On Food & Culture
I had a delicious breakfast at El Puesto restaurant in San Antonio, Texas. It is the third in a row of Texas Mexican restaurants, next to each other, in the West side of San Antonio on old US Highway 90. Each of the three restaurants […]
The second in our series of essays leading up to the Food & Film art event in March. Stereotypes in Food and Film Stereotypes appear both in food and film. Sometimes they are employed for humor or satire and at other times they are a […]
TexMex, understood authentically, is the local and seasonal cuisine of the Texas Mexican zone or region, explains Chef Johnny Hernandez, native San Antonian, award winning chef/restaurateur. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Chef Hernandez talks candidly about the damaged reputation of TexMex cuisine […]
“Texas Mexican” is the cuisine that has evolved over centuries in the region immediately North and South of the lower Rio Grande River. The cuisine is deeply rooted in the indigenous cultures of what are now northeastern Mexico and the United States central and southern […]
This story is another about delicious foods that evolved when foreign, imported products (pork) encountered the natural terroir (chiles) of Mexico. Chorizo is the creative culinary result of imported pigs meeting the local chiles. It’s famous, of course, as a breakfast treat but it is […]
I coined the phrase, “Paula Deen of Tex-Mex” in order to prompt debate and discussion about high fat, bad taste and diabetes. I will not be naming any Tex-Mex award recipients but rather asking you the question: what would be the criteria for such an […]
Because the Texas Indians (before 1500) had 1. developed cooking techniques like baking, roasting, steaming, boiling, drying, smoking, stewing and so forth, and 2. used local products of the land like chiles, corn, beans, tomatoes, cactus, prickly pair, shrimp, quail and so forth, and 3. […]
We discussed in class the roots of TexMex food, the evolution of a cuisine, and who has a vested interest in its development. More on the presentation later, after I ask the students to include insights, reactions, comments, stories. This will be the theme for […]
Chef and Author Melissa Guerro identifies the Mariame Indians of Texas, the Comanches and others in the roots of today’s TexMex cuisine. Melded with the Spanish influence, this delicious cuisine is growing in importance. Like all cultural cuisines, “It can fix the world!” “TEXMEX CUISINE […]
The term, “refried beans” is a misnomer. The correct translation of the Spanish, “frijoles refritos,” is “well fried beans.” No fat required. Properly cooked beans and rice are a delicious meal.They’re also complete, nutritious protein. The recipes below rely on basic, straightforward technique. It’s the […]