What Was That Taco Meat?

[sanger727]

I would have to agree. Most foods on a cruise are "a little off" compared to what is cooked and served in a US restaurant. From weird looking fried shrimp, long orange things. Then there is the jalapeno poppers, I suppose they are trying to make them sophisticated? Then there is the Southern Fried Chicken. Even the cheese sauce and chili on the grill isn't quite the same either. Then there is the order in which items are placed on the buffet. Items that should get put on top of other things are sometimes before those items on the line. Like putting the nachos at the end of the Mexican buffet instead of near the beginning.

 

I do think a lot has to do with the nationality of those preparing the foods. Like you say, these are not dishes that they would have cooked when growing up. I think the lost in translation is a good explanation.

 

I suspect that on a cruise ship some of the issues are related to the price and storage issues they deal with. Although, I know exactly what you mean about nationality of the chef. We went to an all-inclusive in Mexico and found the chef's interpretations of certain dishes amusing. For example their American restaurant was BBQ themed. I ordered pork ribs (menu read pork ribs with BBQ sauce), and received bone in pork chops. And the BBQ sauce that came with them did not taste anything like BBQ. :)

Edited November 12, 2015 by sanger727

[RiotAct]

It was the ground up bodies of passengers who complain about anything and everything.

 

Food for thought (pardon the pun).

 

LOL!!! Ouch!

[crewsweeper]

How to Eat A Tamale (and other Mexican Street Food)

Lesson Numero Dos:

 

Never eat anything ground up and served in a hard U-shaped shell.

 

Real tacos have real meat, poultry, or fish you can identify and come in soft tortillas, corn or masa.

[RiotAct]

How to Eat A Tamale (and other Mexican Street Food)

Lesson Numero Dos:

 

Never eat anything ground up and served in a hard U-shaped shell.

 

Real tacos have real meat, poultry, or fish you can identify and come in soft tortillas, corn or masa.

 

you mean the 3 taco meal at Taco Bell and the little hot sauce packets with cute sayings on them AREN'T authentic?

[sfaaa]

Likely ground up leftover roast beef and burger patties from the night before. What it doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Grab a bottle of Tabasco sauce and dig in.

[ewenix]

This is not meant to anger anyone, but I have to put my 2 cents in it.

I have been on numerous Carnival, X, RCCL cruises and had similar issues with specialty dishes on board.

From the Mexican, Guys Burgers, Turkey with stuffing for Thanksgiving, deli, and other specialty foods. They are made by people who are ZERO familiar with the foods that they are cooking. The cooks come from countries all over the globe and are really not used to the foods that they are preparing. I have had similar foods that have for not other words "Gotten Lost In The Translation."

Any other thoughts?.....I have thick skin.

 

I agree with the lost in translation to a point. But not all the chefs and food handlers got on the ship in the last couple weeks. It should be a pretty standard prep method for most of these items since they're doing it every week.

 

Surely someone in food service management has been outside of their home country and tried some of these foods. If not then they need to take a look at their hiring practices. Sadly I think its just a combination of lower quality to reduce cost, unfamiliarity with the food, and some degree of laziness.

 

The issue of items being 'out of order' is definitely the laziness. e.g. queso in the buffet line before reaching the tortilla chips.

[watermelonqueen99]

In 3 cruises, we have never eaten anything good or flavorful on the Magic, so why should the taco meat be any different? LOL Fortunately, we don't cruise for the food, it's just a necessity to fuel our bodies so we can do all the fun stuff and drink a lot. :D:D:D

[Cruisegirl6]

When we cruise Carnival we know what we are getting when it comes to the food, another reason why if there is a steakhouse we dine there every night or 7 out of 8 nights as our last cruise was this past May on the Valor. :D

 

We also don't eat any fast food type foods, don't go to fast food establishments, we limit carbs and eat nothing with sugar so on a Carnival cruise, Carnival lets us cheat lol ;)

Edited November 13, 2015 by lyndamr

[gpb11]

maybe they going with something similar to Taco Bell, which uses freezes dried something and just add water

 

Not to defend Taco Bell, but their taco filling was not freeze dried last I knew. It was centrally produced and bagged/sealed, then shipped to the stores where they then reheat the bags using a hot water bath akin to sous vide cooking on an as-needed basis. That provides the cost savings of centralized high volume production as well as the store-to-store product consistency desired by fast food chains.

 

There's really no reason to introduce freeze-drying IMHO. It'd be more expensive and provide no real benefit over simply refrigerating or freezing the stuff until needed. They're already distributing many other refrigerated ingredients to the stores on a regular basis.

