Final blog post

Why Mexican Food is better than Polish Food

Mexican food is one of the most popular foods of North America. It is found all around the country, from the north to the south to the east to the west. As a nation we have embraced the Mexican culture for their food and when everyone thinks of Mexican, the first thing that comes to mind is food. Mexican food has all different types of varieties to; tacos, enchiladas, fajitas, nachos, peccadillo, burritos, chili and among other things. As a nation we are always on the run and Mexican food provides all of us with a quick, easy to eat option. You can take the taco or burrito into the car and not have to sit down. There are many advantages to Mexican food compared to polish food. Not only is Mexican food easier to eat on the run, but because of the lack of opportunities so Americans believe that Mexican food tastes better. Taco Bell, part of the fast food industry features Mexican food, but do we see any Polish restaurants daily or any fast food Polish places? Because of these reasons and others, Mexican food is clearly better and more popular than Polish cuisine.

First off, Polish food derives from the traditions of Slavic and foreign culinary cultures in the region. The food is dominated by meat, particularly pork, which is popular in the region. Other popular ingredients are cabbage, noodles, and many varieties of spices. The cultures of Germany, Hungry, Turkey, France, Italy and Israel are the primary bases of the tradition that Polish food is today. In Poland, meals are often very long, and are prepared for in ample amounts of time. Meals will often consist of three courses, starting with a soup, salad, meat marsh, beet, or a variety of fish. The second course usually consists of meat, most commonly pork or sometimes ham. Finally they usually have a traditional dessert like ice cream and cake. On the other hand, Mexican Food has a very different style, which is based on very flavorful food with lots of spices. The Mexican food we see today derives from the influences of Spanish settlers, as well as natives like Columbians. The natives primarily bring the carbohydrate dishes like corn, along while the settlers brought in the meat like beef, pork and chicken. The real specialty of Mexican food, comes from Columbians, who brought the ingredients like chocolate, vanilla, avocado, Chile pepper, beans, and sweet potato, which make Mexican food what it is today. Overall, they pride themselves on the spiciness and creativity of their food (Mexican Food History).

The basic difference between the two cultures of food can be first indentified by the looks of the food. Mexican food is viewed as the most colorful food in the world and is often perfected in restaurants to be more of an art than actual food. The diversity of colors in any one dish can alone spark someone’s eye and make them want to eat the food. In Poland, the food is not known for its looks; often the ingredients in the food are actually not to the fancy of anyone’s eye (Civitello). The basic food they consume is pork, which is typically plain looking food. Additionally the Polish have a large farming industry in pork, and seeing Pork get slaughtered everywhere can make an upcoming meal look even worse. The majority of polish is in plain colors, majority brown, which is not bad, but doesn’t spark the interest like Mexican foods’ colorful platters do. Another point is that during Poland’s communist reign, the majority of the country did not even feature restaurants (Lemnis). Until 1989, the majority of food outside your town was unattainable. In the years following the fall of the regime the food became readily available again, and the restaurants did well, but in the last few years the modernization of food has capsulated the country, getting invaded by McDonald’s, Pizza Hut’s, and KFC’s. On the other hand, Mexico has had less modernization because they primarily don’t have as much modernization across the country (Schlosser). In the United States foreign cuisine has become very popular over the last few decades. In the US Mexican food is one of the three most popular foreign food, including Italian and Chinese. The spread of Polish, on the other hand, has been minimal. The primary place to find polish food is in New York in Brooklyn, where there is some one of the biggest polish populations of the United States. Outside of this area Polish food is not very popular and Mexican food is often dominated across the country (Lemnis). With the mass popularity of Mexican food compared to Mexican food is unexplainably a reason why it is better, simply because the people eat more of it. If Polish food was so good, then it would be more popular then it is. Additionally Mexican food wouldn’t be as popular if it wasn’t as good as it is.

Another reason that polish food is dominated by Mexican food across the country is because America is an on the run country. We do not like to sit down and take our time to eat such polish dishes such as pork soup and salad and that is the reason that we see so many fast food options across the land. One of the most popular fast food restaurants is Taco Bell. Taco Bell features strictly Mexican food and has grown enormously in the past years. Mexican food and Taco Bell give us the options of eating on the run because, for the most part, their food can be held in one hand and is compact enough that it won’t make mess. Examples of these hand held foods is tacos, burritos, fajitas and so on. In America we do not see Polish fast food restaurants (Schlosser).

