On Thu, Apr 10, 2008 at 7:00 AM, Gautam John <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I've been wondering why there is an acute lack of *any* restaurant, in > Bangalore, that serves Mexican food. I'm not sure if this is true of > the rest of India too... > A friend contrasted this to the proliferation of Chinese and Italian > (or rather, Indian versions) restaurants because, in his opinion, the > base cuisine, Mexican, is far too similar to Indian food as against > Chinese and Italian cuisines and consequently, the latter offer a > greater degree of conversion and assimilation to Indian tastes and > that this process of conversion and assimilation, Indian-isation if > you will, is important to local adaptability and acceptance. > What does the list think? And are there any decent Mexican joints in > and outside of Bangalore? > Does anyone else bemoan the lack of enchiladas and things of that ilk? My explanation would be economic and sociological rather than culinary. My experience is that the only place there are "Mexican" restaurants anywhere in the world are places where there are Mexican (and South American) immigrants. For the most part that only happens in countries where 1) there is a demand for relatively cheap labor (relative to what locals charge) and 2) there is relatively easy access for the immigrants. Which ends up being, for all practical purposes, the USA, and to a lesser extent other rich western countries. Without that you're missing large enough demand for the food, and large enough supply of people who can cook it. Granted there is demand from people who have travelled to Mexico, or to other places where Mexican food is made. Unlike Italian though, there is almost no tradition of high-end cusine in Mexican cooking, outside of Mexico. (Inside Mexico is another story, Mexican regional cuisines are many and varied, but rarely seen outside of Mexico - the occasional Red Snapper Vera Cruz or Cochinita Pibil notwithstanding.) Without being able to command premium prices, it would be hard to succeed selling Mexican food into a market with limited demand. Cooking Mexican food is not that hard to do at home, it's one of the cuisines I considered while I was living in Bangalore. I remember asking Gautam if it might be possible to get a local miller to grind me some masa harina (ground maize flour with lime, used as the basis for making tortillas and tamales.) I recommend any of Diana Kennedy's books if you want to try, I think local substitutes for most of the ingredients should be easily available. The culinary theory is interesting though. I'm not sure I completely buy it, Mexican food does use a fair amount of cumin, garlic, and onion, and the basic flavor palette is pretty similar IMO. However Mexican cooking I think the flavors are generally more distinct, and there are fewer of them in any one dish. There's also more "brightness" in the heavier use of acidifiers, citrus and vinegar in particular - and of course the prominent use of ground dried chilies in different varieties than I see in India. I haven't really seen anything that would substitute for a dried poblano, though I admit I didn't look too hard. Enchiladas would be dead simple though. I'll be visiting in a few weeks, maybe we can get together and make enchiladas. -- Charles
