potatoes, slightly pickled beets, homemade rolls, corn casserole (that's probably the most questionable dish as healthy on the table), roasted carrots and/or broccoli and/or cauliflower and/or Brussel sprouts, fried okra. All traditional and very American cuisine.

And yes there are restaurants that can provide all that if we don't want to cook it.

You can Google Albuquerque restaurants and access their websites and menus for those photos and menus.

Unfortunately I don't think New Mexico cuisine photographs all that well. Tends to look like a mess on the plate. But those of us who greatly enjoy it when it is done well don't mind that at all.

 

[Foxfyre]

People who put sour cream on tacos and burritos should be shot. A lot of the 'Santa Fe' style stuff is just californicated glitz and fake. Mexican food north of Tampico should all be made with mesquite or pecan smoked beef, deer, or buffalo meat.

I tend to be pretty tolerant re what people enjoy with their food. Just because I don't care for something doesn't mean others shouldn't either.

But for sure all New Mexican cuisine isn't authentic or what you might say 'proper'. You have to look for the restaurants that do it right.

 

[Foxfyre]

I prefer Bush's baked beans, but Van CAmp's isn't bad either, with seasoning.

I make my own baked beans so bypass the Bush's baked beans. I have at times cooked my own beans to cut down on the high sugar content that is in both Bush's and Van Camp's beans.

 

[Dr.Destructo]

REAL American foods are not bad for you.

Whats BAD is that we've allowed the food producers in this country to use toxic and deadly ingredients and addatives to food production that have screwed up our insides and even our DNA to the point we can gain weight easily but we cannot lose weight.

If it was all kept basic, clean, and pure.........we wouldn't be in the sitch we are now.


Here's a good example:

McDonalds has been using toxic and deadly pesticides on their potatoes for decades, in order to get the "perfect" potatoe, at the risk of giving their customers cancers of all kinds.

Toxic Taters | Pesticide Action & Agroecology Network (PAN)

It’s time for McDonald’s to make good on its promise to reduce pesticide use in potatoes produced for the company's world famous fries. Support the Toxic Taters campaign, today!

www.panna.org

 

[Foxfyre]

REAL American foods are not bad for you.

Whats BAD is that we've allowed the food producers in this country to use toxic and deadly ingredients and addatives to food production that have screwed up our insides and even our DNA to the point we can gain weight easily but we cannot lose weight.

If it was all kept basic, clean, and pure.........we wouldn't be in the sitch we are now.


Here's a good example:

McDonalds has been using toxic and deadly pesticides on their potatoes for decades, in order to get the "perfect" potatoe, at the risk of giving their customers cancers of all kinds.

Toxic Taters | Pesticide Action & Agroecology Network (PAN)

It’s time for McDonald’s to make good on its promise to reduce pesticide use in potatoes produced for the company's world famous fries. Support the Toxic Taters campaign, today!

www.panna.org

And we finally have a HHS Secretary who actually cares about all that stuff. Just like Trump can't fix everything all at once, neither can RFK--This administration hasn't been in office a full six months yet--but I expect the American people to be subjected to a lot less of the real uglies in our food supply by the end of this four yrars.

 

[Captain Caveman]

Wait are you British? Is a BRIT trying to start a food fight?

Erm, no, you lost from the start with your McDonald chips.

 

[Unkotare]

I make my own baked beans so bypass the Bush's baked beans. I have at times cooked my own beans to cut down on the high sugar content that is in both Bush's and Van Camp's beans.

It takes a long-ass time to cook baked beans the traditional way.

 

[Paddlefoot]

 

[Foxfyre]

It takes a long-ass time to cook baked beans the traditional way.

For me a minimum of 1-1/2 hour in the oven. In a slow cooker, over night.

 

[Unkotare]

... In a slow cooker, over night.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back when they were bringing wagons full of dirt to fill in the Back Bay, the wives of the workers would get up around 3 AM to put the pots in brick ovens. Around late morning, long lines of sturdy wives would be seen marching into town lugging big, heavy pots of baked beans for their husbands. Hence the name ...

 

[BothWings]

Our New Mexican cuisine is popular and we likely have more restaurants specializing in that than for any other cuisine. But It certainly isn't the only American food.

Come to my house and you can find gloriously fried (or broiled or baked) chicken or a marinated pork loin or a great meatloaf, well seasoned mashed potatoes with pan gravy, slow cooked and yummy green beans, more savory than sweet potatoes, slightly pickled beets, homemade rolls, corn casserole (that's probably the most questionable dish as healthy on the table), roasted carrots and/or broccoli and/or cauliflower and/or Brussel sprouts, fried okra. All traditional and very American cuisine.

And yes there are restaurants that can provide all that if we don't want to cook it.

You can Google Albuquerque restaurants and access their websites and menus for those photos and menus.

Unfortunately I don't think New Mexico cuisine photographs all that well. Tends to look like a mess on the plate. But those of us who greatly enjoy it when it is done well don't mind that at all.

Honestly I'm just not into fried chicken. I only bought it recently on a vacation for convenience. I like it sauteed or baked in light sauces. Also, as a meat cutter of 35+ years, pork loin has just never been very appealing to me no matter what is on it. I occasionally buy it when my boss gives me a great deal but it's not a go-to meat for me. Meatloaf I can occasionally enjoy in small doses, but it's usually just too mashed up and manipulated for my liking. I like my meat as unprocessed as possible, However, I enjoy some great mashed potatoes. I like it German style with sauerkraut mixed it, or maybe chives or scallions...sometimes with my mushroom gravy, sometimes not. Most of what you mentioned is just too rich and unhealthy for my liking. We have all the aforementioned vegetables you mentioned but we always prefer them steamed with just a little salt, herbs and oil, never butter. That corn casserole sounds interesting. I'd like to give it a try, healthy or not.

I just don't need all these rich and salty "extras" and carcinogenic caramelization to really enjoy food and usually prefer not to have them. My body just feels better with simple ingredients and less fat, sugar and salt.

 

[Picaro]

Beans made in pressure cookers end up tasting like little balls of wax. Slow cooking is by far the best way to cook beans.

Erm, no, you lost from the start with your McDonald chips.

The early McDonald's fries were actually pretty good, and are what made the stores popular. They don't make them that way any more, haven't since the 1960's.

 

[Captain Caveman]

Beans made in pressure cookers end up tasting like little balls of wax. Slow cooking is by far the best way to cook beans.

The early McDonald's fries were actually pretty good, and are what made the stores popular. They don't make them that way any more, haven't since the 1960's.

Probably fried in more carcinogens and yoga mat compounds.

Who puts beans in pressure cookers?? Baked beans are heated up in a pan with a knob of butter

 

[Picaro]

Probably fried in more carcinogens and yoga mat compounds.

They were soaked in water for three days, then cut up and fried fresh. In And Out copied them when they first started out, but the old fashioned ways went out decades ago as they became large corporations. They;re really mostly in the real estate business now, with food as a write off.

Who puts beans in pressure cookers?? Baked beans are heated up in a pan with a knob of butter

People in a hurry. Beans are pretty hard when dried, so waiting for them to cook in a pan is a pretty long wait.