New York Times Stands Up For Tex-Mex
We were shocked to find, in this morning’s “Food And Wine” section of the New York Times, reporter Joe Drape spewing seditious statements in defense of Tex-Mex cuisine. “Neither the government of Mexico nor the high priests of that country’s cuisine are going to get an apology from me. In the Lone Star state, Tex-Mex is as authentic as any food can be.” Indeed, Tejanos have put up with food snobbery their whole lives—from both sides of the border:
[…] recently I returned to the great state of Texas to get lost in my very own tamale triangle: San Antonio, Houston and Dallas. When I learned that the government of Mexico flew in the owners of 50 Mexican restaurants in the United States and Canada this summer to teach them what’s authentic and what’s not, the expedition picked up some gravity.
As if. Do we fly over there to tell those schmos how to make a hamburger? Hells no. Pile on the jalapeños if you want, Pancho. But how to tell the good Tex-Mex from the bad? And what’s the dif between Tex-Mex and the other Mexican-American varieties?
“Cal-Mex is long on burritos and sour cream,” [Robb Walsh, who wrote “The Tex-Mex Cookbook: A History in Photos and Recipes”] said. “In New Mexico, it’s all about green chilies, and in Arizona they are proud to have invented chimichangas — deep-fried burritos. The embodiment of Tex-Mex is a cheese enchilada with gravy.”
To find a good Tex-Mex restaurant, which Drape says can be found from San Antonio (he calls it the Paris of the cuisine—obvs. this dude has never been to the Rio Grande Valley) to Dallas (which leans more gringo with its cuts of meat and frozen margs) to Houston (where more than 37% of the city is Hispanic):
1. It has to be family-owned. 2. A ramshackle space with added-on rooms is a positive. The most successful Tex-Mex restaurants started small and expanded due to popular demand. 3. It’s best if the patrons in the dining room look like the face of democracy. You want a mix of gringos and Hispanic customers; professionals and laborers.
We had a feeling Utopia had something to do with cheese enchiladas.
A Celebration of Tex-Mex, Without Apology [New York Times]
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- Managing Editor
Daniel Mauser
- Editor
Cindy Casares
- Associate Editor
Alex Alvarez
- Contributing Editors
Gabriel Caro - Camilla Rowan
- Video Editor
Marcelo Cunning
damn sheezy. tex-mex is crack.
Posted by el joto | October 24, 2007
There’s a reason Texas boasts 3 of the 4 fattest cities in American and it’s called damn. good. food.
Posted by ella | October 24, 2007
The thought of enchiladas with gravy makes me nauseous.
And I don’t know if I’d trust advice from someone who refers to it as a “tamale,” not tamal.
But damn, I’ll take my sour cream-laden CA burritos any day of the week. Or the San Diego special - carne asada fries. Mmm…..
Posted by L | October 24, 2007
Between the NYT and marketers calling something ‘authentic’ and gentista sentimentalists calling out to keep something ‘real’, I want to cry back for my long-abandoned soul and just ask for meatloaf with maduros. I won’t dare call it Great Plains-Mex, or Guate-Prairie food either.
Posted by pocho_guey_al_norte | October 24, 2007
i’ll take a bean and cheese from taco cabana over any CA burrito any day of the week. i mean, please, these are the people who invented the wet burrito. and yeah, s.a. IS the paris of tex mex… rgv will have to settle for being the new york of tex mex. sorry.
Posted by jm | October 24, 2007
What about that Tex-Mex food in NYC made by Chinese peeps. That shit isn’t bad. :nudge nudge:
Posted by El Chingon | October 24, 2007
i grew up in texas but have lived in SoCal for the last 20 years and i have to say i’m torn as to which of the two i love. tex mex will always have a place in my swollen, larded heart but since i can’t eat red meat any more, i don’t have much options.
howevs, when i just _have_to have a carne asada burrito it has to be from la posta in san diego (hillcrest represent!!). but the al pastor burritos at el cuervo (just a few blocks west) make my nipples hard.
for the record, san diegan mex is like no other. they don’t stuff it with rice and beans (wtf?!?). you get a fat burrito with tons of tasty meat.
@el chingon: it’s like sushi in la…made by mexicans!
Posted by el smrtmnky | October 24, 2007
i grew up in texas but have lived in SoCal for the last 20 years and i have to say i’m torn as to which of the two i love. tex mex will always have a place in my swollen, larded heart but since i can’t eat red meat any more, i don’t have much options.
howevs, when i just _have_to have a carne asada burrito it has to be from la posta in san diego (hillcrest represent!!). but the al pastor burritos at el cuervo (just a few blocks west) make my nipples hard.
for the record, san diegan mex is like no other. they don’t stuff it with rice and beans (wtf?!?). you get a fat burrito with tons of tasty meat.
@el chingon: it’s like sushi in la…made by mexicans!
Posted by el smrtmnky | October 24, 2007
food, like language, is fluid. and as long as it’s delicious i’m in. Tex-Mex food is no less than a way to trace steps, and even if they lead back to mexico it’s all about the changes in the journey…los caminos de la vida (vicentico version)
Just another example of the best kind of lines—the blurred kind.
Posted by chachalaca 2000 | October 24, 2007
IMHO, tex mex sucks donkey doo. And NY TexMex made by Chinos??? I’d rather starve. I tried it once and it was the worst mistake ever. I took two bites (just to confirm my nausea) and threw it away. I dream of SoCal Mex especially carne asada nachos..mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Carne asada burritos. lord in heaven……..
Posted by mm | October 24, 2007
@jm: Oh them’s fightin’ words, buddy. Don’t even be trippin’. San Antonio has smack on RGV. Shit. We don’t even let white people in the door. ;)
@mm: YHO is misguided.
Posted by La Cindy | October 24, 2007
I’m no scientist, but I’m fairly sure Tex-Mex knows exactly where to add the pounds in all the right places. Thanks, Tex-Mex! You saved this Texas girl $6,000 on a boob job!
Posted by Latin_Princess | October 24, 2007
@mm I had the same experience at Taco Palace in Bayside, Queens…needless to say I’m back on the west coast.
Posted by pocachica | October 24, 2007
God, “authenticity.” What a load of crap. Fake Mexican food is just as delicious as real - just don’t conflate the two.
Like, Taco Bell… come on… that shit is delicious! (Will no one come with me on that?)
Posted by Marco | October 24, 2007
Tex-mex is aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalrgiht….but there are some supermarkets are awwwwwwwwwwwwwesome
Posted by latinogamer | October 24, 2007
I think Taco Bell is criminal. I must be filthy drunk to even consider it.
Posted by pocachica | October 24, 2007
I am from Dallas, and there is nothing better than going to Ojeda’s for dinner. With that said, the RGV is known for its breakfast tacos. Where else in the world do you see a billboard that says “one hand on the taco, one hand on the steering wheel”
Posted by J | October 24, 2007
Sure, completely skip Austin, why don’t you? It’s only the coolest city in Texas, with some good, great, not so great, and insane Tex-Mex. The fact that we have a place called Chuy’s that has the Elvis Presley Memorial Combo alone should be worth a Tex-Mex stop. Maybe I’m just biased (and Chuy’s isn’t even the place I eat most often, typically I try and hit up Las Manitas or one of the 5 Taqueria Arrandas locations around town).
Posted by wednesdayam | October 25, 2007
Tex-mex is disgusting compared to the real thing go to Mexico City and you will see otherwise. It is an abomination to the real thing. Cal-Mex is lighter and fresher a unique style all its own.
Posted by gsuguy | May 16, 2008