The last time I ate ‘Mexican’ food in Europe was in Luxembourg many years ago. It was unbelievably terrible. I have learned that most people in Europe have no clue what good Mexican food should taste like so I have never trusted any of my friends when they said, “It is good”.
So I was in the Domina shopping mall today and saw a new restaurant, Tex-Mex Republic. I have really been missing good Mexican food. Having worked in Mexico many years and living in the American Southwest for many years I became an aficionado of Mexican food and a very good cook of Mexican food. I decided I was not going to take a risk this time. So I asked the waitress if I could instruct the cooks on how to make a proper Burrito. I spoke with the chef and he spoke with the boss and they said they would do it for me.
So I gave them instructions how to make a proper Burrito.
Brown the beef or chicken with onions and Mexican seasonings. Nothing else. Then lay out the tortilla on a plate. Place all the cooked meat and onions in the middle of the tortilla and then roll up the tortilla and place it on an oven safe dish. Then spread red or green burrito or enchilada sauce all over the burrito. Then put shaved white cheese all over the burrito. Then place the whole thing in the oven for about 2 minutes to bake. Then serve with some nice salsa.
The Salsa Fresca or Pico de Gallo should be made with chopped up; tomatoes, onions, fresh coriander, fresh jalapeno peppers, lime juice and garlic – then just a little salt to taste. Nothing else and Never canned or marinated chili peppers. The fewer seeds used from the peppers the less spicy the salsa will be.
The result they served me was pretty good. The only thing missing was a good burrito or enchilada sauce. But that can be corrected pretty easily with a simple recipe from the internet.
I also ordered some Nachos. This came as a small pile of corn chips and 4 sauces in little bowls. This is not Nachos. Nachos are always a big pile of corn chips smothered with cheese and then baked in an oven for 1 minute to melt the cheese and heat the chips. Then served with salsas and other toppings including canned jalapeno chilies, ground beef, chicken, etc. One of the salsas was green chili but was made with marinated chilies. Never make salsa with marinated chilies. The Pico de Gallo was tasty. The house red chili seemed to have some sugar in it which it never should have.
I think with a little work on the menu that Tex-Mex Republic can become a really good place to eat and I will recommend it to everyone. I am really appreciative that they allowed me to have the chef create a proper burrito. If you go in there ask for ‘Juan’s Burrito’ and hopefully they will remember how I taught them and make you a great burrito.
*I have since eaten at Tex-Mex Republic a second time and it was so bad that I could not eat for 2 days afterwards. I would highly recommend staying away from this place and letting them go out of business or learn how to cook proper Tex-Mex food.
Tex-Mex Republic
Food Court at Domina shopping mall
Leriku Iela 3, Riga, LV-1012
Tel: +37167631079
Facebook: TexMexRepublic
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