BootsnAll Travel Community

Heres a question up for general discussion.

I used to sort of like Chinese food before I went travelling. Once I went travelling, I get back and find unless the food tastes exquisite to very good, I have no interest in it. I used to eat any kind of takeout chines, and now it just doesn't turn my head.

The same goes for mexican, though I love it in mexico and good restaurants, if its badly done, I just can't bring myself to like it again.

I start remembering those 50 cent tacos in the stands in Mexico city with 4 times the flavor, and decide its not worth it.

Is this common?

True, I don't seek out Thai restaurants with the same fervor now that I have been to Thailand a few times.

I live in a very Latin neighborhood however. Tacos around here cost $1.00 each and taste the same as below the border.

On the other hand, Philly has better pizza than we do.

Yep.

I can't eat a taco in Seattle unless it comes off a truck.

Foods that don't live up at home?

*Fresh bread. Germans just do it better.
*Pastries. The French have us beat by a mile. Excuse me, a kilometer.
*Fried plantains. Our plantians suck.
*Frsh tropical fruits. Mango, avacado, papaya, etc.
*Yuca. Here it's super fiberous.
*Wine. For cheap (like $2) bottles of very potable wine, you cant beat France, Spain or Italy.

Cracker - amen on the wine. It seems the whole under-$5 market is totally ignored by US producers (except for St. Charles Shaw). And it can be hard to find those decent $2 to $5 euro wines over here. Probably because there are fewer daily drikers of wine in the US.

Tortuga - good topic. I think this phenomenon you talk about is very common. It applies to the cuisine of just about every country I've visited. But there's another side to it -- when I get back from "x" country, I'll often have this nostalgic urge to eat that country's food as soon as I get back home. Usually, I'm disappointed. It's never as good. After six or seven months, I can usually bear it, but it's still never the same. And certain cuisines, I've totally given up on ...

Oh well. The bright side of all of this is that I now know good food (of at least a few countries) when I taste it.

I can't eat Mexican food since I left SoCal. It sucked in Wisconsin and it sucks in vienna (I've had arguments with cooks because they hadn't heard of cilantro).

But last time in the US I was actually able to find bread that was edible, that seems to be changing a lot. And thank god for Whole Foods, I can now get stuffed Olives in the US too.

Cracker, have you tried the plantains at Canita? The only time I've ever had them was there, so have no idea how they compare. I thought they were pretty darned tasty.

You know, you can't find decent Steak and Cheese Pies here in the US like you can in New Zealand. I've ended up making my own a few times, but it's still not the same. At least I've been able to find Wheatabix here. I think it was actually called Weet-bix in New Zealand, but it's pretty much the same thing.

I miss the street food more than anything. Nothing better than bratwurst from a vender!

The rat dog's here just don't cut it!

interesting topic...

I couldn't eat Chinese food for a long time after returning from there. Even the smell turned me off.

The food in NY is soooo good though.. I like the Thai food here as much as Thailand (heresy!) and bread here can be heavenly.

I agree..I miss the street food from Thailand and Mexico.Things don't taste the same here.....

Rarely eat Indian food in rest anymore..

The foods that I still enjoy in SF ( we have so much choice) is Middle Eastern, African and Latin American..some great Peruvian food here. Am still discovering the Mission district. Its a foodie's heaven!

Madhu, if you venture down to South SF or nearby, you can find Mexican food equal to the best in Mexico. Small taquerias or even "roach coaches".

And BTW, I agree that the SF area beats any other city in the nation including NYC for cuisine hands down. (Variety, taste, and PRICE)

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Elis:
(I've had arguments with cooks because they hadn't heard of cilantro).

QUOTE]

Thats probably because in europe we call it coriander!

Yup, havent been able to eat chinese food since returning from china
Visiting the states gave me a BIG apreciation for healthy eating- it just way too easy to live on junk there! i havent eaten a macdonalds since... kinda.

I can't say I'm burned out on anything from my travels. I admit I don't eat Chinese these days. I live in Vancouver and you'd think we'd have some decent Chinese food but no, not after 2 months in the PRC.

But my solution to being let down by local interpretations is to cook yourself. Sometimes you can't duplicate the ingredients, but I'm making solid Sichuan dishes at home, and sort of gearing up for Thai.

A craving for variety in my diet makes me compromise my standards sometimes. I can enjoy different types of preparation though of the same cuisine category.

Case in point. Growing up in Washington State I ate at a chain called Taco Time alot. Yes, I would eat at more authentic Mexican places sometimes too (Mole too!)...but I enjoyed the convienence of Taco Time and the taste. Which is kind of like a "Overly sanitized, clean, orderly, dumbed and watered down - especially the salsa, non-spicy version" of Mexican food.

Later when I moved to SoCal, I at first didn't care for the more authentic way of preparation. Whether that be across the border or at local restaurants - the ones that the Mexicans go to, or heck even Rubios. Now I prefer it.

Eating Taco Slime is not so good anymore, but I still go there occasionally. Though certainly not with the same fervor as many moons ago. I've even eaten at lowest common demoninator taste-bud places like Del Taco. Although, I won't touch Taco Bell unless really, really desperate.

I could say the same about Chinese food. I'll still eat at a Panda Express (Though I can't stand stuff like sweet n sour pork) even though the previous week I might have gone to an authentic, non-Americaned, Chinese place - mostly patronized by immigrants from Taiwan and China (Microsoft is in the area).

What is authentic Chinese anyway? Go to Taiwan it tastes one way. Refined Chinese food is how I would describe it. Go to China and you have all sorts of types of preparation depending on the province. In Beijing, many restaurants are excessively oily. ...places where they don't speak English and you wouldn't find unless you looked hard for them. Go to Singapore or Malaysia and it is infused with other cultural influences.

At some Chinese places, the more real stuff is on a menu written in Chinese, unreadable to non-literate folks.

quote:

(I've had arguments with cooks because they hadn't heard of cilantro).

I spoke with a woman in Sevilla who owned the Mexican restaurant there. We were talking about the relative blandness of the food. She said it was because the Spanish palate couldn't handle some of the stronger tastes. She was from LA, and had a hell of a time getting cilantro, etc.

I love Mexican food, and am lucky to live here in SF (and come from a Mexican family). I agree that South SF has some yummy Mexican-- La Morena is awesome. I don't know that I would ever get tired of eating Mexican, even if I spent time in Mexico!

quote:

Originally posted by braslvr:
Madhu, if you venture down to South SF or nearby, you can find Mexican food equal to the best in Mexico. Small taquerias or even "roach coaches".

And BTW, I agree that the SF area beats any other city in the nation including NYC for cuisine hands down. (Variety, taste, and PRICE)

I found a great mexican place...Tacos Al Pastor tastes the same as it did in Mexico. Its a small place and a Latin friend of mine refuses to go there with me.The place is not up to high standards haha

I have to take a bus all the way on Mission street..but these days am walking and thus discovering these little tucked away places.

San Fran is foodie heaven!! those who diagree prepare for a battle.

quote:

Originally posted by Bucky:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Elis:
(I've had arguments with cooks because they hadn't heard of cilantro).

QUOTE]

Thats probably because in europe we call it coriander!

Wow, thanks for that. I didn't know. But I did describe it to them and they still didn't have any. They also didn't know that there was a second type of tortilla made from corn meal, not white flour.

quote:

Originally posted by Elis:

They also didn't know that there was a second type of tortilla made from corn meal, not white flour.

This is a super common problem in almost every country in the world, even most of South America. Hard to believe considering how tasty they are.