Tag: Food

Keiko, I Found the Enchiladas

It took me awhile, but I finally found them in Puerto Escondido. Before I get started, here’s a shamelessly beautiful picture of that town.

A Topside View of Puerto Escondido

Good. Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, I’ll continue.

Keiko, you asked me about what real enchiladas are like, and immediately I was interested in finding out for myself. I don’t know what they’re like in Japan, but in Texas, they’re essentially a small burrito (or a large Taco) covered in salsa and cheese (and maybe sour cream). Another way of saying it is that, in Texas, they look like this:

Tex Mex Enchiladas

I’ve been told that Mexican enchiladas are mostly the same, except that instead of normal red salsa and green salsa, you can also opt for mole (which Mexicans happen to call “red salsa”). Mole is so complex that it probably requires some knowledge of sorcery to create it, but the two most discernible ingredients are red chile and chocolate. Delicious.

Anyway, the enchiladas I found were not like the ones they serve in Texas. Instead, the eatery featured it on their breakfast menu and offered it in 6 varieties: Egg, Chicken or Tasajo (thinly sliced steak), and either salsa verde or salsa rojo (a.k.a. mole, in this case). The dish starts with a layer of corn tortilla pieces. Then, they cover that in some kind of white cheese. Then, they cover that in lettuce. Then, they put a piece of meat or egg on top. And then, they drown it all in the sauce. I took the Tasajo con Salsa Rojo. It was glorious. Take a look at that magnificent beauty, below. Next to it is the market where I ate it.

Genuine EnchiladasMercado en Puerto Escondido

This is probably the most delicious post I’ll ever write, so I’m going to get breakfast, now.

Post #4 – An Obligatory Post about Food (Or, My Blog is Finally a Blog)

Every blog has a million of these, so now mine has one. Let’s do this thing.

Munich is a mulitcultural city with tons of food options yatta yatta blah blah GERMAN FOOD.

Image

Just look at those things.

Roxana and I made it our goal to eat something super German this weekend, and we think we did it. Closest to you in the photo is what Roxana ordered, and my meal is obviously across the table. Both are different cuts of pork, prepared exactly the same way: with a sauce made from dark beer. The yellow mounds on each plate are mostly potatoes, but they taste like they use a lot of other ingredients, as well. The rich vocabulary I’m using to describe these dishes is probably telling you exactly how much we knew about them before we ordered.

Ryan: These have pork in them.

Roxana: Yeah, and they come with potato-somethings. See? Kartoffel.

Ryan: Yeah, and mit dunklebiersauce? That sounds awesome.

Roxana: I say we don’t think much about this and just order something that sounds German.

Ryan: Exactly what I’m thinking.

So, there you go. I can tell you that each dish was about the size of Roxana, so neither of us ate again for 10 or so hours. And they were extremely tasty. THAT’S LUNCH.

I’ll close with some notes about the service at this and other German restaurants we’ve visited. They won’t blow minds, so they won’t get their own post(s), but they’re interesting because they contradict much of what I’ve heard about German food service.

  1. Waiters and waitresses are friendly. Not as friendly as the ones in Texas, but nobody’s as friendly as those people. The waitress at the restaurant in the photo here actually said goodbye with “schöntag,” which I think is a much sweeter version of “gutentag.” She also smiled a lot. I’ve been told by many that German waiters are standoffish and impatient (seemingly, at least).
  2. Service seems slow at first, but it’s because waiters are being polite. They don’t check on you during the meal, because they don’t want to interrupt. Once you get the hang of flagging one down and asking for the check, the experience is really smooth. It also means you start spending more time talking to your friends in the restaurant. That’s pretty nice.

Coming up in a future post: Spanish speakers love Munich.