I know what you’re saying, I guess I mean that Mexicans are cooking it, it’s not processed and I leave feeling happy
Fair.
I was coming from a different angle. See, if someone doesn't know what the food is supposed to taste like, how would they know?
I have been eating Mexican food my entire life. Even in the Southwest and California it can be challenging to get authentic ingredients. Also, techniques differ. To get the best tasting "carnitas'...they should be cooked in a huge copper cauldron as they are in Michoacan, Mx. Huge chunks of pork cooking in one. Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Anything less and you are settling. It can even be very good, but it's an approximation of the dish.
That's why just because someone is Mexican, it doesn't mean they have the techniques or recipes.
We still have frozen tamales that we made before Christmas. My son-in-law shared some my daughter prepped for his lunch with a Mexican co-worker. His co-worker asked him what Mexican lady made them. He's Caucasian so it clearly wasn't him. Lol, he said "My mother-in-law."
When you know, you know. But I make them authentically. Freshly ground corn dough (not corn flour/Maseca) rehydrated dried guajillo and pasilla peppers, actual rendered lard from a Mexican butcher shop and not hydogenated "lard" from a store, etc.
Fidelity to authentic recipes matters to me. It is too much work to do a half-assed job in my view.
A couple of months ago I ordered menudo at a Mexican restaurant. Mexican people own the place. It is a soup. It was god awful, bland AF. I tried to fix it with the garnishings. I couldn't rehabilitate it.
I at maybe a few ounces and pusjhed it aside. The owner asked me if I wanted a to go container. I didn't complain, I just politely declined with a "no, thank you." I would never give it a second chance.
Just being Mexican and putting together a dish doesn't mean you're getting good authentic dishes, salsas or even aguas frescas.
Just like all good food, there is an art and science to it.
I'm still learning new things from Mexican cooks I follow on youtube and other social media.
Since you like cooking, you might enjoy "Cocinando con Raquel" and Zachary Rodriguez on youtube. I know I do. Not sure if Raquel's videos are captioned in English. I haven't bothered to check because I watch them in Spanish.
I know it's too long and you might not read, but thought a good explanation is fair inspite of the trolling I was doing.