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March 10, 2003How To Know You’re In A Good Ethnic Restaurant While Visiting The South
I have heard tales in other parts of the country about how some ethnic restaurants (i.e. Mexican, Chinese, Vietnamese, Ethiopian, etc.) are now being operated by an ethnic group other than the cuisine being served (i.e a Chinese buffet operated by Hispanics). I suppose that may be the natural progression of some things, but I hold firmly to my one measuring stick on whether I can expect good Mexican or Chinese food. Simply put, if I know that real Mexicans run a Mexican restaurant, I’ll have a good Mexican dinner. If I walk into a Chinese restaurant with real Chinese people operating the place, I’ll have a good Chinese dinner. I hope this doesn’t border to close to racial bias, but I can’t help it. And I will not use the politically correct terms of ‘Hispanic/Latino’ or ‘Asian.’ The reason I won’t is because Mexican food is different from Honduran food though both nations are said to be Hispanic/Latino. There’s a difference. And Chinese food is different than Thai, Vietnamese, and Japanese. It’s nothing sinister or charged with racial overtones with me. When we’re talking about the differences in food of different races, we have to be specific. What a shame it would be to assume all Barbecue was the same. This would fail to point out the differences of the mesquite style Texas barbecue, the famous St. Louis style wet ribs, the dry ribs of Memphis, etc. For those of you far north of the Mason-Dixon line, think of the difference in New York style and Chicago style pizza. For Italian food aficionados, think of the difference between Northern Italian cuisine and the Southern Italian cuisine. I blog all this because when I first arrived in this little town I live and work in the closest you could get to Mexican food was Taco Bell and the occasionally Mexican family food concession trailer that parked in from of the Supercenter on the weekends. Mercifully, a Mexican restaurant owned and operated by real Mexicans opened. It is has been my lunch haunt for a while now. So much so that one of their senior employees and I celebrated the birth of his daughter with drinks at the local sports bar. His name is Alfredo and I like ‘mi amigo, mi muchacho con mucho gusto.’ Last Christmas, they even gave me a coffee mug full of candy as I paid my lunch bill. We now have a new restaurant being prepared in town, again with real Mexicans serving Mexican food. We already have two Chinese restaurants run by real Chinese people. At times, I grow dissatisfied with this little burg for not having a bookstore or a nice coffeehouse where I can relax in the evenings. And then I remember I real South Arkansas barbecue, one real Mexican restaurant (and one coming), and two real Chinese places. What else could a single southern guy ask for? Posted by Adam H at March 10, 2003 01:52 PM ~ Link Cosmos | Trackbacks (0)Comments
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