sandra

Mil gracias, I will make my sponge now and the rest tomorrow... last chance for these breads! splm

ARG - I feel like I'm going nuts... Here is the latest recipe from Frida's Fiestas: the others were form various other Mexican books, all gave the same result with the dough: 450g flour 1 envelope active dry yeast dissolved in 5 tabs warm milk 150g sugar 7 eggs 125g butter 60 ml warm milk salt cinnamon anise seeds vanilla orange water I mixed it all in the mega-kitchen aid with the dough hook and let it go for 45 minutes almost - did not add extra flour until it became obvious that it was not "gelling" so to speak - then added a wee bit at a time until it just formed ribbons, then dumped it in a bowl to rise 4 hours, then dumped the glob onto a sheet - It just came out of the oven and it's dry dry dry and heavy, not the light stuff I remember from home... I would like to try your recipe - it will be the last one, I'm running out of trial and error time, please post it if you find it... I appreciate it - I'm about to start throwing pan de muerto out the window at passers by...

I have been trying to make pan de muerto for 1 week now - no joy I tried 4 different recipes so far - why are they all so doughy and unmanageable? It's impossible to knead them or shape them - and if you add enough flour so that they are, thy become heavy and dry... Today I even tried a recipe for rosca de reyes, thinking it's a bit different and maybe it will work better - I just finished scooping the gloop onto a baking tray, with no shape, calaveras or bones... If I were in Mexico I wouldn't even ponder making my own, but this is London, and we want some for the restaurant and Elizondo is not right around the corner... Anyone make it? What am I doing wrong? frustrated panadera in London

allrighty then, I wonder if their "special" sauce will be butter with herbs and mustard also...?

I went last week, it was allright - I had made a lot of the same comments as Moir, specifically about the salad oil, greasy and weird tasting - also it would have been a bit more pleasant if they served walnut halves atop rather than "pebbles and crumbs"... I would not queue up for it. At 1:30 on a Wednesday afternoon, there were plenty of tables available and we sat right away - and specifically requested non-banquette... If it had been there while I was in school next door, it would have been allright for lunch...

Some, maybe, but I still don't find that Suenos has the typical Mexican taste that I want from my childhood - while Rosa Mex does - the traditional dishes of Mexico, made in a traditional way. And as I don't have time right now to go back home, Rosa Mex is it. Torres has some very interesting mixes of flavours and new methods of concocting traditional dishes and using ingredients in different ways, but when you want pure tradition.... jgould, don't be surprised I booked so far in advance, it just hows you how much I want to have dinner there... and as for the trucks, I will say my comment again, apples and oranges - would you say that Papaya King or a hot dog stand on Fifth is better than Union Square Cafe? It is if you want a hot dog - as I'm sure the trucks are better as you say, if you want a taco at 3 in the morning... but the taco truck will not prepare you mixiotes de cordero or clemole... right? As for the comment "don't forget, this still is, at the end of the day, mexican food " why would you say that? Do you assume that Mexican food is cheaper to prepare than Chinese, Japanese, etc? How do you figure that?

That's too bad you did not like it, but to be fair, you really cannot compare the food at Rosa Mex to the food at Suenos ... Rosa Mex is traditional while the other is fusion - it's great, but different... I mean the first item on the Suenos Fall menu: Seasonal Vegetable & Mushroom Spring Roll with Smoky Pepper Coulis

don't waste your time, or money! ← jgould, I really enjoy Rosa Mexicano - I think it is still one of the more authentic Mexican restaurants in NY - and as for the prices, I find it pretty comparable to any restaurant of that level, regardless of the cuisine... Not really looking for the taco truck experience this time, that I can easily make that here, it's the complex sauces for which I cannot find ingredients here that I'm after in NYC - jeanki, thanks I'll look into both your recs...!

So what's the latest? Any new favourites? Planning a visit next month and already booked Rosa Mex, but any other new suggestions?

Is this the one on Baker Street by Portman Square? ex: Charade ex: The Broadway ex: Pizza something or other ex: deli ??? Seems the two locations have a lot in common....

Well, there is The Cool Chile Company And one of the farms is South Devon Chilli Farm So it's getting better in terms of sourcing stuff... but yes please! If you're ever coming this way I would love a little surprise!!

Regarding the "etnic foods" question and the affluent: Do you think this applies to Mexican "etnic" as well though? Because most of the food that is well know to "foreigners" falls into the antojito range I would say. It's only recently that "foreigners" have come to know such dishes as mole, veracruzana, chiles en nogada, let alone a tampiquena or manchamanteles! Certainly here in London the extent of Mexican is quesadillas and tacos... until NOW that is!!! edited b/c I can't work the quotes tonight, too much mole grease on my fingers!

