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Nina wrote:
>         I made the mistaken assumption from things that I've read and
> people I've spoken to that Mexican food was pretty safe -  just ask for
> corn tortillas and leave out the breaded stuff.

*Real* (TM) Mexican food is pretty safe - it's when you go to those
"gringo" Mexican/Texican places that you can get into real trouble,
real fast :-(  If you go to a place that spends more than $1.50 on
decor, or whose specialty is of the liquid variety (the margaritas),
you're not in a *real* Mexican restaurant.

>         MISTAKE!  I am learning more and more now not to ASSUME anything!
> At the past 3 different Mexican restaurants I've been to, I learned that
> their fajita meats were all  marinated with SOY SAUCE (even tho not
> mentioned on the menu).

Fajitas?!? Fajitas?!? No self-respecting Mexican cook makes that
stuff!!! Now, carnitas and shrimp al mojo de ajo and carne asada -
*those* are made by self-respecting Mexican cooks.  FWIW, Fajitas are
a Texican thang, and will *always* have soy sauce in the marinade! Al
mojo de ajo is the Mexican equivalent of scampi - shrimp (or some
other unbreaded seafood) cooked in olive oil or butter and *lots* of
finely chopped garlic. Carnitas and carne asada, made in the
traditional way, will be marinated (if at all) in sour orange juice,
lemon juice and garlic (and peppers for the carne asada).

> One restaurant, in fact, said there was not a
> piece of meat anywhere in their kitchen which had not been marinated in soy
> sauce.  (They finally were able to saute some shrimp for me which had
> escaped the sauce.)

Yup. And they had them some fancy decor, too, didn't they? (This is
why I will no longer eat at any restaurant in the El Torito chain -
they all use the same d*mn gringo recipes). I also tend to give a
*very* wide berth to those places that have the fresh flour tortilla
making machines - for two reasons (any fool knows that the best
tortillas are made by abuela [grandma] in the kitchen; also, these
places tend to play fast and loose with traditional recipes). As far
as the major "Mexican" chains go, the only one I've had any luck with
is Acapulco, and even then, I have to watch what I'm doing. It's
easier to eat at some of the "fresh Mex" places now springing up, or
at a local taqueria or hole-in-the-wall... Also, "custom" orders seem
to be more honored at the smaller places (try ordering a taco or
beans without cheese at the gringo places, and see how many times you
have to send it back to the kitchen - when I say "sin queso" at the
smaller establishments, they listen... or laugh, and remind me that
no self-respecting abuela mucks up her frijoles de la olla with
cheesy goop ;-)

> Also, I am finding that some Mexican restaurants use
> thickener in their salsa (even tho you'd expect just tomatoes).
>         So- Be careful-ASK!  Don't make my mistake of assuming!

I've discovered that the ability of the help to inform me what is in
the food (in standard English) is usually in inverse proportion to
its safety - i.e. , the better the help can speak English, the more
liberties are taken with standard recipes. For this reason, I tend to
eat my Mexican food at some "colorful" places, in "interesting"
neighborhoods (like the middle of the barrio ;-)

When the salsa is suspect, simply ask for some "pico de gallo"
(pronounced "pee-ko dee gayo") - fresh chopped tomatoes, onions and
peppers. Other than its incendiary properties, it will be quite safe
;-)

Note that I may have a rather different view of Mexican food than
many people on this list - I grew up in the middle of Mexican
neighborhood, and my first nanny was Mexican. I got used to real,
home-cooked, Mexican food very early in life, and by the time I was
old enough to reach the stove, Mama Huerta (the nanny's aunt) had
taught me some of the rudiments of Mexican cooking - she said it was
my penance for raiding her ristra for chiles to munch ;-)... I can
still make a pretty mean taco or chili, and no, I *don't* start from
those stupid little spice envelopes (Gebhart's chile powder was
considered acceptable only in an emergency! And the Lawry's or
Schilling packets were acceptable only for gringos or barbarians ;-))

karen
Karen M. Davis, Davis & Associates                             818-892-8555
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The first rule of magic is simple. Don't waste your time waving your hands
& hoping when a rock or a club will do. (attributed to McCloctnik the Lucid)