Worst. Rellenos. Ever.

OK, I have one for you. We went to Bar Harbor Maine for a vacation, some time back in the 1990's. Our son was still little, and he was on a Mexican food kick. Otherwise I can't imagine how we would have ended up in a "Mexican" Restaurant on Mount Desert Island. We didn't get angry and send stuff back but every dish was basically a joke, so far from any Mexican reality that you had to shake your head and say "what are they THINKING." I think I had a bowl of the chili, which had a square of gingerbread sitting in the middle of a batch of mildly flavored beans. Gingerbread!?

Of course 90% of our meals contained lobster which was cheap and absolutely delicious. And we saw no end of whales and puffins...

Frank

I have found that not only do my east coast friends have trouble finding good Mexican food in their neighborhoods, but they really don't have a grasp of what good Mexican food is.
The last couple of years, I've noticed an increasing Mexican population in NYC, so it shouldn't be long now until the number of Mexicans who begin opening food joints reaches critical mass. When that happens, expect an epiphany. Could be the next big thing.

John, fear not, here in New Jersey I am surrounded by Taquerias where the only problem is speaking enough Spanish to be able to order food and pay the bill. Around New Brunswick the people are mostly from Oaxaca.

That restaurant in Bar Harbor was hilarious, it's been several years so it's hard to remember but I think there was also some kind of fruit mixed in with the beans and gingerbread in the "Chili." And probably not much in the way of chili powder. I think my son Tom was getting sick of lobster rolls and insisted that we try it out.

Frank

Yes, yes, okay, bad food, but can we talk about Mamma Mia??? I loved loved loved this silly movie. Loved it.

So did I. It's the perfect chick flick, and as good a time as you can have at the movies. Not that all movies have to be a good time to be great, but gosh it's nice once in awhile to have such harmless fun.

Carrie, have you seen it? (You, Barb and I should live in the same town. Between food, wine and movies, we could kill some real quality time!)

I've often thought that, Jenise! Barb, you are/were a Cary Grant fan, right? The three of our paths seem to have some "overlap." You in LA with visits to PS, Barb in FL (where I'm from)...

No, I haven't seen the movie yet. Our schedule has been crazy lately, but actually the other night I mentioned seeing it to Len. He asked, "Does it have subtitles?" I told him no, but it's a musical. The only response I got was a crinkled up nose.
I'm going to see a girlfriend in Tacoma on Tuesday, so perhaps we will venture out to see it while I'm there. I really want to see it!

Here's a question for all the members here who don't live in the Southwest where good Mexican food is available. How good...or bad...is the Mex grub in your area and how difficult is it to find the good stuff? I guess the range should be from 'easy' to 'impossible' For those of you in the 'impossible' areas, perhaps we can arrange for emergency rations via this board!

It's the real thing in New Mexico. It was a challenge/joke when we lived for a while in Minnesota (where Miracle Whip is a spice).

Larry, while in Minnesota did you feel like you were in Hell and it had frozen over?

Actually, I liked it except for the frigid winters, the hot and humid summers, the 50 species of mosquitoes and the bland food.

Actually, I liked it except for the frigid winters, the hot and humid summers, the 50 species of mosquitoes and the bland food.

All true, but the natives are exceptionally nice people. Not to mention generally hard working, polite and well educated. Even when they visit Lambeau and lose, they will shake your hand and say "Good game, dare hey!"

I did say I liked it. The amenities are second to none. And the people are polite, but it's difficult to break in unless you're born there, which is why we moved back to New Mexico--much easier to make real friendships. In MN, I'd bake bread, ring a neighbor's doorbell and offer them a loaf. A hand would reach out, I'd hear a thank-you and then the door would click shut. I was never offered even a cup of coffee. I more or less learned to live with it, but the phrase "alone in a crowd" frequently came to mind.

In MN, I'd bake bread, ring a neighbor's doorbell and offer them a loaf. A hand would reach out, I'd hear a thank-you and then the door would click shut. I was never offered even a cup of coffee. I more or less learned to live with it, but the phrase "alone in a crowd" frequently came to mind.

Well that's your fault, Larry. If you would have brought your neighbors some Lutefisk and introduced yourself as Lars Greenlysen they would have welcomed you with open arms!

Oh, I swoon for Cary Grant...Am watching Philadelphia Story beginning to end even as I type..I love it when Uncle Willy comes out with a hangover, Dinah waylays him into a little pony cart and he says "Why that when we could be on pogo sticks" or something along those lines...cracks me up...CK Dexter Haven...Ahhh.

And git you to a movie theater: I watched Mamma Mia with a smile on my face THE WHOLE time except when I cried during Slipping Through My Fingers...

When are we having that offline???

Mamma Mia with a smile on my face THE WHOLE time except when I cried during Slipping Through My Fingers...

When are we having that offline???

Barb, I love it when we get it right on WLDG/FLDG! Mother and all alliterations thereof are in CAPS, and you did it. (just MO of course) Way to go girl!

If you like corny old love stories --

I am a member of a local film group, it's a "Bogart Bar". We ran out of Bogart movies a couple of years ago, and for the latest movie I suggested "Summertime". I am a huge fan of David Lean (who did such things as Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge on the River Kwai, and Doctor Zhivago). And the movie is based on a play called "The TIme of the Cuckoo" by Arthur Laurents, who also wrote West Side Story and The Birdcage among others. "Do I Hear a Waltz" is his musical based on the play, and he still lives in NYC.