To show how creative and exciting Mexican dishes can be I would like to point out one of their most famous entrees. Paella consists of many different colors, meats and parts that make an entrée truly special. Paella can consist of lobster, beef, sausage shrimp, chicken, pork and many other sea foods. But the meats are not even the start of the dish. Paella has up to 5 different types of peppers which gives it its extraordinary color, saffron rice, and many types of extravagant vegetables. Paella is truly an interesting dish that sums up Mexican food; it is colorful, exciting, tasty and quick. Mexican food delivers where Polish food cannot and that what makes it leaps and bounds above Polish food.

Mexican food has become one of the most popular dining options of Americans today. It is right behind Chinese food and Italian food. Mexican food can be found cross country and is a popular option of many people. It can deliver an abnormal and heavenly taste experience through its many spices and its creativity. Polish food has not yet come to our shores and that may be because Polish food has not yet taken on a true distinction. In Poland, they have just only developed their way of making food due to their history with communism. Polish food can sometimes be boring and plain where Mexican delivers a sensation of colors, spices and different types of meats. Mexican meats include pork, beef, chicken, seafood and others where Polish meals usually only consist of pork. Polish meals are plain in color, usually brownish green because of the soup and pork and also the salad.

Civitello, Linda. Cuisine and Culture: A History of Food and People. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, 2008.

Lemnis, Maria. Old Polish Traditions in the Kitchen and at the Table (Hippocrene International Cookbook Series). New York: Interpress, 1996.

"Mexican Food History." World Food Wine. April 23 08 .

Marbella's Restaurant, " Spain's Famous Dish: Paella." 2008 April 23rd 2008 .

Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin, 2002.

Mediated Brief 1

Through reading the posts on Polish food I believe that there are many similarities. These foods are based around cultures that celebrate the relationship between them and their traditional cuisines. Polish food is very hearty indeed and I'm sure very tasty. But healthy I think not. This food is based on manufactured meats and potatoes. Mexican cuisine uses the freshest ingredients and is based off the land, there is no secondary process the meat goes though before it ends up on your plate. Also Mexican cuisine uses tomatoes, avocados, lettuce and a composite of dairy products to create incredibly vibrant meals. Polish food cannot compete with the vibrant dishes that represent the people and the culture. Also there is merit in the fact that many people have not or ever will get the chance to eat traditional polish food. There are much bigger influences of Mexican cuisine in our culture than there is polish. I have not ever eaten anything that someone described as polish, but that can be looked at two ways. I have never eaten anything polish and therefore cannot make a decision on which food is better,or it can be seen as because I have never eaten polish food, it is a testament to how far behind it is to Mexican cuisine.

Brief 1

Blog Posts

Mexican food is better than Polish food.

I must first state that in response you must first acknowledge the others argument, and in doing so be able to refute it better. The post addresses nutrition, vibrant colors, simplicity, and flavor. There are more than enough reasons to refute these claims. But first let’s take a dive into the deep history of mexico. Let us find its roots to therefore find its flavor.

Large parts of what we now call South America were inhabited by separate indigenous tribes. They lived off the land (no manufacturing here). Mayas and Incas created civilization that said touched the sky. They built them from slave labor. They had human sacrifice to bring them rain, sun, and other seasonal elements. When the Spanish Conquistadors arrived they said that they were cities of gold. Turquoise gold and silver were being mined at the time, but there building were not covered in it. Now if there city touched the sky and there building looked like gold. Imagine what their food must have been. Spanish Conquistadors brought disease and took slaves but more importantly brought pork, beef, onions, garlic, and chicken. The Mayans based many of their meals off corn meal. So as ingredients changed the food changed as well and the birth of Mexican food arrived.

`Food is an extension of a persons culture, lifestyle, and well being. You can tell a lot about a person by their relationship with food. And yes I did say relationship. It’s one that gives and takes. It gives you satisfaction, nutrition, and feelings of comfort and safety. But it takes time respect and knowledge to create wonderful cuisine.

This is his lifestyle, his relationship is deep and loving.

This picture is of typical polish cuisine.

This is vibrant Mexican cuisine.

At the heart of every human are their needs. Our basic needs are food shelter and water. So at the core of each country is food. I have listed before what food does for us. Poland has lost los every war ever to go through their country, never supplies the UN with troops, and only remain a country due to other nations gratuity. So if their basic needs are food and they continue to serve typical polish food and they continue to lose not only physically but go decline in statistics such as GNP, GDP, and population growth. So there needs to be a change and the problem resides in the food.