Edited November 13, 2015 by gpb11

[satbeachbill]

Soylent Green

[gpb11]

Soylent Green

 

Now you can get Soylent 2.0

[dominichunter]

Their Indian dishes are excellent. Wonder why.....

[It's a Ship!!!]

In 3 cruises, we have never eaten anything good or flavorful on the Magic, so why should the taco meat be any different? LOL Fortunately, we don't cruise for the food, it's just a necessity to fuel our bodies so we can do all the fun stuff and drink a lot. :D:D:D

 

I guess this just illustrates the difference in tastes. I was actually on the Magic the week before your cruise in April, and I thought most of the food was great. Every once in a while there are some misses, but most of the time I think the food is really good in the main dining room, amazing in the steakhouse and Tandoor, and decent in the buffet. In fact I never get a chance to try the Mexican buffet because I'm always too full from Dinner that night.

 

I'm going to assume you didn't try the Indian food, because I don't know how anyone could say that isn't flavorful.

[thephillykid]

Their Indian dishes are excellent. Wonder why.....

 

They say familiarity breeds contempt, who would have thought?

[coevan]

"this is why when we are on a ship with the steakhouse we dine there overnight."

 

does this mean the food is so good, you sleep in the Steakhouse?

[cruzelover55]

Husband has several things he won't eat anywhere, anytime. The things he does eat he is not so picky about. He is on the heavy side, to be kind. He diets before a cruise so can pig out. Me, I'm thin and work hard to be that way, refuse to be fat. Since I almost never eat eggs, bacon, fast food etc... I enjoy cruise food as it is a treat for me to simply eat a hamburger or pizza. I will miss the goat cheese pizza I heard they no longer serve. In the buffet I just get a little of what I want to try and have no problem just getting something else if I don't like it. MDR, if I don't like it, just have them bring me something else. I have never gagged over anything I have been served. I ordered roast turkey one night as wanted something plain, comfort food as had been eating rich fare. It was like processed lunch meat. They had no problem bringing me something else. I just don't like that it makes dining take longer if I have to replace something. That's why I check on the TV before going to the DR to narrow down my choices and am ready to order as soon as I sit down. We prefer anytime dining and like to eat alone. I would rather be social elsewhere. Never have tried the taco meat but would if I were in the mood for it. The lasagna in the Italian place was weird to me. The meat that was layered was like big chunks of roast beef, not bad, just unexpected. Can't imagine with all the food choices that people could not find something to like. I find the deli sandwiches to be good. Another thing I never eat at home. Sandwiches. And I eat cream cheese, salmon and english muffin (don't like bagels) every morning early before I go to breakfast. Yum! Now I am getting hungry!;)

[dioxide45]

The lasagna in the Italian place was weird to me. The meat that was layered was like big chunks of roast beef, not bad, just unexpected.

 

I think this is another "lost in translation" with regard to the lasagna in the pasta bar on the Dream Class ships. We went there the first day on the Magic and ordered the lasagna and it had the large roast beef in the lasagna and not the ground beef you would find in an "American" lasagna. Of course it is an Italian restaurant, but I don't think you would find that meat in a more traditional Italian lasagna?

Edited November 14, 2015 by dioxide45

[cruzelover55]

I think this is another "lost in translation" with regard to the lasagna in the pasta bar on the Dream Class ships. We went there the first day on the Magic and ordered the lasagna and it had the large roast beef in the lasagna and not the ground beef you would find in an "American" lasagna. Of course it is an Italian restaurant, but I don't think you would find that meat in a more traditional Italian lasagna?

 

I could not swear what's up in 2015, but, in the mid 70's I lived in Malta for 2 years, lots of Italian food there. Also, we took trips to Italy every chance we got as it is so close. I NEVER saw roast beef in any meat pasta dish. Funny though as I thought the pizza was the worst I ever had. Had a crust on top in sit down restaurants and peas and other weird stuff in it. And you would tip them off right away that you are from the States if you did not use a knife and fork. The street pizza was more like what I was used to but was always burnt. I found the seafood to be awesome, have never had the same since. Another "lost in translation" deal there was I was so excited that cheesecake was advertised everywhere in Malta. Imagine my surprise when I found it was like a hot turnover filled with ricotta and other cheeses, and the peascake, well, that was just like it sounds like. Both really good though. I had never had lobster back in those days, I was really young, and we could have gotten as many as we wanted daily, huge, fresh from the fishmonger for about $1. Never tried it. Also, 1st time I had ever had fresh tuna and I hated it as had only had it in the can. Thank goodness my palate has matured as have I.:D Sorry, I am getting way off the subject so will stop.