Chipotle in Paris!

[clickerish]

Wait, so what I did was rude since it was construed as teaching someone something which was asserted to be pretentious, but it's not wrong to call me weird. Got it. I'm not even remotely the pretentious type, and I certainly don't really need to spend my life putting other people down which would be more of a reflection upon my own insecurities than on the supposed ignorance of those I was putting down. "Ahem" on at least one TN board I frequent is, in fact, used for making a joke that is meant to be self-conscious silliness. Clearly, that is not the case here.

I did not, however, know that Caesar salad was invented by someone in Tijuana which just sort of makes my mind explode, so I take it as an overal net experience.

[Wanderista]

Hehe, Caesar salad being from Tijuana is definitely a mind explosion. I love that stuff though. I've stumbled across a lot of random and useless food trivia, maybe partly because US cable channels love to run those kinds of shows. "And now it's time for the history of the Jellybean."

The chimichanga was invented in Texas when a lady accidentally dropped a burrito into a deep-frying vat and decided that the result tasted good. She then made up the name and put it on her restaurant menu. I'm really glad because I love those things. This thread is making me want Mexican food of any origin, hehe. The DC area has some delicious Salvadorean places too. I remember stumbling on one by accident and just loving the food.

[frlcb]

Jun 4, 2012 18:31:59 GMT -5 @publius said:

I've always lumped Tex-Mex and Mexican together (even though I know the distinction between the two) because all of the southwestern United States used to be part of Mexico. I've never really understood needing to completely separate out two relatively analogous cuisines because of a war or two.

I always joked we should give Texas to Mexico because my grandmother could be racist against Mexicans and lived in Texas and the thought of her waking up one day and finding out she was Mexican always made me laugh. A lot.

And then she passed away and I felt guilty. But I still laugh a little when I think about it.

(I loved her, I promise)

PS- we had a Spanish exchange student live with us when I was 10 and he was 15. He went to school with my brother and the kids there used to ask him if he ate a lot of tacos and burritos at home. In Spain.

[popcorn]

Jun 4, 2012 19:17:50 GMT -5 frlcb said:

PS- we had a Spanish exchange student live with us when I was 10 and he was 15. He went to school with my brother and the kids there used to ask him if he ate a lot of tacos and burritos at home. In Spain.

You made me lol.

I am, sadly, not surprised though. If i'm completely honest I had zero idea what Spanish food was like before I moved there. I didn't think it would be like Mexican, but I didn't expect what it was either. It's one of those kinds of foods that most people in the US have no idea what it's comprised of.

[bugabean]

I said the joke was weird, not you, and I stand by that. The joke's lack of relevance probably contributed to the misunderstanding of it, in addition to the "ahem" thing. I think we're all on the same page now, and no one is upset about it anymore.

[fernane]

Tex Mex and Dr. pepper are by far the food and drink I miss the most from Texas. But I guess I'm the odd one here and don't like Chipotle..I think it's nothing compared to the hole in the wall tex mex joints. It's like McDonalds Vs. a real steakhouse.
From my experience in the states, I think Tex Mex/Mexican food gets worse the further north you go. In Texas we are Queso obsessed. In Washington state I asked for queso at a restaurant and they had no idea what it was and my friends there thought we were crazy when We told them that cheese dip is the best ever. The food itself just wasn't on par with what we get in Texas IMO.

[popcorn]

Jun 6, 2012 1:22:25 GMT -5 fernane said:

Tex Mex and Dr. pepper are by far the food and drink I miss the most from Texas. But I guess I'm the odd one here and don't like Chipotle..I think it's nothing compared to the hole in the wall tex mex joints. It's like McDonalds Vs. a real steakhouse.
From my experience in the states, I think Tex Mex/Mexican food gets worse the further north you go. In Texas we are Queso obsessed. In Washington state I asked for queso at a restaurant and they had no idea what it was and my friends there thought we were crazy when We told them that cheese dip is the best ever. The food itself just wasn't on par with what we get in Texas IMO.

Guess what? I love both McDonald's and high-end steak places. I don't get this whole either-or mentality. So what if it doesn't hold a candle to the real thing? It's still tasty!

And in Washington State there are plenty of good Mexican restaurants, it's a matter of finding them out, just like everywhere else.

Oh, and clickerish I agree with Lorry. We're all on the same page now and it's nbd. Hope I didn't offend you!

[Deleted]

Posted by fernane on Today at 8:22am
But I guess I'm the odd one here and don't like Chipotle..I think it's nothing compared to the hole in the wall tex mex joints. It's like McDonalds Vs. a real steakhouse.
From my experience in the states, I think Tex Mex/Mexican food gets worse the further north you go. In Texas we are Queso obsessed. In Washington state I asked for queso at a restaurant and they had no idea what it was and my friends there thought we were crazy when We told them that cheese dip is the best ever. The food itself just wasn't on par with what we get in Texas IMO.


