Not many people are acquainted with the knowledge of what separates an authentic Mexican restaurant from an Americanized Mexican restaurant. The truth of the matter is that there are several ways to decipher whether or not the experience is truly authentic. For instance, if one is eating the food through a drive thru fast food chain in the United States, they can bet they’re not experience the real thing. There are some authentic Mexican restaurants in KY, CA and UT as well as in many other states, though, and there are some ways that anyone can tell if they’ve found one.
First, one can always test the authenticity of an enchilada by its taste. It should not taste like bland tomato sauce. If this is the taste one gets after eating an enchilada, they should know that it is not truly authentic. Typically, it will taste like a blend of several chili peppers. Of course, it will always taste fresh as well since everything that is authentically Mexican regarding cuisine is always served fresh.
The salsa is another key factor in determining the authenticity of a Mexican restaurant. The main difference between authentic salsa and Americanized salsa is the fact that authentic salsas never use chili powders for flavoring. Instead, they always use real chili peppers for the flavoring. It is difficult to describe the difference in taste; however, there is absolutely a distinct difference between the two.
Something else that they do not do in Mexico that they do here is smothering everything with cheese and sour cream. If the restaurant in question does this, it’s a telltale sign that they are not authentic. The reason so many do that here in the states is to cover up the bland quality of the food. In Mexico, thanks to the fact that everything is made fresh from real ingredients and not powders, their foods have a great deal of taste and therefore do not need to be covered up.
One of the absolutely best ways to tell if an ethnic type of restaurant is authentic is to look at their clientele. When there are Asians eating at an Asian restaurant, it’s a good sign that the food is authentic. The same is true for Mexican restaurants. It’s important to keep that in mind for both the people standing in line to pay at the cash register and the people working behind the counter. If the staff is all part of the same heritage as the food they cook, it’s a very good sign that the restaurant serves authentic foods as they claim.