RE: Velveeta and Ro-Tel: WOW, I wish I had been there! Sounds really entertaining, I tried to read it imitating a Texas accent and I can picture it so clearly... I love it, still laughing!!

Shelora, most of the ingredients are sourced by the restaurant from various outlets, what they can't find, has to be made - when I do my private catering/cheffing, I in turn source a lot of stuff from te resto! there are some good chile farms around the south coast now, and once you start exploring, you find that some ingredients are global - take for example the jicama - the Chinese call it yam bean and it is readily available at oriental supermarkets, go figure! if your'e ever in London....

Well Barb, you will have to come and visit soon then! Mestizo is the only restuarnt offering upscale Mexican food here, and it was really needed! I only wish it was "my" restuarant! I help them out every once in a while with the menus and special parties... I love your avocado story!

Here in London, the dinner on the 15th capped of a whole Gastronomic Week in a new Mexican restaurant where I have been cooking, you may have seen the posts here: Mestizo in London The menu was very complete, unfortunately, I don't have the photos, but everything was great, we even managed to get fresh poblanos for the chiles en nogada, which is a great feat in the UK! Here is what we made and ate: Tostadas de Salpicon de Carne -or- Tlacoyo de Frijol Negro Sopa Seca de Fideos Ensalada de Berros -or- Ensalada de nopales Mixiote de Cordero en Mole Colorado -or- Pollo en Pipian -or- Pescado al Chipotle -or- Medallones de Filete en Salsa de Cuitlacoche Metzli -or- Chiles en Nogada Buñuelos -or- Capirotada We had mariachis, a lot of dancing, and at midnight, one of the owners called out the GRITO, very nicely! Of course the next day we had a menu for the cruda, birria, menudo, torats ahogadas, huevos rancheros and pozole... it was sorley needed! I love the story of the shoe in the Zocalo!!

I only use saffron for paella... for a Mexican arroz con pollo, we use tomato and peas for South American it's just the rice, chicken stock and spices the trick is to fry the rice before it goes in - after sweating the onion and garlic, throw in the rice until it's white (yes, I know, whiter...) and then put in your liquid, tomatoes, and pre-browned chicken, at the end, add peas and carrots and whatever else you want... In the Milliken Feniger recipe, for example, I would add the rice in with the vermicelli to toast...

Isn't this the former premises of Anda? Very tricky location, IMO ← Yes indeed, ex-Anda, ex-Incognito, since I have lived here, I have not seen a successful restaurant here - I hope they can make it work, we need something really good in this area! Another dead spot in the area is the one in Marylebone Lane where Relais de Venise is about to open up, ex-The Lane, ex-Pick up Stix, ex... ex....

Easy - grill the corn, slather with mayo, a few drops of lime, and sprinkle with chile powder - this is how you get them on the street... they are called elotes there was a thread recently on this, but I can't find it now - oh wait, here it is: Mexi-corn Personally, I leave off the cheese edited to add the link

Baking powder in the UK is NOT double acting, I usually use double the UK powder fo the US recipes...

Well if it was aimed at what I posted, I also stand by what I said, all I said is he "looked" like he had just rolled out of bed, maybe that is the look the BBC is after, you know the "I'm a lad" look - and not at all what he prefers in his personal life - I wrote an email to the BBC with the same comments... Andy, I think you know as well as anyone I truly understand just how "public" this forum can be, no?

Well, more updates on Mexican in London:::: September 8-14 will be Gastronomic Week at Mestizo - every day of the week will feature the typical food of a different state - and on the 15th will be the big Independence Day celebrations... Today we were testing recipes, and I can tell you, it really doesn't get better than this in London When the menus are up on the website, I'll post again, so you can all see what's coming! In the meantime, the sopa de fideos seca off the Frida menu is awesome.... * ok a little more than just an update, a bit of shameless self-promotion also, but hey, you wanted to know, right?

I keep saying that... today he looked like he rolled out of bed just before the show, wearing the same clothes from the day before, and messed up his wig* even more than usual... He grosses me out so much I can't even watch the show for more than 5 minutes any more... And why does Merrilees move around and make gestures like she is a five year old? *doesn't it look like one?

the cuajo is also what you would use to make chongos zamoranos at home - and I have also seen the big plastic bottles...

.... and tuck in that shirt, and comb that hair, he just looks plain old dirty - Like you want him anywhere near any kind of food??