In my earlier post about The American Culinary Society's Menu Maker (Marguerite Patten, 1973), I noted that the recipes are very egg-centric. Not all the recipes are for soufflés and egg tarts, though. There are also Mexican recipes, like this colorful pot of Mexican Macaroni.
And what makes this dish of apparently macaroni, cheese, and peas Mexican?
Uhh... I have no idea. It is just macaroni and cheese with hot dogs and peas. It's a pretty standard quickie dinner from the American midwest as far as I have ever known. Granted, I'm no expert on Mexican food. (My main exposure is the typical midwest American childhood dinner of flour tortillas filled with hamburger that was cooked with a taco seasoning packet, then topped with cheddar cheese and shredded lettuce, after all.) I imagine some family somewhere in Mexico has made something like this macaroni dish at some point... but it's not something I'd label as Mexican, and I kinda doubt that they would either.
Well, maybe Mexican Frankfurters will be more Mexican (though I have my doubts, as the name is already half German).
What made Marguerite Patten so convinced that pasta with hot dogs is Mexican? At least the tomatoes with a "few drops chili sauce" is arguably more Mexican than the mac-n-cheese-with-peas dinner. The pineapple ring topping suggests this could just as easily have been labeled Hawaiian, though.
If nothing else, the result is fun to look at:
The symmetry of the pineapple half-rings on the hot dogs and the pop of the yellow canned fruit and red tomato slices almost makes this seem artistic, though the deeper meaning of the piece remains elusive. (My best guess is that this whispers, "I have no idea what Mexican food might be.")
Apparently weenies are Mexican food? Sure, I know one recipe calls them frankfurters, but those are the common ingredient. Meat extruded into a casing and cooked with random other things. You better pinch your cayenne to remember where you are.
ReplyDeleteThat's as good a guess as any.
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