Summertime stars Katherine Hepburn and Rosanno Brazzi (the love interest in South Pacific) -- it is in color and features Venice, almost as a character in the story. Very highly recommended. Here is a teaser

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bGGCEgf9Xk

Frank

Interesting that they make them from pasillas. Usually, green Poblanos are the choice for their capacious interior space....Regarding chile rellenos and tradition, I'm interested to see that everyone here speaks of cheese as the filling. The Mexican tradition is a lot more variable....

Pasillas = poblano. Same pepper. Now I understand that technically poblano is the correct term (or, when dried, ancho) and that a pasilla actually refers to another pepper in a dried state, but in markets in California and Washington where I've lived, 'pasilla' is the name used, so that's what I use too.

Ooh, don't ever say that to a Oaxacan, Jenise! Pasillas are distinct from Poblanos, the latter of which when dried are referred to as Anchos and Mulatos. Poblanos have very characteristic broad shoulders, where Pasillas are much more streamlined. Together, dried Pasilla, Ancho and Mulato are the 'Holy Trinity' of dried peppers for mole makers. Lesse if I can Google up some good photos for you:

Pasilla Ancho Mulato

(The photo of the ancho doesn't do it's red-brown color justice)

About the fillings, I've never once had a relleno that wasn't cheese-filled unless I made the aberation myself. Certainly in west coast Mexican restaurants, it's cheese and only cheese.

In restaurants, it's true that it's hard to find a filling that isn't cheese. For a yummy local variant (given your recent crabbing success) a mixture of crab meat and shredded soft white cheese would make a great filling.

Mark Lipton

When we arrived here in Indiana, the state of Mexican food available in town was pathetic: a Chi-Chi's, another chain almost as bad, and La Bamba, a local chain featuring "burritos as big as your head" (popular with the frat crowd for after-closing time eating). Fast forward 18 years, and we've got a thriving Mexican subculture with multiple good tacquerias, 3 Mexican groceries, a tortilleria, a bakery and several places featuring SF-style burritos. There still isn't any upscale Mexican dining here, but that's true of many places I've lived.

Mark Lipton
(Still aglow from the salsa cruda I made for dinner tonight)

And none of those crops are rotting in the field either.

I've been a Woody Guthrie fan since I was about 14.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz9okKRhimE

And if you have the good taste to like Emmy Lou.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQbOScHfxhQ&NR=1

Mark, the terminology does seem to be regional.

Sold under the name pasilla, this fresh poblano, when dried is called ancho

Universally here (including in Sonoran markets), the wide dark green one is called pasilla and the narrow lighter one is called Anaheim or California. The dried pasilla seems to mostly be sold as negro, but sometimes as ancho. It's very confusing, mixing both Mexican and American regionalisms.

[Jenise]

If you like corny old love stories --

I am a member of a local film group, it's a "Bogart Bar". We ran out of Bogart movies a couple of years ago, and for the latest movie I suggested "Summertime".

What a great idea, and what a lovely film. If you want to stay on theme (lonely never-married woman away from home falls in love), your next film could be Dear Heart starring Geraldine Page, Glenn Ford, and a wonderfully clueless Angela Lansbury. Sweet, funny, and as full of heart as the title.

Chile ID page
What they call a New Mexico sure looks like an Anaheim to me.

Chile ID page
What they call a New Mexico sure looks like an Anaheim to me.

Chile nomenclature is a total mess. The Anaheim is the mildest of the green chiles and is a cousin of the New Mexican chile.

Ancho is a fairly large chile, 2 inches wide, 3 inches long. Known as ancho in both fresh and dried forms, it is called poblano (when green) probably because it came from the Puebla Valley near Mexico City. In some areas it's known as pasilla, even though the true pasilla chile is totally different: ancho, 5 inches long, tapering from 3-inch shoulders; true pasilla, 4-3/4 to 10 inches long, narrow (3/4 inch wide), curved and a dark brownish black. The name pasilla means "little raisin,"which refers to raisiny appearance and aroma. It's mild.

Now, isn't that totally clear?

Mark, the terminology does seem to be regional.

Sold under the name pasilla, this fresh poblano, when dried is called ancho

Universally here (including in Sonoran markets), the wide dark green one is called pasilla and the narrow lighter one is called Anaheim or California. The dried pasilla seems to mostly be sold as negro, but sometimes as ancho. It's very confusing, mixing both Mexican and American regionalisms.

OK, I'll accept that Poblanos are mistakenly referred to as pasilla in (Alta) California, but that seems to me to be no less egregious a case of mislabeling than the Chilean Carmenère/Merlot confusion or the Viognier/Roussanne SNAFU of recent memory. It's a case where one cultivar is incorrectly identified as another and where the two have different flavors and culinary uses. It's like some region of the US calling shallots garlic. Just because everyone's doing it doesn't make it OK in my book.

Quixotically yours,
Mark Lipton

I can top that. The only time I have ever sent food back in an ethnic restaurant.

In a galaxy far away (Memphis, TN) there is a "Mexican" restaurant.

I had been eating chilies rellenos in Mexican restaurants in California for about 16 years.

I made the mistake of ordering it here.

It looked kind like what I was used to on the plate. There was a batter.

Inside the batter was a dried red chile with the skin still on it. It had been partially rehydrated.

It was filled with Cheez Whiz.

Mollie's?