My Mex-Amenian New Year

So I don't know how many other people have a multi-culti New Year, a few of my friends that I know of. We made homemade Tamales and homemade Dolmas- stuffed grape leaves, and since my husband is from Texas we had to have Hoppin John or Texas Caviar, made from black eyed peas. You are supposed to eat something green on New Year's Day for good luck, wealth and prosperity, so instead of the usual collard greens we substituted grape leaves. The confusing part is that you are supposed to remove the corn husks from the Tamale and eat what is inside- in the photo you can see the corn husks come off easily, but you are suppose to eat the grape leaves and what is inside them. Some people unfortunately fail to understand this and try and eat the corn husk. We have a friend in southern Idaho who has what he refers to as "The Joy Luck Club New Year" He is half Basque, Half English with a Japanese stepmother and a half brother who is half Japanese who converted to Mormonism. So you see, Idaho is a lot more multi-cultural than many people think. There is a large Basque population here and also a lot of Japanese people were unfortunately interned here during the second world war, and remained on afterwards. So our friend's family has Sushi flown in for New Years Day which the Mormon half of the family celebrates without any alcohol.I bet there are many more multi -cultural stories out there in this great country of ours where we truly seem to be a great melting pot or in the case of Sushi a non melting pot.
Another odd case of food related multiculturalism- I caught my husband the other day making a tuna fish sandwhich, On a Tortilla! Really, "we were out of bread" he said. I can only take this so far. Me, I draw the line- fish tacos, or tuna fish salad on bread. Call me old fashioned, but I can only get my mind around so much . Happy New Year- Feliz Ano Nuevo- Շնորհավոր Նոր Տարի

Curiosities- The Rio Grande Valley of Texas

The Rio Grande Valley in South Texas is some 90% Latino and yet they opened a Taco Bell fast food restaurant and Latino's actually eat there. Yeah, yeah I know, Italians also eat at the Olive Garden -go figure-


They have a taco joint called "El Pato" (the duck) http://www.elpatomexicanfood.com you can get a peanut butter and jelly"pato" in a flour tortilla there.( This was my hubby's favorite restaurant as a kid). In all fairness I have had a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in a pita bread- the Armenian version of this- To quote John Cougar Mellencamp"Ain't that America?"

It seems like more people drive on the shoulder of the highways and roads than drive in the lanes of the highway in some of the rural areas, now I live in a rural area and no one does that here, so" splain Lucy?"(Desi Arnaz expression from "I Love Lucy" t.v show) Is this fear or saving gas,unreliable old trucks, or what?

The water at the beach down there is almost as warm as the hot air temperature. Having spent much time at the Jersey shore in my youth, I did not find this very refreshing

There is great Birding and Butterfly watching in South Texas http://southtexasnature.com
and snowbirding when Retirees come down from the midwest in winter to find warmth

William S. Burroughs, the famous novelist, lived in South Texas for awhile and described it as "this valley of heat and boredom" my husband who grew up there might agree, but on the other hand,as an outsider, I found it rather fascinating. Burroughs also said- there is a strong death force there"death hangs over the valley like an invisible smog"

There is a myth about the Valley reeling people in if they try and get away, people move away and then are mysteriously drawn back there according to the book "The Lost Years Beats in South Texas" It seems some of the people we've know have relived many of the stories in this book, from dying with wild cats to moving away and being reeled back in,

http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Years-William-S-Burroughs/dp/1585445479

Tortada?

Taco Bell has a new product- the Tortada
What is this, a torta (sandwich) with a patada (kick) attached?
Who exactly is coming up with this invented corporate gringo lingo?




Personally all the Mexicans I know loved the Taco Bell dog so just in case you've missed him you can view him in this video

cultural crossovers-(term, not a pastry)

Japanese Tako salad-can you believe it? There actually
are no tacos in this salad,
just octopus!

not to be confused with the Tex Mex taco salad. Personally, I enjoy both tacos and salad but separately, not mixed together

Japanese Bonito Flakes, these are not pretty flakes (bonito means pretty in Spanish), but dried tuna, and just to confuse the issue even more I am talking about tuna the fish, not tuna the cactus fruit. Aye! Dios Mio

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ecoph19.htmhttp://www.mexconnect.com/articles/356-nopales-tunas-and-pitayas

Mexican food/Armenian food- commonalities

if you want to make Mexican food, first start by chopping some onions

if you want to make Armenian food, first start by chopping some onions

both cultures use cilantro, only the Armenians use the cilantro seed which is also called the spice coriander

both cultures use fideo-those little noodles, only Armenians call it another name that I only know how to pronounce but not spell, and put it in rice, it's basically a vermicelli noodle

both cultures use favas or habas or fava beans

both cultures use chick peas or ceci beans or garbanzo beans or as the local farmers who grow them here in Idaho refer to them - garbs

There will be more posts on this topic in the future, this is only a start. Please feel free to add to the ongoing list by commenting

decent Mexican food is directly proportional to Latino population

Or at least that is my theory. Around here, not so many Latinos, marginally good Mexican food. Spokane Washington, not many Latinos, lousy Mexican food(in fairness we tried 4 different Taco joints, holding out hope each time, only to be sorely disappointed) Tri-Cities Washington on the other hand, large Latino population, decent Mexican food. Our favorite place in Pasco is- Junior's Tacos 530 W Court StPasco, WA 99301 They don't seem to have a website because they don't need one,everyone knows it's good and they are concentrating on the food. It's in a homey reworked fast food joint,authentic food ,inexpensive and everybody friendly, bi-lingual too.