On 1/20/2016 10:39 AM, Janet B wrote:
> On Wed, 20 Jan 2016 05:51:34 -0800 (PST), Nancy2
> > wrote:
>
>>
>> Doris, to me, nearly all the Mexican food that has been made for
>> typical American taste buds has the same ingredients, and the way
>> the dish is assembled and how much of each ingredient is included
>> determines what it is called. I am probably wrong, but my comment
>> Is based on my experience here in the Midwest. I think differences
>> are probably more pronounced nearer the border or in areas where
>> there are more concentrated Mexican-culture communities.
>>
>> N.
>
> I had a taco in Tennessee at the local Mexican fast food place a time
> ago.. It was a tortilla, boiled rice with something to make it
> reddish, fried hamburger crumbles, topped with a bit of processed
> cheese, lettuce and a piece of tomato. The place was run by people of
> obvious Latino extraction. All the local cops ate there. Everyone
> thought it was wonderful. I never did understand what was going on
> with that place. Either the owners knew that they would never be able
> to sell real Mexican food to the locals or the owners had been in the
> middle south so long that they forgot their food heritage. There were
> bottles of ketchup on the table.
> Janet US
>
That's what people expect, I suppose. They don't think the locals would
want to eat authentic Mexican food. As long as they were making money
I'm sure they didn't care.

There was this place in Germantown, TN:

http://delimexicana.com/

The owner went out shopping every morning to buy the fresh vegetables
and fruits for the restaurant. The "tacos" were tiny and were not
crunchy hard corn tortillas. They were soft corn tortillas.

http://delimexicana.com/deli-mexicana-germantown

"Our restaurant strives to preserve the integrity of Mexican cooking and
cuisine by refusing to Americanize the process or presentation. The
philosophy of purist methods and techniques and self sourced fresh food
should be obvious when you eat!"

This was years ago but I remember the owner saying saying he hoped his
son would take over the business and carry on this particular type of
fresh Mexican food. I got the impression (from the son, who was working
there while going to college) he was not really interested in running a
restaurant.

The couple of times I ate there there was always a good crowd. The food
was excellent. It certainly wasn't "tex mex" or Taco Bell.

Jill