It wasn't a question of what is most missed, but more what is now available in the area. The Tex-Mex in Paris (or even just outside of Texas, for that matter) is usually not as good. I was served fajitas with broccoli and black olives in the veggies with tortilla chips that tasted like doritos!

With Chipotle, it is the closest thing to Tex-Mex that tastes like home to me. So it is the nostalgia for something from home like a D.P. and a burrito. That is not to say that I don't like Chipotle. I also like McDonald's and real steak houses. I even like Harry Potter and Tolstoy . I don't see the correlation. It is possible to like low-brow food and the schnazzy stuff. Although when it comes to Tex-Mex food, most of it is pretty low-brow.

[anna7602]

Jun 6, 2012 1:22:25 GMT -5 fernane said:

I asked for queso at a restaurant and they had no idea what it was and my friends there thought we were crazy when We told them that cheese dip is the best ever. The food itself just wasn't on par with what we get in Texas IMO.

Low-brow admission: "queso" to me is Cheez whiz. We put it on everything growing up and when we sat down at the table, my mom asked, "who wants queso?" (Ok, she said the whole phrase in Spanish, but you get the idea.)

Mmmmm, cheez whiz.

[popcorn]

Jun 6, 2012 2:58:51 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

Jun 6, 2012 1:22:25 GMT -5 fernane said:

I asked for queso at a restaurant and they had no idea what it was and my friends there thought we were crazy when We told them that cheese dip is the best ever. The food itself just wasn't on par with what we get in Texas IMO.

Low-brow admission: "queso" to me is Cheez whiz. We put it on everything growing up and when we sat down at the table, my mom asked, "who wants queso?" (Ok, she said the whole phrase in Spanish, but you get the idea.)

Mmmmm, cheez whiz.

To me queso is just cheese. Of any kind. Cheese whip included. If it was a cheese dip it'd be salsa de queso. On another note, I like how to dip has become a verb in Spain (on doritos bags anyway) -- it's dipear!

[bugabean]

Wait, what is queso? I thought it was just the Spanish word for cheese.

And I agree with the others… I *love* hole-in-the-wall Tex-Mex. I prefer it when I have to point and pantomime what I want because no one in the place speaks English. But I also like Chipotle, which tastes nothing like HITW but is still good. And I can't get either of those things in Copenhagen, so if either of them ever appear here, you can bet I'll post about it and be all OMG regardless of which one it is!

[clogged]

I have confession to make. I never ate at Chioitle. I didn't even know it existed until last year when someone started posting about it.

I also thought chik-fil-A was pronounced "Chick-fill-uh" (like chick filler- fill up on chicken?) and thought it was the lamest name ever. It was like a month or two ago that I had an ephinany and figured out it's "chicke fillet". One sly was there during my ah ha moment.



edited because my typing really sux today and my first sentence was really bad.

[Deleted]

Queso is the spanish word for cheese, but if you order queso at a tex-mex restaurant, it will be cheese dip. mmmmmmmmmmmm...

[fernane]

Jun 6, 2012 1:41:49 GMT -5 popcorn said:

Jun 6, 2012 1:22:25 GMT -5 fernane said:

Tex Mex and Dr. pepper are by far the food and drink I miss the most from Texas. But I guess I'm the odd one here and don't like Chipotle..I think it's nothing compared to the hole in the wall tex mex joints. It's like McDonalds Vs. a real steakhouse.
From my experience in the states, I think Tex Mex/Mexican food gets worse the further north you go. In Texas we are Queso obsessed. In Washington state I asked for queso at a restaurant and they had no idea what it was and my friends there thought we were crazy when We told them that cheese dip is the best ever. The food itself just wasn't on par with what we get in Texas IMO.

Guess what? I love both McDonald's and high-end steak places. I don't get this whole either-or mentality. So what if it doesn't hold a candle to the real thing? It's still tasty!

And in Washington State there are plenty of good Mexican restaurants, it's a matter of finding them out, just like everywhere else.

Oh, and clickerish I agree with Lorry. We're all on the same page now and it's nbd. Hope I didn't offend you!

it was an opinion. I didn't present an "either/or" mentality. I Also like McDs. I was merely comparing two standards of a type of food that are in different leagues. And I understand that you'll take what you can get when you don't have a lot of options. I never used to eat KFC at home, but here it's literally the only western fast food restaurant and there's now 6 in my not very big city and we eat there all the time. It's comfort; I get it. I just never cared for chipotle, so can't say whether I would get it if it came here.

[bugabean]

To me, "Vs." means "either/or" and I read it the same way popcorn did. Thanks for clarifying though.

[Deleted]

Jun 6, 2012 2:58:51 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

Low-brow admission: "queso" to me is Cheez whiz. We put it on everything growing up and when we sat down at the table, my mom asked, "who wants queso?" (Ok, she said the whole phrase in Spanish, but you get the idea.)

