First off, I agree with the team's overall reaction to San Angel. This has been on the bottom of my list for years despite several re-visits in hopes that things have improved. No such luck. There is a reason why they make you eat in the dark. The food here is as visually unappealing as it is clumsily prepared. That out of the way, there are a couple of criticisms in the review thar deserve retraction. During the review, the team made a joke of the fact that Craig's first course was "indigenous to Mexico", referring to his Caesar Salad and everyone laughed. However, Caesar Salad is indeed indigenous to Mexico having been first created and served by Caesar Cardini in Tijuana. Now, granted, Mr. Cardini was Italian. But his restaurant was in Mexico. So both cultures played a role, but the dish itself was unknown to Italy until having been brought over from Mexico.
The second point of correction pertains to Craig's comment that he had never seen peas in Spanish rice. However, peas are common in Paella. (See below). That said, this is supposed to be an authentic restaurant with its origins in Mexico City, so the debate over the proper preparation of Spanish rice and/or paella should be moot.
But the "joke" played off of the word "indigenous" and the inflection used when saying the word which brought about the laughter. The clear implication of this is that the dish was out of place on the menu. That is certainly the way it played out among the group. At no point in the review was the joke diffused with a statement that the dish actually originated in Mexico. Viewers can make up their own minds as to how this all unfolded. But to me, the point being made was that a Caesar Salad was an odd choice to find on a Mexican menu.
I'm not going to argue who's wrong and who's right, but here is my take.First off, I agree with the team's overall reaction to San Angel. This has been on the bottom of my list for years despite several re-visits in hopes that things have improved. No such luck. There is a reason why they make you eat in the dark. The food here is as visually unappealing as it is clumsily prepared. That out of the way, there are a couple of criticisms in the review thar deserve retraction. During the review, the team made a joke of the fact that Craig's first course was "indigenous to Mexico", referring to his Caesar Salad and everyone laughed. However, Caesar Salad is indeed indigenous to Mexico having been first created and served by Caesar Cardini in Tijuana. Now, granted, Mr. Cardini was Italian. But his restaurant was in Mexico. So both cultures played a role, but the dish itself was unknown to Italy until having been brought over from Mexico.
The second point of correction pertains to Craig's comment that he had never seen peas in Spanish rice. However, peas are common in Paella. (See below). That said, this is supposed to be an authentic restaurant with its origins in Mexico City, so the debate over the proper preparation of Spanish rice and/or paella should be moot.
This is simply wrong. First, I'm not sure what point you are making with respect to the reference to white rice in paella. All Spanish rice, (paella or not) and Mexican rice starts with white rice. As for the inclusion of peas, two minutes of culinary research would reveal that the ingredient is authentic. Universal? No. Common? Absolutely. Calling the ingredient "weird" borders on insulting to all Mexican cooks who use it, and demonstrates an uncommon laziness in the preparation of the review.
