Julia’s Mexican Restaurant

Category: Mexican Food Guides — page 4

Plain explanations of Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes, chiles and menu terms — what each one actually is, how it is made, and what to expect when it reaches the table.

Mexican Food Guides What Is Mole? The Sauce, Not the Chocolate A family of chile sauces thickened with nuts and seeds and cooked for a day. Why most contain no chocolate, the main varieties, and what to…
Mexican Food Guides Dia de Muertos Food: What Goes on the Altar and Why Not Mexican Halloween. Pan de muerto, sugar skulls, marigolds, tamales and mole, and why almost everything on an ofrenda is somebody's favorite dish.
Mexican Food Guides Cinco de Mayo vs Mexican Independence Day Different wars, different countries, fifty-two years apart. What each date actually marks, why the US celebrates the smaller one, and what to eat.
Mexican Food Guides Salsa Roja vs Salsa Verde: What Is the Difference? Red is tomato, green is tomatillo, and neither color tells you a thing about the heat. What separates them, plus why pico de gallo is not…
Mexican Food Guides Mexican Cheeses Explained: Which Melt and Which Crumble Oaxaca, queso fresco, cotija, panela and cheddar. Which ones melt, which are crumbled on at the end, and what naming a cheese tells you about the…
Mexican Food Guides Pozole vs Menudo: What Is the Difference? Two red chile broths that look identical in the bowl. One is pork and hominy, the other beef tripe. Which to order first, and why both…
Mexican Food Guides What Is Barbacoa? The Method, the Meat and How to Order It Barbacoa is a cooking method, not a cut: wrapped, steamed and cooked overnight. What separates it from birria and carnitas, and why it sells out by…
Mexican Food Guides Flan vs Tres Leches: Which Dessert Should You Order? One is a dense baked custard under caramel, the other a sponge cake soaked in three milks. What separates them and which suits the meal you…
Mexican Food Guides Tex-Mex vs Mexican Food: What Is the Difference? Yellow cheese, cumin, beef and flour tortillas mean Tex-Mex; corn, dried chiles and long braises mean Mexican. How to tell them apart on any menu.
Mexican Food Guides What Are Tamales? And How Do You Eat One? A tamal is masa wrapped around a filling and steamed in a corn husk you do not eat. What is inside, how to unwrap one, and…
Mexican Food Guides What Is Birria? The Stew, the Broth and How to Order It Birria is meat braised in a dried-chile broth until it shreds. Where it comes from, what consome is, and why menus say birria style rather than…
Mexican Food Guides Queso vs Queso Fundido: What’s the Difference? Queso is a pourable dip for chips; queso fundido is a pan of melted cheese you fold into tortillas. The difference, the cheeses used, and which…