Mmmmm, cheez whiz.

hahhaha! Someone gave me a can of cheez whiz a few months ago. I loved it as a child but it somehow just grosses me out now

[popcorn]

Jun 6, 2012 1:22:25 GMT -5 fernane said:

. But I guess I'm the odd one here and don't like Chipotle..I think it's nothing compared to the hole in the wall tex mex joints. It's like McDonalds Vs. a real steakhouse.

Either-or mentality in your similie right there.

Yes, I know I'm kind of being a bitch right now, but you are backtracking. What you said made it sound like things like McDs and Chipotle are too low-brow for you to eat at.

FTR, I eat at McDs, Chipotle, real Mexican taco joints, and upscale steak places in the US. It's not a thing of desperation and just taking what I can get. I actually like them. All of them!

[frlcb]

Queso is the bomb. So is chick fil a.

[GilliC]

Isn't "queso" short for "chile con queso"? But wouldn't that also be backwards, because it's cheese with chilis rather than a chili with cheese?

I've never been a big Chipotle fan, but these days I'd kill for one here, because we have no decent TexMex in town. At all. Heck, I'd kill for a Taco Cabana even! ...Damn. Now I'm dreaming of Taco Cabana's fresh tortillas with queso. Woe is me!

[ktkl09]

Jun 6, 2012 6:06:33 GMT -5 popcorn said:

Jun 6, 2012 1:22:25 GMT -5 fernane said:

. But I guess I'm the odd one here and don't like Chipotle..I think it's nothing compared to the hole in the wall tex mex joints. It's like McDonalds Vs. a real steakhouse.

Either-or mentality in your similie right there.

Yes, I know I'm kind of being a bitch right now, but you are backtracking. What you said made it sound like things like McDs and Chipotle are too low-brow for you to eat at.

FTR, I eat at McDs, Chipotle, real Mexican taco joints, and upscale steak places in the US. It's not a thing of desperation and just taking what I can get. I actually like them. All of them!

Me too, I don't like being snobby about food. I eat at McD's and upscale steak restaurants and they're both good in their own way.

[anna7602]

As long as we're talking about not-really-authentic "ethnic" foods, I was thinking about guava cheesecake this morning and how much I miss it. I can bet you anything that people who live in actual guava-producing countries do not have cheesecake as a regular part of their diet, much less a guava cheesecake, but this is such a delicious Cuban-in-exile invention!

Not only would I need a springform pan to make it, though, I'd also need to figure out where in the heck I can get blocks of guava paste in Paris, as opposed to just guava jam. (Guava jam wouldn't be the right consistency.)

[bugabean]

www.coisasdobrasil.fr/fr/produit/goiabada-predilecta ?

[anna7602]

Jun 7, 2012 7:31:22 GMT -5 bugabean said:

www.coisasdobrasil.fr/fr/produit/goiabada-predilecta ?

Wow, good job! I am now searching that same site for canned black beans. I don't have it in me to make black beans from scratch in this town (or ever. I leave that to my aunts back at home). I miss GOYA products so badly and am wondering if they will ever expand into Europe.

ETA: Just realized they have a physical store in the 15th, not just a web site. WOO-HOO! It's a very short subway ride from my home. THANK YOU, bugabean!

[bugabean]

De nada

[azure]

This thread and the spin offs have had me craving Mexican food! The husband used to own an authentic Mexican resto/bar and I have been craving their food lately. I wish there was some decent Mexican or Tex-Mex here!

[anna7602]

Jun 7, 2012 10:42:00 GMT -5 azure said:

This thread and the spin offs have had me craving Mexican food! The husband used to own an authentic Mexican resto/bar and I have been craving their food lately. I wish there was some decent Mexican or Tex-Mex here!

I am reading David Lebovitz's "The Sweet Life in Paris" right now and he actually gives a recipe for Chicken Mole based on ingredients that can be found in France. Do you need me to type up the recipe here?

[ktkl09]

Jun 7, 2012 10:48:20 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

Jun 7, 2012 10:42:00 GMT -5 azure said:

This thread and the spin offs have had me craving Mexican food! The husband used to own an authentic Mexican resto/bar and I have been craving their food lately. I wish there was some decent Mexican or Tex-Mex here!

I am reading David Lebovitz's "The Sweet Life in Paris" right now and he actually gives a recipe for Chicken Mole based on ingredients that can be found in France. Do you need me to type up the recipe here?

I loved this book!

[azure]

Jun 7, 2012 10:48:20 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

Jun 7, 2012 10:42:00 GMT -5 azure said:

This thread and the spin offs have had me craving Mexican food! The husband used to own an authentic Mexican resto/bar and I have been craving their food lately. I wish there was some decent Mexican or Tex-Mex here!

I am reading David Lebovitz's "The Sweet Life in Paris" right now and he actually gives a recipe for Chicken Mole based on ingredients that can be found in France. Do you need me to type up the recipe here?

I'd love that, or a link if that's available!!! Mucho Gracias