Tex Mex Food Surprises
By Chris McCarthy
The evolution of North Mexican cuisine in Texas is the cocktail
of Texas and Mexican style giving birth to Tex Mex food, which
is a highly spiced and vibrantly styled cuisine. History points
out that Tex Mex food dates back to 1940's when Spanish and
Mexican recipes combined with Anglo fare. Today it is a 20th
Century phenomenon for Americans. The first Tex Mex restaurant
surfaced in the southwest region, which had a dense Mexican
population. The gourmet Tex Mex began in 1970's and appealed to
the young generation. Diana Kennedy brought this common food to
a trendy fare in her book Cuisines of Mexico in 1972. Robb
Walsh has also commented in The Tex Mex Cookbook.
Tex Mex Cuisine
Main characteristic of Tex Mex food is heavy use of meat,
especially beef, beans and spices. Some inventions are nachos,
crispy tacos, crispy chalupas, chilli con queso, chilli con
carne, chilly gravy and fajitas. Serving tortilla chips, hot
sauce or salsa is an appetizer in original Tex Mex style. Along
with these Mexican dishes some Texas specialty like ribs and
chili are served in Texas restaurants.
What is Tex Mex?
It may be described as native foreign food, ‘native’ because it
does not exist elsewhere. To distinguish between Tex Mex and
Mexican food we can only say that Mexican food has more variety
and is regional but the whole of U.S. is following this form and
style of Tex Mex food, an amalgamation of Northern Mexico
peasant food with Texas and cowboy fare.
In olden days, Texans went to Mexican restaurants and ate where
the mixed plate was served. The Americanized Mexican food came
to be known as Tex Mex, which stood as an insult to Texas
Mexican restaurant owners. The insult launched the success
story. It evoked images of cantinas, cowboys and Wild West.
Dozens of Tex Mex restaurants sprang up in Paris, spread to
Europe and to Bangkok, Buenos Aries and Abu Dhabi. Tortilla
chips, margaritas and chili con carne are world famous.
Tex Mex is a combo of American Indian and Spanish cuisines and
cultural differences of Mexican American in South and West
Texas. Corn is widely used in American Indian cuisine in the
form of Corn tortillas, which are usually bought from stores
these days. Many make flour tortillas, which are easier to
cook. It is the basis of many popular dishes - enchiladas,
tacos, chilaquiles, chalupas, quesadillas, tostadas, botanas
and many more. Strangely. most Texas - Mexican dishes and
equipment acquire names from Aztec language.
Another staple eaten daily is frijoles or beans of various
kinds - kidney beans, tepary beans, black beans, pinto beans
etc. They may be served combined with other food like ‘frijoles
con chorizo’ and ‘frijoles con quielites’ to name a few.
Numerous dishes are prepared from meats. Traditional ones are
from pork called ‘chicharrones’. Preparation from goats is
known as ‘cabrito’ and ‘machitos’, while dishes prepared from
cattle include fajitas. Another traditional dish of west Texas
is ‘morcilla’ made from pig blood. Various soups and pickled
meat dish are common.
Although traditional food reveals strong cultural ties between
Mexican American in West and South Texas, they also showed
cultural difference. Fajitas are common folk cuisine in South
Texas but not in West Texas. Mexicans in South Texas like
‘tripitas’ though it is not popular in West Texas. Morcilla is
common in West but not in South Texas.
In spite of these differences in folk levels Tex Mex food is
popular all over the world.
About The Author:
Chris McCarthy is the owner of
www.insanechicken.com and a hot sauce
enthusiast. InsaneChicken is proud to sell Blair's Hot Sauce.
