About the author

35 thoughts on “About the author”

• Thank you! I’d love to meet you and will contact you when I’m in NC

• I truly enjoyed watching Truly Texas Mexican – it brought back so many memories of the wonderful food with which I grew up, and I learned a lot about the racism that has tried to erase our past. Thank you for this. In addition to following you because of our last names, I am honestly impressed with the work that you’ve done. Would love to meet you if you’re ever in North Carolina!

• I just watched TRULY TEXAS MEXICAN – THE MOVIE with my wife, who is Mexican-American. We were touched by your passion for food and the legacy of the indigenous culture. We were hoping that your documentary’s theme would travel all the way to the Houston area… My wife (born in Acapulco) and I both grew up in Southern California and are new this area. Question: Do you have any recommendations for REAL “Tex-Mex” food in the greater Houston area? “Enough with the cheese already”!

• Hi, David. Thanks very much for your message. We are Native to this land, indeed, and now more and more we are reclaiming what is a better road, a better path to a happier life that is more in harmony with nature, with each other.Have a great day,

• Adan Medrano this David J Benavides who grew up in the Northwest Washington State. I want to Thank you very Much for your U Tube video.
  I recently have been educated by my cousin who lives in Aztec, New Mexico that we are Apache not Mexican.
  In 1864 the Legislation of Arizona Territory legalizing the killing of all Apaches. To save my family I would become a Mexican.
  Thank you Again,
  Dave Benavides 719-660-2132

• I think Laredo has excellent food, and also important history and culture. As does Houston, Eagle Pass, Del Rio and El Paso. I plan to include these and hope that other authors and filmmakers will also,

• Hello Adam

  I’m currently watching your special on Amazon Prime called Truly Texas. I’m about half way and I’ve seen you visit and mention San Antonio, Austin, McAllen, Brownsville but I have not heard or seen Laredo come up. Why is that? In my opinion I think Laredo has great food.

• Hi, again, Max. How did your residency start up go? I hope it is going forward successfully and your finding and breaking new ground on food.
  I look forward to staying in touch.

• Hello, Matias. Please send an email to adan@jmcommunications.com It sounds great, and we look forward to hearing from you,.

• Hi There,

  Nice to meet you, my name is Matias Gonzalez and I work for the NBCTelemundo’s Radar Telemundo. We are a show that speaks to the LatinX community reaching millennials and Gen Z viewers from across the country. We would like to invite Adan Medrano to be part of our upcoming episode on Cultural Appropriation. Which is an episode in which we’re going to discuss the importance of mental health on youth.

  Please let us know how we can make this happen. Looking forward to hearing back from you guys.

  Warm Regards, Mati

• Hi,

  I’m a producer with the Southern Foodways Alliance and I’m working on a story about Agua Fresca. Let me know if you’d be available for an interview. Thanks!

  Best wishes,
  Sarah
  sarahholtz3@gmail.com

• Hello. I’m sorry that I cannot at this time think of someone. May you have great success in your work.

• Max here from out in Marfa and I’m reaching out about a Chef Residency we’re starting in Marfa.

  My wife and I are one year+ into imagining a future where local independent journalism thrives instead of just survives. Yup, we bought two newspapers and built a gathering space around it for people to engage and foster a sense of community with each other instead of yell at one another on social media.

  We see food as a means of art and conversation. There’s a whole lot to unpack down here. Following in the footsteps of other Marfa art and writing institutions like Chinati and Lannin we are launching a Residency program for chef talent and food writers to continue to explore and push boundaries given the current environment.

  I’d love to see if you might have a couple to connect and A) see what you think of our idea, B) if you, or anyone you know, might be interested in being our first resident.

  Thanks in advance,

  Max

• Hi, Harvey. The breakfasts are great at Doña María on Navigation. Also the Picadillo, Fideo. Chalupas are also delicious. The tortillas are handmade. Also Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen right now has takeaway, and her carne guisada is wonderful, as is most of her food, incuding quail and cabrito. The Texas Mexican food at many East End restaurants is great if the restaurant is a family-run place. The corn tortillas at Taqueria Chabelita on Navigation are terrific. Her torta de lengua is very good. I’d keep searching for specialties at other family places. Good luck!

