On Food & Culture
It was good to hear the words. “A great poem is one that resonates with us, that challenges us and that teaches us something about ourselves and the world that we live in.” President Obama, in a relaxed, amiable mood, delivered those opening remarks at …
I’m enjoying the delicious cool pool water as I listen to a CD by Chris Becker, “Saints and Devils.” The music uses nat sound collected over the years, Louisianna musicians, archival data and layers them, arranges them beautifully. It has danceable rhythms, beautiful soulful pieces, …
I thought of this topic after despairing of finding a cooked flour tortilla in local restaurants. Undercooked raw-dough flour tortillas are the staple of Houston TexMex restaurants. I don’t think raw wheat flour is part of Tex-Mex cuisine but our restaurateurs obviously do. Certainly no …
Poetry– my margarita with a salt “Aire” served at Oyamel restaurant in DC of Chef José Andres who yesterday was named Best Chef by the James Beard Foundation. The “aire” is the “molecular cooking” technique that creates highly flavored foams using the chemical, lecithin. A …
My friend, Chef Iliana de la Vega, shows how to make THE margarita. Perfect for Cinco de Mayo guests but also year-round. Cinco de Mayo is not the celebration of Mexican Independence. It remembers the battle of Puebla, a city just about 100 miles south …
Bin Laden was a monstruous mass murderer. An arrogant, evil man with no conscience. I’m glad he’s dead and not able to kill. But celebrating his death is a thorny thing. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, religion editor of the Huffington Post, masterfully frames our collective moment …
WHAT? The picture above is from around 1915’s -20’s. It appears in the book chronicling segregation of Mexican-Americans, “A Place At The Table,” by Maria Fleming (p.97). Like all the ingredients of Tex-Mex food, the pecan has a fascinating people history. It is Native to …
In our Centro/SouthTexas and Northern Mexico region pinto beans are the staple in all native Mexican-American homes. No exceptions, not ever. It is only restaurants and caterers that pass them over and use black beans in their recipes. It’s not that we don’t think black …
This San Antonio tamale recipe was taught to me by my sister, Esther M. Martinez, who learned it from our mom, Dominga M. Medrano, who learned it from her mom, María Victoria Vargas, and so forth. Esther also learned aspects and nuances of tamales from …
In the 1950’s the Iceberg lettuce wedge with blue cheese dressing was ubiquitous. It is now a cool retro food on many menus. I think of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers who in the early 1970’s were picking the lettuce under miserable working …