Is it real, or is it Tex-Mex?

MEXICO CITY -- Worried by the global proliferation of deep fat-fried chimichangas, fajitas, margaritas and fried ice cream, the Mexican government is recruiting U.S. and Canadian restaurateurs to set the world straight on what is real Mexican food.

So proud is Mexico of its cuisine that the government has lobbied UNESCO to declare Mexican food a "cultural patrimony of humanity." The government also recently flew in 50 Mexican restaurant owners from the U.S. and Canada to teach them what's authentic and what's not.

"Mexican food gives prestige to the country, promotes its image," says Carlos Gonzalez, executive director of the government's Institute for Mexicans Living Abroad, which organized the forum for the chefs and restaurateurs. "What we want is for these restaurants to promote Mexican culture through their food."

Officials, however, have their work cut out for them. Mexican food often is misunderstood.

For example, the California-based Chevys restaurant chain, which has locations in 15 U.S. states, offers "Classic Fresh Mex Combos" such as chimichangas -- beef or chicken deep-fried in flour tortillas. The El Torito chain, also based in California, offers deep-fried ice cream on its "autentico" menu.

On a larger scale, Taco Bell's vision of Mexico is something entirely alien south of the border. When the fast-food chain tried to establish a presence in Mexico City in the 1990s, consumers were so perplexed by the "burritos" that a leading newspaper helpfully included a definition.

"A lot of so-called Mexican restaurants just decorate their walls with bright sombreros and hire a mariachi and think that makes them authentic," says Rosa Maria Barajas, owner of Rosa's Plane Food at the airport in Calexico, Calif. She has banned cheddar cheese from her restaurant.

"I only use authentic Mexican cheeses like Cotija or fresh, white cheese, but none of those weird cheeses," she says, adding that she strives to serve traditional Mexican food made with fresh ingredients, including homemade flour and corn tortillas and beans and rice made from scratch.

Barajas was among the 50 restaurant owners the government flew to Mexico City to hear culinary historians lecture on the importance of the nation's food and sample traditional dishes such as grasshoppers and prickly pear jam, all from Oaxaca state in southern Mexico.

Traditional Mexican cuisine dates back 3,000 years to the Mayans, who based their diet on corn, beans and vegetables. Most Americans confuse Tex-Mex specialties such as chili, chimichangas, nachos and hard-shell tacos, often laden in processed cheese and sour cream, with real Mexican food. The same goes for Cal-Mex fusions, such as the burrito, which combines fresh vegetables, fish and even fruit-based salsas with rice and beans in a flour tortilla.

Few Mexicans have ever even seen or heard of such foods.

"Without a doubt, these foods have helped people in the U.S. and around the world pay attention to Mexico," says Fernando Olea, president of the United States Association of Mexican Restaurants Association and owner of Bert's La Taqueria and Pachanga Cantina and Restaurant, a traditional Mexican restaurant in New Mexico. "But what we want to promote is Mex-Mex food."

The problem for Mexican restaurateurs is that the American fusions have become too popular to avoid all together.

"It is important to promote our culture and educate people about real Mexican food, but we also need to be flexible and understand that a lot of people in the United States have yet to develop a taste for our food," says Jeanette Avila, who owns the El Rancho restaurant in southwest Detroit.

To keep her customers happy, Avila keeps two menus: one Tex-Mex, which includes the always-popular fajitas and margaritas, and a traditional menu that offers a dish of breaded pork feet dressed in egg and topped with ranchera sauce.

"We sell both menus pretty evenly and that has a lot to do with non-Latinos being more open to try traditional Mexican food," Avila said.