October 08, 2007
What is Tex-Mex? From its origins as a derogatory descriptor (as in "not REAL Mexican") to its current status as dominant food phenomenon, a six-part series from the Houston Press traces its history. It all started with street vendors selling pralines and tamales. Mexican restaurants of yesteryear proclaimed their authenticity but knew they needed to cater to Anglo palates. 1973 was a banner year that saw Webster's include "Tex-Mex" and the invention of the fajita (or was it?). Even modern "authentic" establishments are often Tex-Mex joints too ashamed to admit it. Chuy's was the first restaurant to be empowered by the Tex-Mex label but a French restaurant was the first to self-identify as Tex-Mex thanks to a popular film about a loner who eats chile con carne and drinks tequila. Finally, what the future holds for Tex-Mex.
Owner of Fonda San Miguel on the struggle to maintain Mexican authenticity:
"Texans have this fixation about chips and salsa," Gilliland says. "We had customers saying that unless we gave them chips and salsa, they weren't coming back. So we finally gave up and gave them their damn chips and hot sauce."
On my last trip to Houston I discovered first hand that Taco Milagro is open very late but only if you want to drink and dance. The menu looked awesome, though.
I have a feeling that would make Jo's head explode
As you might know, they're revising the OED. The etymologists occasionally post about the process; I enjoyed this part-detective part-Bourdain hunt for an antedating of "Nacho".
Also in lexitexmexicographical news: for some annoying reason the scrabble dictionary doesn't include queso -- this, along with "zen" (in the lower-cased sense of "the zen of road bike maintenance") are my top two angry omissions.
Relatedly: the taco was apparently completely unknown in New York during the fifties
I was going to post this but couldn't find a good article: Taco Bell opening in Mexico. Do they call it Mex-Tex?
« Older 500 ft wide "TV" screen | is that a hard drive in your pocket? Newer »
To post comments to a thread you must login or create a profile.
I'm trying to convince my mother to start the Indi-Mex phenomenon and open up Taco Delhi since all we ate as kids were enchiladas and indian food. hmmmm...palak paneer burritos
posted by soku at 10:06PM CST on October 08