Julia’s Mexican Restaurant

Food Guides — page 3

Guides to Mexican food, drinks and ordering, written from the kitchen at Julia's Mexican Restaurant in Houston. What the dishes are, what the words on a menu mean, and how to order well.

Mexican Food Guides What Are Chilaquiles? Fried tortillas simmered in salsa, topped with crema, cheese and onion. What chilaquiles are, why they are breakfast, and how they differ from nachos.
Mexican Food Guides What Is Achiote? The annatto seed ground into recado rojo. Deep red-orange, earthy, and not spicy despite how it looks — the base of Yucatecan pibil.
Mexican Food Guides What Is a Habanero Pepper? Roughly forty times a jalapeño, and genuinely fruity underneath. How hot a habanero really is and how to read it on a menu.
Mexican Food Guides What Is a Chipotle Pepper? A ripe jalapeño, smoke-dried for days. Same heat, completely different flavor — and why most kitchens buy it canned in adobo.
Mexican Food Guides What Is a Poblano Pepper? Large, dark green and mild. Roasted it becomes rajas or a chile relleno; dried it becomes ancho and ends up in mole.
Mexican Food Guides What Mexicans Eat on Independence Day Chiles en nogada for the flag and the season, pozole because it feeds a crowd. What is actually eaten on 16 September, and why.
Drink Guides Tequila vs Mezcal: Where the Smoke Comes From All tequila is mezcal; almost no mezcal is tequila. One agave and steam versus dozens of agaves and an earth pit, which is the difference you…
Mexican Food Guides What Is Al Pastor? Lebanese Technique, Mexican Pork Shawarma arrived in Puebla with Lebanese immigrants and became the most recognizable taco in Mexico. The trompo, the marinade, and the pineapple.
Mexican Food Guides Seven Myths About Mexican Food Worth Dropping Not mostly spicy, mole is not chocolate, and Tex-Mex is a real cuisine. The assumptions that describe one narrow slice of the food, and what is…
Mexican Food Guides Elote vs Esquites: Cob or Cup Same crema, cotija, chile and lime. One is grilled on the cob, the other simmered and served in a cup. Why the corn is not sweet…
Mexican Food Guides Huevos Rancheros, Divorciados and a la Mexicana Same eggs, same tortillas. One red sauce, two sauces kept apart, or vegetables scrambled in. What separates the three Mexican breakfast egg dishes.
Mexican Dining Guides Lunch vs Dinner Portions at a Mexican Restaurant The two sizes exist because the Mexican main meal is at midday. What actually differs between them, and which one to order when you are eating…