Skip to main content

Comfort Food, pt. 3

So here's another of my comfort foods: Tex Mex. And let me be clear, I am not talking about Mexican food, which is very good. Tex Mex is much different, and better, in my opinion.

My roots run deep here, from early memories of El Chico (back when that was a pretty good place to eat) to Jose's Restaurant in Cleburne, to Joe T. Garcia's in Fort Worth, to many wonderful little places in San Antonio (my favorite was Tex Mex Willie's, which moved and changed names). That meaty, cheesy, spicy flavor has left an indelible mark on my life. When I need to reconnect with something deep inside me, it never hurts to have Tex Mex.

So, what separates Tex Mex from traditional Mexican cuisine? I'm glad you asked. There are several answers to this, but two things stand out in a big way.

First, Tex Mex uses yellow cheese. This is the American influence on traditional Mexican fare that made it north of the border. Government cheese was easy to produce, often free, and was bright yellow. We call it "American Cheese" now. It was so readily available in the homes of many poor Texas families that it was incorporated into traditional Mexican cooking. When these folks set out to start restaurants and diners offering food "the way Mama used to make it," that meant using yellow cheese as well. Today many places have switched to using cheddar cheese instead of American, which is what I prefer. Cheddar tends to be tastier, but greasier, and it preserves that splendid yellow color that says, "Tex Mex."

The second thing that separates Tex Mex from traditional fare is chili gravy. Please, no enchilada sauce, sour cream sauce, ranchero sauce, tomatillo sauce, or queso sauce or any other sauce. Just put the chili gravy on there. I have much to say about chili, but that will come later. Suffice it to say, whoever it was in the mists of Texas' past who adapted a chili recipe to make a tasty, meaty sauce to cover enchilada's and everything else, well that person deserves sainthood. Oh, those other sauces are good from time to time, but chili gravy is the real deal.

Now I'm hungry. How about you? Do your crave Tex Mex? Where are your favorite places to get your fill?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Eulogy for Dr. Evelyn Romig, Who Is Not Dead but Merely Retiring

How does one honor the career of a teacher like Dr. Evelyn Romig, who taught English and Literature for 44 years? I was her student four of those years at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, TX. Honestly, she teaches me still. I loved Dr. Romig fiercely when I was a college student. I took every class she offered. She was my adviser and I spent time in her office being advised on academic matters and other things. I often reflect on what her life means to me. My recollections and anecdotes here will be personal, but I do not think they are unique. I was 18 years old and a freshman when I first met Dr. Romig. I was a Baptist ministerial student, majoring in something from the School of Christianity. She was my British Literature teacher. Because of things I had done in high school and because of how well I tested on the ACT and SAT, I did not have to take the typical Freshman English courses. I had no way of knowing at the time how much this small woman, an English Literature p...
1 comment
Read more

Her Own Woman

Kathryn is here now. She was born Sunday night, 5:57 p.m., and weighed 7 pounds, 10 oz., and measured 20.25 inches long. Kim was in labor since about 9:00 a.m. Saturday. After hours of waiting and miles of walking around that hospital, Kim never progressed beyond 6 cm. Every time we came close to making a decision about what to do next, it seems Kathryn would change the game on us and we would have to wait for another couple of hours to see what would happen next. We almost went to the OR at least twice before we finally did because Kathry would do this or that. She was letting us know she was in charge. After whe was born I stood with her in the nursery while they cleaned her up and checked her out. She cried for a while and then got real calm and collected. I watched her as she sized me up with her eyes, took a good look around the room, and then looked at me and kind of smirked knowingly. I got the distinct impression that she was very much amused by everything that had gone on the ...
7 comments
Read more

Racing with Horses, Walking on Water, and Accepting My Weakness

I am tired of Hurricane Harvey. I am ready for all of this to be done and for things to settle down. I long for the routine, familiar, and predictable. I have had enough of trying to limit or mitigate the effects of Harvey on my family and property. I have become worn out trying to control and make sense of how my church is recovering from the hurricane. I am just about through with the ongoing, and seemingly never ending, management issues related to hundreds of volunteers funneling through my church on a weekly basis to assist our community in the recovery efforts. The logistics of making it all work week in and week out, the delicate dance of being the pastor to all the personalities involved, is exhausting. Add to this my broken heart for our community. I receive gut punches every day as I listen to the stories of evacuation, recovery, and rebuild. I steel myself to being able to do what I can each week and letting everything else go. I am sick of people saying the Lord will ...
3 comments
Read more