The Love of Beer
Just getting started
I’m disappointed in your Dec. 28 editorial “End the occupation.” In first calling for the Occupy movement to define its demands, and now to blend in to progressive institutions, it’s clear that you and much of the progressive establishment never understood the difference between a social movement and a lobbying group. Besides, why would you want the Occupy movement to fade into the drone of traditional progressive organizations that were ineffective in such a critical year? Hopefully you are wrong about the Occupy movement, and what we saw was just a warm-up for spring.
William Adams, Downtown
The better burrito
In response to your blasphemous piece of fiction, “San Diego declared winner in burrito war” [“Inside a Whale’s Vagina,” Dec. 28]: Not only was the column just plain wrong; it was also insulting. Having lived in both San Francisco and San Diego, I can assure you that Bay Area burritos are far superior on all counts.
For goodness sake, you can’t honestly stand behind a dried-out burrito with french fries in it. And what good is a burrito without rice to soak up the salsa and meat drippings? You people never put enough sour cream or guacamole in your burritos, and I once had a very puzzled Lucha Libre employee tell me they’d never had anyone ask for an extra cup of pico de gallo before. That’s because San Diegans don’t know how to eat a burrito! You clearly need that extra pico de gallo to moisten up that dried-out burrito.
Also, refried beans are far too heavy and thick. I prefer my burrito without beans, but if I had to choose, clearly, whole pinto beans are the correct choice. Refried beans are overpowering, and the San Diego burrito artists have too heavy a hand. A good burrito is a work of balance between the ingredients. The flavors must be in harmony.
The writer’s lack of respect for steamed tortillas is insulting. Grilling a tortilla only robs it of the moisture needed to provide structural integrity and elasticity so that your burrito does not fall apart or develop gaping holes that leak ingredients. And as for tin foil, it’s a stroke of genius. Paper cannot hold in all of that yummy-ness effectively, and you risk the burrito falling apart in transport. Foil gives it lasting strength, and peeling away the foil as you work your way down is not unlike opening a present with each layer consumed.
The nail in the coffin was the Chipotle comparison. “San Francisco burritos are basically what you get at Chipotle.” This was a supposed quote from a professor Chimichanga at UCSD. Chimichanga? Really? Are you guys hiring the handicapped?
Yes, Chipotle copied San Francisco’s so-called Mission-style, but that’s because it’s brilliant. Obviously, there’s a huge difference, the same way there’s a difference between Hodad’s and McDonald’s.
Besides I constantly see San Diegans eating Chipotle burritos like it’s their job. If the San Diego style is so much better than San Francisco, why are they shoveling so much Chipoltle down their pie holes instead of local burritos?
Billie Albu, North Park
The Manipulatables
Edwin Decker does as I do when reading things like the National Defense Authorization Act [“Sordid Tales, Dec. 28], but I always realize that nothing will help; the U.S. is on a slide to ruination because people use stupidly selfish reasons to vote for leaders.
The people we elect are as honest or corrupt as we are, and are thus a reflection of voters collectively—too many people without a personal opinion should not vote, but our nation permits it, so too many voters are manipulated; the unmanipulatable are in the minority, but too many of the unmanipulatable are manipulated by manipulation of their own selfishness. I’m immune.
Saul Harmon Gritz, Hillcrest
