Paris Notes (2)

Gregory Morrow writes:

This is amusing because here in the US Indiana the US state is considered a
rather dullish and backward place...populated by folks who could charitably
be called "slow learners"....

Judging from the logo on the café, the reference is to American
aboriginals, not the State of Indiana.

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On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 05:04:31 +0000, poldy wrote:

In article ,
Mxsmanic wrote:

So who's going to these places?

Mostly young French wannabes.

Young French people who wannabe Americans or young people of other
nationalities who wannabe French?

Neither - this is just another expression of one of Mixy's pet delusions.

J:

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On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 05:04:31 +0000, poldy wrote:

In article ,
Mxsmanic wrote:

So who's going to these places?

Mostly young French wannabes.

Young French people who wannabe Americans or young people of other
nationalities who wannabe French?

Neither - this is just another expression of one of Mixy's pet delusions.

J:

--
Encrypted e-mail address. Click to mail me:
http://cerbermail.com/?nKYh3qN4YG

On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 05:04:31 +0000, poldy wrote:

In article ,
Mxsmanic wrote:

So who's going to these places?

Mostly young French wannabes.

Young French people who wannabe Americans or young people of other
nationalities who wannabe French?

Neither - this is just another expression of one of Mixy's pet delusions.

J:

--
Encrypted e-mail address. Click to mail me:
http://cerbermail.com/?nKYh3qN4YG

On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 01:05:51 +0000, Gregory Morrow wrote:


Barney wrote:

In article ,
(poldy) wrote:

I always thought it was amusing that there is a Tex Mex chain called
Indiana's in Paris. Never tried it but seems to be popular.

This is amusing because here in the US Indiana the US state is considered a
rather dullish and backward place...populated by folks who could charitably
be called "slow learners"....

For us in Chicago it's primarily known as a place one goes *through* (on
ghastly congested roads no less) to get to scenic Michigan or points farther
East. The panorama Indiana presents to us is one of futility and
hopelessness

Then the restaurant is appropriately named.

J;
--
Encrypted e-mail address. Click to mail me:
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On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 01:05:51 +0000, Gregory Morrow wrote:


Barney wrote:

In article ,
(poldy) wrote:

I always thought it was amusing that there is a Tex Mex chain called
Indiana's in Paris. Never tried it but seems to be popular.

This is amusing because here in the US Indiana the US state is considered a
rather dullish and backward place...populated by folks who could charitably
be called "slow learners"....

For us in Chicago it's primarily known as a place one goes *through* (on
ghastly congested roads no less) to get to scenic Michigan or points farther
East. The panorama Indiana presents to us is one of futility and
hopelessness

Then the restaurant is appropriately named.

J;
--
Encrypted e-mail address. Click to mail me:
http://cerbermail.com/?nKYh3qN4YG

On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 01:05:51 +0000, Gregory Morrow wrote:


Barney wrote:

In article ,
(poldy) wrote:

I always thought it was amusing that there is a Tex Mex chain called
Indiana's in Paris. Never tried it but seems to be popular.

This is amusing because here in the US Indiana the US state is considered a
rather dullish and backward place...populated by folks who could charitably
be called "slow learners"....

For us in Chicago it's primarily known as a place one goes *through* (on
ghastly congested roads no less) to get to scenic Michigan or points farther
East. The panorama Indiana presents to us is one of futility and
hopelessness

Then the restaurant is appropriately named.

J;
--
Encrypted e-mail address. Click to mail me:
http://cerbermail.com/?nKYh3qN4YG

Donna Evleth extrapolated from data available...

The food was tasteless,
and the tortillas were all flour tortillas, which did not even exist
when I was young in California.

How can Californians who dose even the most classic of Mexican dishes with
"olives" as if they were martinis be expected to know much about tortillas?

Flour tortillas did exist, but were a dish for weekends and festive
occasions. There are actually parts of Northern Mexico where corn is
barely cultivated and wheat is grown, and where the familiar corn tortilla
is rarely encountered.

