Sunday, June 22, 2014

That's Not Charros Frijoles..... QUIET OVER THERE!

I rarely gripe about any food but recently on an outing to an authentic Mexican restaurant I was looking over the menu and found one of my favorite Mexican dishes, charro beans. I've never had a bad serving of this tasty bit of legume crockery but that changed when I received my latest version of what someone thought was a charro bean recipe. As it arrived at my table the first thing I noticed was that the consistency of the bowl of beans was rather thick, which is unusual for charro beans but I forged ahead and began my assault on them. I took a bite, then another to make sure what I was tasting was real. There was a detection of some kind of beef product but I couldn't place the flavor. Digging around with my fork I finally found the culprit of my dismay. There were cut up pieces of beef hotdog in my frijoles. WHAT! As my brain was digesting the mere thought of someone disgracing the charro beans with a hot dog, I began to dissect the rest of the bowl to see what more I could find out about this cook that prepared this "authentic" imitation Mexican food. To start with, there is a certain flavor charro beans have from the ingredients put into the dish. The majority of recipes will call for at least 10 ingredients. After thorough visual and taste tests, I surmised that the cook had used only four or five of them at the most. I gathered that the cook used beans, water,onion, green pepper and a small amount of salt. I gave thought to going to the kitchen and showing the cook how to prepare a proper pot of charro beans but then I thought... if the cook is using hot dogs to replace the type of meat that should go into the dish and not using all the ingredients that should be in the beans then it's clear to me the owner is trying to either go out of business or save some money on ingredients. So, a trip to the kitchen wouldn't be in order. It's safe to say I may not be going back to the almost authentic Mexican restaurant unless I bring my own ingredients to flavor up the food.  And, if I have forgot to mention the restaurant it's because I was displeased with the meal not to mention the small group of Harley riders that thought it was necessary to talk louder than the music from the restaurant's speakers. There's nothing I like better than a small group of overly rude, aged, obnoxious, overbearing and verbally loud  imbeciles to set next to my booth. Should I not forget the table across the aisle from me either. Come on ladies, I don't want to know anything more about Brazil or who was there and what they did. You were highly boisterous and yokelishly unmannerly. GEEZ! I didn't forget after all. Here is the name of the place that served of my unauthentic charro beans with the serene surroundings for the most unenjoyable meal I've had in ages.