Translation FAIL

Some asshole just told me that if you plug “carne asada” into the Google tranlatomatron you get “pot roast”.  You just can’t buy idiocy like that.  I mean, asada is to pot roast as…well, who the fuck cares.  Carne asada is usually made from a relatively tough piece of meat, which is the only thing it has in common with pot roast.  Whereas pot roast is a flavorless hunk of slow-cooked meat, carne asada is a well-marinated, thin-cut steak, exploding with all sorts of bright flavors typical of northern Mexico and the southwest United States.  It also has that yummy grilled taste instead of the melted-in-a-pan-in-an-oven tang. Real carne asada can be made lots of different ways, but it should have citrus as its primary acid, real chiles, especially something savory like dried anchos, and of course, cilantro, even if you think cilantro tastes like Ivory.

Pot roast is served with roasted carrots or potatoes. Asada can be served with pico, avocado, nice warm tortillas, or anything else with actual flavor.  Really, you can’t blame the translator though—it’s only an algorithm.  But I have this horrid picture of a nice, Midwestern family sitting down to an evening meal on “ethnic night”, with a nice big pot roast on the table and a jar of Pace picante sauce, and some crunchy taco shells.

(What do you mean, you’ve never heard of “ethnic night”?  OK, no one calls it that, but it’s usually a can of La Choy Sukiyaki mix or some other crime against humanity, served with Uncle Ben’s rice.)

You need to go right now to a real ethnic enclave and explore some new flavors.   Don’t worry about what it is or what it looks like.  Got get a bowl of Pho or something, and no picking around the tripe.  You might be surprised.