• Adan, I really enjoyed your comments in the recent Texas Highways magazine! I live in Houston and would like to know if there are places In Houston I can experience the Texan Mexican food That you love. Thanks and I really look forward to the experience! Harvey

• Hi Adan,

  I’m developing for National Geographic and wanted to see how we might able to work together. Please email me at manvallejose@gmail.com if you’re available for a chat. Our project is filming around Texas.

  Best,
  Manuel

• Hi Adan,

  I’m hoping to get your expertise on a project I’m developing for National Geographic. Please email me at manvallejose@gmail.com. I would love to tell you what we’re developing and see if we might be able to work together.

  best,
  Manuel

• Hi Adan,

  Like many others posting on your website, I’m hoping to get your expertise on a project I’m developing for National Geographic. Please email me at manvallejose@gmail.com. I would love to tell you what we’re developing and see if we might be able to work together.

  best,
  Manuel

• Hi Adam,

  I am a reporter with the Houston Chronicle and would like to speak with you briefly on the phone for a story. Please, can you send me a number to call you to my email? I will appreciate it.

  Thanks,
  Olivia P. Tallet

• Hi Adan! I ran into you on “Fronteras” and have been getting the scoop on your career throughout the years. Boy! What a career you have had. Congrats on all that you have accomplished across the decades since we were @ Creighton and your new book “Don’t Count the Tortillas.” I was so pleased to run into you on-line & to be able to catch up on your comings & goings. I had to take a break before I could finish reading your professional vita. It is truly impressive that you have accomplished so much already & it appears that you have no plans to bring your creativity to a stop. I’m so delighted for you and pray you will continue to bless us with your artistry.

  I’m retired & living in McAllen & finding joy in daily living sharing it with my male cat. I’m a news junkie so I spend a lot of time on the internet and I’m a Muslim so I pray 5 X a day so my days (& weeks & months etc) go by too fast. I like to cook myself & I plan to buy your 2nd book (at least) as soon as I can locate one. I assume it will be on Amazon. Where would you like me to purchase it? Do you have a recipe for MOLE? My 2 favorite Texas Mexican meals are chicken w/mole & rice & Calabacita & corn w/chicken.

  Hey, it’s been great visiting with you albeit in absencia. May God continue to bless you in your person & in all that you do.

  Hasta la proxima.

  Dante

  danterpena65@gmail.com

  956-371-3858

• Hello Adan,
  I am a freelance writer/photographer working on an assignment for Texas Highways Magazine about pioneer foods and early Texas cuisine. I’m wondering if I can compose a few questions for you and perhaps get your recommendations on where readers might be able to sample dishes from early Texas regional cuisine.
  Thanks,
  E. Dan Klepper
  edanklepper@gmail.com

• Hello Mr. Medrano, I enjoyed reading the recent article in the New York Times. I live in the San Antonio area. I am interested in seeing a list of restaurants that serve these unique dishes. Do you have such a list? I am ready to take a tour! Sincerely, Kurt Waldhauser

• Hi, Richard Lasser. Glad we both share love of vegetarian foods. If you will do a search for “vegan” on my website, the recipes will pop out. Hope this helps. Have a great day.

• Hi, David May. I will certainly look up the book. Thanks for sharing the info and for your kind words. Have a great day.

• Hello What a fascinating career you have had! Reading your article in the NYT 4/22/19. It brought to mind an anthropological cook book I bought in Terlingua back in the
  ” Authentic Indian-Mexican Recipes” written by
  William Hardwick and published 1965 registration no.
  A 780993. This book is very much in the spirit of your mission
  and you would find it quite interesting/ helpful I believe. If you can’t find a copy ( it may have been self published) contact me and I would be happy to get a copy to you.

• HI
  Can you send me some of your vegetarian recipes please?
  Thanks
  Richard Lasser

