Difficult to cook American style in Mexico.

senior chef

senior chef

Senior Member
There are SOME advantages to living in Mexico, but cooking American style isn't one of them.
You see, most Mexicans do not have an oven. They mostly cook with a small 2 burner counter top burner. As a result, meat depts in super markets sell incredibly thin cuts of meat. Most beef and pork is sold sliced as thin as a book cover. With that, Mexicans often live on just chopped up meat and made into tacos.
I have shopped at all of the near-by supermarkets and I've never seen any real roasts. Not only that , but the meat does not have much marbling of fat. So, it is quite dry and tough. It is possible to buy small "chunks" of beef and the only way to get them soft and juicy is to stew them for hours and hours over a very slow fire.
I'd pay good money for a real roast. I'd love to make a truly tasty roast beef.
 

senior chef said:
Difficult to cook American style in Mexico
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What no Velveeta or Vienna Sausages? Downright un-American!

Actually you probably make a good point. Had not thought about it, but baked goods are not common in Mexican restaurants or homes. I have been to some good panaderias, good bread. Never been impressed with Mexican cakes or cookies though. As a tourist or traveler I never have a problem finding good food in Mexico, living there is likely different.
 

Alligatorob said:
What no Velveeta or Vienna Sausages? Downright un-American!

Actually you probably make a good point. Had not thought about it, but baked goods are not common in Mexican restaurants or homes. I have been to some good panaderias, good bread. Never been impressed with Mexican cakes or cookies though. As a tourist or traveler I never have a problem finding good food in Mexico, living there is likely different.
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Indeed, living here is quite different. And, I agree with you, Mexican style cakes and cookies and pastries are extremely poor. i have yet to find any chocolate chip cookies. lucky for me, there is a small American style pastry shop near by. However, their chocolate eclairs do not have any pastry custard filling.
 
MountainRa said:
Just curious - Are backyard charcoal or gas grills as common in Mexican families as they are in America?
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Yes, i think so. But, mostly el cheapo mesquite charcoal grills. Unfortunately, finding a decent steak is next to impossible.
Mexicans normally charcoal ultra-thin slices of beef and then chop them up to make tacos. It seems like Mexicans live on tacos.
 
senior chef said:
Yes, i think so. But, mostly el cheapo mesquite charcoal grills. Unfortunately, finding a decent steak is next to impossible.
Mexicans normally charcoal ultra-thin slices of beef and then chop them up to make tacos. It seems like Mexicans live on tacos.
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Not this Mexican. In fact I cook more "American" as I am married to a "white" guy.

I had to learn how to cook. Mother never taught me.
 
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Maybe you can order some decent steaks from Omahasteaks.com. But, then, if the postal service is as bad in Mexico as it is here, the meat may be spoiled by the time it arrives....and the shipping costs might be ridiculous.
 
Don M. said:
Maybe you can order some decent steaks from Omahasteaks.com. But, then, if the postal service is as bad in Mexico as it is here, the meat may be spoiled by the time it arrives....and the shipping costs might be ridiculous.
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Postal service in Mexico is nearly non-existent. I've been here 11 years now, and I've never seen a postman or even a post office.
 
Gary O' said:
Got an empty freezer?
Maybe get a cattle rancher to butcher one for you?
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As you surely know, beef in the U.S. spends time in a "fattening yard". That's how we get juicy meat. I don't know for sure, but I doubt that Mexico has any such thing.
I've been all around the world and I must say that beef in Mexico is the absolute worst of any country I've been to.
 
It's difficult to cook American-style in America!

The local Wegmans currently have standing rib roasts at $12.49/pound and tenderloin roasts at $34.99/pound.

At those prices, I'm content with Yorkshire pudding and onion gravy. :giggle:

yorkshire-pud-gravy-1500-58a7189f5f9b58a3c933d370.jpg


https://www.thespruceeats.com/yorkshire-pudding-and-rich-onion-gravy-435964

"Them 'at eats t'most pudding gets t'most meat" ;)
 
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A lot of people forget - or maybe never learned - that up until recently, tender meat and poultry had to be treated in some manner to become that way. When your cattle/sheep/pigs are foraging across The Great Outdoors, and the birds are flying around free, those animals are all building strong lean muscles. They live a "natural life" and as a result are as tough as shoe leather.

Marinating - beef sauerbraten or pork al pastor, using vinegar or acidic fruit. Mincing - everything from cheek and jowl to innards and tail. Aging/hanging - the process of rot actually tenderizes meat by softening the muscle fibers; cut off the dried-up moldy surface and voila, a beef roast or pheasant tender enough to chew easily.

That's why many of us remember growing up when "spring chickens" and "spring lamb" and veal were welcomed with genuine excitement. You couldn't roast just any old chicken, you had to buy one specifically for roasting. Yes, when I was young I tried to roast a boiling chicken - it was like trying to eat rubber!

My sister and her husband spent a year in rural Japan, finally returning after her first child was born. She said the hardest thing for her to get used to was buying a whole chicken, or a pork roast. All the stores carried was meat in 3-oz pkgs, no matter what kind it was. Similar to Senior Chef's post, roasts and an American 16-oz steak are either unaffordable or unavailable to many Japanese.

When my husband grew up in Hong Kong, the kitchens - and these were middle-class families with their own condos - are tiny, with 2- or 4-burner apartment-sized narrow stoves and tiny fridges. Everybody shops every day because you just don't have room to store a lot of fresh food. You can't make a roast at home, so you're limited to what the delis offer in roasted meats and offal.

I have never subscribed to the current mania for grass-fed beef. Having grown up in Chicago when we still had the Stockyards (the smell!) where cattle were delivered by rail to the meat processing plants, I learned the difference between 100% grass-fed and cattle that have been finished on grain, especially mixes with a high barley percentage. There is no comparison.

In Central and South America I believe the only meat-eating countries that come close to the U.S. are Brazil and Argentina. In Asia most countries lack the tremendous amount of grazing pasture necessary to raise beef; only the Koreans are heavy meat eaters so far as I know.

Everywhere else, it is as other posters and the OP have said - a little meat stretched out as far as possible.
 
Lethe200 said:
I have never subscribed to the current mania for grass-fed beef. Having grown up in Chicago when we still had the Stockyards (the smell!) where cattle were delivered by rail to the meat processing plants, I learned the difference between 100% grass-fed and cattle that have been finished on grain, especially mixes with a high barley percentage. There is no comparison.
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I have never been able to understand the grass-fed beef craze. It tastes like...well, grassy. Corn fed beef used to be the highest standard, for good reason. It tastes great!
 
Bonnie said:
Over this side of the border we can't seem to get enough Mexican food.
Tex-Mex is our favorite around these parts.
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Tex-Mex! 😍
senior chef said:
Not so novel when you are sick of eating tacos/burritos/refried beans etc. etc
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My Mexican food eating history:
Age 6 months ~3 years: lived in Monterey, Mexico
Age 3 to present(70): Southern California
Total time eating tacos/burritos/refried beans=69 1/2 yr.s
First 6 months of my life I was in Cuba- el pais de mi nacimiento. I had just gums, no teeth so no tacos. 😞
 
Nathan said:
Tex-Mex! 😍

My Mexican food eating history:
Age 6 months ~3 years: lived in Monterey, Mexico
Age 3 to present(70): Southern California
Total time eating tacos/burritos/refried beans=69 1/2 yr.s
First 6 months of my life I was in Cuba- el pais de mi nacimiento. I had just gums, no teeth so no tacos. 😞
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Interesting life you lead. Tell us more.
 
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