Flour tortillas seem to be gradually
driving out corn tortillas, which are authentically Mexican (Mexico
grows corn, not wheat).

A, is true, but B. is not. Corn tortillas were far more common, but no
more "authentic". Flour tortillas were up until "modern times" rarely
encountered outside of fairly high income homes or in those area sof Mexico
where wheat was cultivated. The Mexicans who emigrated to the US primarily
came from low income backgrounds and would rarely have been familiar with
tortillas de harina.

I was shocked when a friend from Florida had
never heard of corn tortillas, and thought all Mexican food involved
the flour variety.

Folks raised on a diet of swamp cabbage are rarely culinary arbiters.

Corn tortillas do taste better (and may well be better for you...), but
flour tortillas and the ability to afford them represent an attainment to
many Mexicans.

This morning, I breakfasted on a local favorite, quesadillas, a couple of
corn tortillas with Mexican cheese and strips of roasted poblano chile
between them, toasted on a hot griddle until the cheese melted, sort of a
Mexican Grilled Cheese Sammitch. With a large mug of coffee into which a
spoon of cocoa, some sugar and a little hot milk, had been briskly stirred
to a froth, it was almost a Mexican breakfast.

Flour tortillas have come to dominate the resturant trade, just as store
bought light bread and scratch biscuits took the place of cornbread in the
diet of USAians. Wealth. Folks have a way of moving up the food scale
just as they tentatively assay leaps up the cultural scale parallel to
increases in income/purchasing power. Societies emulate individual
conduct.

.....But I must admit that the potato and egg "tortillas" of Spain are not
without appeal.

TMO

Donna Evleth extrapolated from data available...

The food was tasteless,
and the tortillas were all flour tortillas, which did not even exist
when I was young in California.

How can Californians who dose even the most classic of Mexican dishes with
"olives" as if they were martinis be expected to know much about tortillas?

Flour tortillas did exist, but were a dish for weekends and festive
occasions. There are actually parts of Northern Mexico where corn is
barely cultivated and wheat is grown, and where the familiar corn tortilla
is rarely encountered.

Flour tortillas seem to be gradually
driving out corn tortillas, which are authentically Mexican (Mexico
grows corn, not wheat).

A, is true, but B. is not. Corn tortillas were far more common, but no
more "authentic". Flour tortillas were up until "modern times" rarely
encountered outside of fairly high income homes or in those area sof Mexico
where wheat was cultivated. The Mexicans who emigrated to the US primarily
came from low income backgrounds and would rarely have been familiar with
tortillas de harina.

I was shocked when a friend from Florida had
never heard of corn tortillas, and thought all Mexican food involved
the flour variety.

Folks raised on a diet of swamp cabbage are rarely culinary arbiters.

Corn tortillas do taste better (and may well be better for you...), but
flour tortillas and the ability to afford them represent an attainment to
many Mexicans.

This morning, I breakfasted on a local favorite, quesadillas, a couple of
corn tortillas with Mexican cheese and strips of roasted poblano chile
between them, toasted on a hot griddle until the cheese melted, sort of a
Mexican Grilled Cheese Sammitch. With a large mug of coffee into which a
spoon of cocoa, some sugar and a little hot milk, had been briskly stirred
to a froth, it was almost a Mexican breakfast.

Flour tortillas have come to dominate the resturant trade, just as store
bought light bread and scratch biscuits took the place of cornbread in the
diet of USAians. Wealth. Folks have a way of moving up the food scale
just as they tentatively assay leaps up the cultural scale parallel to
increases in income/purchasing power. Societies emulate individual
conduct.

.....But I must admit that the potato and egg "tortillas" of Spain are not
without appeal.

TMO

In , Donna Evleth wrote:

When I was growing up in California in the 1930s and 1940s, Californians
never doused any Mexican dishes with olives. This is new. Surely imported
by someone from somewhere else, probably the Midwest.

Yes, clearly because the Midwest is famous for its olive culture.

The "garbage in, garbage out" conversations by the local pensioners get
more and more amusing with each passing moon.



--
Herbie J.
Famous Curator