Mixing cuisines
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They say
"you shouldn't mix cuisines." If you're going to have an Italian meal, then don't confuse it with Mexican or German side dishes. Etc.
I'm not sure which nationality curry is, but certain spices work well with certain cuisines and others don't.
Some spices A and B work against each other, making their particular effects cancel out, so that's not productive.
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I went to Mimi's Cafe recently (French style, mainly) and ordered hors d'oeuvre of "guacamole, please."
Now, avocados are an all-time favorite, but for guacamole, diced Serrano chilies are almost essential, plus cilantro and some onion.
Mimi's
did use onion --- but they did
not use any Serranos, nor did they use cilantro.
Parsley DOES NOT make a cilantro substitute!
Instead of Serranos, it was some kind of very mild chili, perhaps pimento -- they appeared like the pimentos used in potato salad for color.
I would never make guacamole using
pimentos, instead of
Jalapenos or
Serranos!.So the guacamole wasn't spicy AT ALL, which was surprising, but not in a good way.
They served it with tortilla chips. Okay, now
we're mixing cuisines! Tortilla chips are not French; POTATO chips are French (French fries).
But French fries and guacamole isn't the right combination. Tortilla chips and guacamole IS. So that part they got right.
I didn't get far before I realized I was craving salsa, so I asked for some salsa, and it took about 15 minutes to arrive.
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I said, "You brought us guacamole and chips, but there ought to be salsa, too." The waitress stared at me like I was from Mars.
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Perhaps they had to run out to the market to get some, or couldn't find it: 15 minutes is an eternity waiting for salsa!
I suppose it serves me right for expecting a Mexican side dish at a French restaurant. But guacamole was printed on their menu.
Come to think of it,
guacamole is an appetizer, not an hors d'oeuvre.What they brought for "salsa" was indistinguishable from La Victoria Mild out of a can. No cilantro. No spiciness.
And to top it off, the waitress placed it right under my nose, saying, "Here's your salsa," as if it needed an introduction. Weird.
By then we were all ready done with the guacamole AND the chips. Lucky for them I like salsa all by itself.
So the bottom line is, if you want real Mexican guacamole, don't go to a French restaurant.
They don't know what cilantro or Serrano chilies are.
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