• Hello – I am developing an Educational Symposium on behalf of The Herb Society of America (South Texas) that will take place on Saturday, April 27. There will be several lectures and other educational opportunities. The basic working theme is Herbs from Mexico and Central America, but I am open to a variety of different approaches or variations on that theme, and my definition of what constitutes an herb includes plants used for flavoring, but also in medicinal, spiritual, cosmetic (including perfumery) applications and as plant dyes. Potential topics might include indigenous herbs historically important or with current renewed interest, blending of herbal flavors and culinary techniques between cultures, tequila (along with other uses of agave in medicine and food for example), chocolate of course, a cultural history of curanderos, perhaps specific ways to use specific but less well-known herbs such as hoja santa, pipicha, or even marigolds or hibiscus. It would also be nice to have a program on designing a garden featuring herbs used in “Mexican” cooking as practiced in Texas. These are only a few of my ideas, and we have just begun to explore the possibilities. Would you be able to participate in this event, or direct me to other potential speakers? The Herb Society is committed to education, and the proceeds from this event are used to provide scholarships to college students studying agriculture of horticulture. I read your quite impressive CV and admire you for your many contributions. One in particular jumped out at me – your association with Casa Juan Diego. I was their volunteer physician for about 7 years, starting in the late eighties. It was an experience I will never forget.
  We try very hard to make our annual Education Symposium the best it can be, and I hope that you will be able to help us. Besides email, I am always available by telephone – 713-524-0414. Thank you. Karen L. Cottingham

• Hola Adan, I would like to see if you are available to come to Colorado Springs, CO to Colorado College for two days events the week of Sept. 4th-8th. My Director Mario Montano asked me to reach out to you. My work number is (719) 389-6249 and cell is (719) 487-4059. I would love to speak with you.
  Saludos, Anabell Sintas

• Hi, Hector.
  I don’t write about Tex-Mex food. The overuse of cumin in everything, even beans, is something that I don’t like. But it seems to have a lot of followers in Tex-Mex restaurants like Chuy’s and other similar places. I write about Texas Mexican food, which is indigenous to Texas, with a 10,000 year history of culinary traditions dating back to the first inhabitants of this land. Like Mexico City, Oaxaca, Puebla, Yucatán, Texas is simply another region of the larger regional indigenous cuisine that is now called Mexican. Yucatán food is very different from chilango food. As is Texas Mexican Food very different from Mexico City Mexican food. Each region has its variations, and each takes the flavors from the terroir and from the indigenous traditions of those early peoples. Here’s a review of my book that you may find helpful: http://digest.champlain.edu/images/pdf_downloads/Pack_PDF.pdf

• Cumin in rice.
  As a chilango raised in San Antonio since 1976, I’ve grown to appreciate a lot of Tex-Mex food but I still don’t get the whole cumin in rice thing.
  It’s very rare in Mexico to use cumin as liberally as it’s done in Texas.
  How did that happen?
  I have a hard time believing that it’s a straight up organic Tex-Mex phenomenon that somehow “just happened”.
  Mexican food Wednesdays were a traumatic experience for me when I came here. Quality of the rice aside – I could count the kernels of comino in each scoop.

  I simply want to know if you have any idea how this happened.

  Honestly, comino seems incongruous to the rest of the dishes that I grew up in as a Mexican immigrant. With some notable exceptions- like tamales- comino tastes more at home in Indian foods than in rice that accompanies mole, calabacita, chilles rellenos etc. It stands out too much rather than blending in.

  I’ve seen people add it to caldo.

  I have to admit that it’s kind of a controversy for me— it’s always seemed like a spice people randomly use when trying to make something taste “Mexican”. Like in ground beef taco seasoning….we don’t do that Mexico….at least not as some quick way to Mexicanize a dish.

  In Austin, for example, in the 80s ANY Mexican restaurant always abused the spicr.

  Your thoughts.

• Despues de leer tu blog tocante al chocolate prepare el chocolate Mejicano sin leche! Es sabor es mas intenso y complejo. Me puso a pensar… Como preparaban los Aztecas el champurrado? Tambien sin leche? Cuando fue la primer vez que se preparo el champurrado?

• Te recuerdo. Dios quiera estás bien.

• Adan,

  Hace mucho tiempo que nos encontramos en OST, en 1975. Felicidades!

  Mauricio

• Hello, Mary. I will look forward to reading your piece3 on making masa, nixtamalization. Now that you mention it, would be interesting if Brazos Bookstore, Houston, wants to host a book reading there.

• Hello,

  I’m a native Texan, live in Houston and writing about the ancient process of making masa prepared by traditional nixtamalization for Slow Food. Bryan Parras told me about you. I’m on the Southwest-Mountain Regional Committee for the Ark of Taste, reviewing nominations, researching, and writing about foods to be catologued for the Ark of Taste. I saw a copy of your book at Brazos Bookstore yesterday and asked if you had been there for a book signing and suggested they reach out to you. I see you were just at UoH. So sorry I missed that! I would love to talk with you. Hope to meet you soon!

  Mary