90823 Sat Sep 20 18:39:50 -0700 2003 3 5 Texas 0 499240 A piece on the subject in this morning's Dallas Morning News that is sure to futher fan the fires... The writer refers to a new book on TexMex food by Robb Walsh. His "fight" with John Mariani wouldn't be a way to generate coverage for his book, would it? Link: http://www.dallasnews.com/texasliving/stories/092003dnlivjulia.8eafd.html Sat Sep 20 18:39:50 -0700 2003 0 Kirk 1 499248 Thanks for the link. That Julia Child's exhibit is pretty cool. Made me want to overhaul my kitchen. Just saw it this summer. Some of the quotes in the article are pretty sad: [QUOTE 1] Ms. Cortez, a third-generation member of San Antonio's legendary Mi Tierra restaurant family, recalls her first childhood trip to Mexico: "I didn't know what to eat." What her family enjoyed at home wasn't anything like what was on menus in Mexico. "I wanted to go to Pizza Hut." [QUOTE 2] It's even gaining popularity in Mexico, where American tourists demand "Mexican food" like they get at home, notes Deborah Cortez. Usually that means beginning a meal with a complimentary bowl of chips and salsa, unheard of in traditional Mexican restaurant service. I hope not even the most prideful Texan chowhounder is proud of comments like these. What's it say that Tex-Mex is being exported back to Mexico because of wussy tourists. I've been to Mexico several times and am disappointed by places like Fajita Republic in Puerto Vallarta that claim to be authentic Mexican. In a way, I guess that's true. But it's border-town authentic Mexican, as much Texan as Mexican. It's sad how many places in tourist towns in Mexico have really good regional Mexican food or alta cocina mexicana, but the ratio is 3:1 non-gringos and thus the place is much slower than the lines outside the places you'll read about in Fodor's or Frommer's or even Lonely Planet (sad to say). I think the view of Tex-Mex in the culinary world is largely deserved. There's a reason you probably won't find a 4 or 5 star Tex-Mex restaurant in Mobil or AAA. (I actually prefer Mexican-American since Tex-Mex is certainly separate in its evolution from Sonoran-Mexican and Baja-Mexican that went up into Arizona and California respectively, plus the New Mexican cuisine so influenced by the Native Americans there. La Cocina de la Frontera by Peyton does a good job of briefly going through these.) Most restaurant Tex-Mex is truly bar food, a method to get people to buy lots of beer. It's spicy, the chips are salty, and people drink. There are large portions, but it's made with cheap ingredients, grocery store cheddar and Monterrey jack, ground beef, lightly flavored rice, and refried pinto beans. That's what it generally is. That doesn't make it bad, but that doesn't make it high cuisine either. Nick Sun Sep 21 01:42:50 -0700 2003 499240 0 Nick 2 499257 "It's spicy, the chips are salty, and people drink. There are large portions, but it's made with cheap ingredients, grocery store cheddar and Monterrey jack, ground beef, lightly flavored rice, and refried pinto beans". you maka mi hungry! Mon Sep 22 10:11:09 -0700 2003 499248 0 MidtownCoog 3 499260 Tiny Chowhounds, I maka you hungry, you maka mi sad.... ;-) Mon Sep 22 16:00:12 -0700 2003 499257 0 Nick