Tacos do not have ANY of the following…

– There is no ‘Old el Paso’ pre-made kit here.
Holy crap don’t start me. Tacos here are nearly always street food. Tacos are not a saucy rich slop-fest, they’re a ridiculous whack of freshness. You never eat a meal of tacos here and leave the table feeling bloated. Usually packed with fresh onion and Corriander, the only saucy bit is a zesty ‘red or green’ (who knows the difference but the red one feels a tad abrasive the next day) which again is fresh as a spring daffodil.

– Tacos do not have a hard corn-chip type shell
There’s this thing we call a taco… now throw that in the bin and lets not ever speak its name again. In case you’re not sure, call an exorcist and do some sory of voodoo to boot, this beast of Satan should never see the light of day. Tacos here are a very soft tortilla and always served with two tortillas giving them body and I guess strength, these babies never burst apart. They’re also small, easily fitting four served flat, yes flat on a dinner plate. It’s possibly shameful to admit that a meal is usually eight or so tacos, small, tasty gems and you can make all eight different no probs.

– Taco meat which is recycled bolognese sauce
Who the hell i s’Old el Paso’ anyway and who’s gonna start the letter writing campaign. The meats are NEVER drowned or even coated with any sauce. Instead you get differing meats grilled sharply: chicken, pork, beef and, wait for it, lebanese style yeeros, OMG It’s time to keep a tissue handy, who’d have thought?

Are we missing the point? no, just the FOOD!

There’s so many things here that seem to be nothing short of staples. How on earth can any Australian try Mexican food without these little rays of sunshine?

– Tlayudas: Like a folded over pizza made in a really big tortilla. It’s made up then whacked right onto flaming coals, soooo morish!

– Mole: Mainly chilli and i’m sure all manner of unhealthy stuff (have deliberately not investigated) this thick gravy/ sauce packs a punch and comes in a heap of styles, colours and flavours. It seems to be a pretty essential basis to so many meals, how many of us have even heard of it?

– Tostadas: This is a simple little diddy. A taco tortilla served flat and this time it is crispy. loaded again with freshness and flavour it’s an essential way of creating variance to the culinary journey.

– Chilli: Chilli is a variety of plants not just a plant. There’s apparently over 70 well known and used chillis. So next time you throw a ‘birds eye’ on nachos, hang your head in shame

– Frijoles: Basically beans here but again, they’re in everything, it’s simply not Mexican if you aren’t within a sombreros width of these

Burritos… What’s a burrito? Don’t get me wrong, burritos as we know them are delicious but unless they’re hiding, they’re not here. Same deal with Nachos… with sweet chilli sauce. And for that matter, haven’t seen nachos at all, is this another figment of the imagination? And last but not least, not everything is drowned in cheap cheese! Ok, fair to say that half of Mexico does this too so at least there’s one thing we’re kinda keeping authentic, even if it’s a bad one. The real crime here is that Mexican food is all about freshness, not cheese!
So the point here is that it seems really obvious to us that two pots of bugger all Aussies have the first idea of Mexican food. Not for any poor taste but we simply have no idea what it’s meant to be. A cuisine is more than a collection of dishes and recipes, it’s an all encompassing experience, a diet, a lifestyle. Many of these meals bounce off each other from meal to meal and the underpinning currents of consistency that tie them all together are apparently sitting in Villawood detention centre as it was wearing a burqa at some stage it seems. It’s a massive shame but Mexican food, the Mexican way of eating has not arrived, watch out when it does and get your smile ready, there’s no looking back.