In the U.S., the mix of immigrant cultures has led to a burst of fusion cuisine. But perhaps the most popular and possibly the first to get its name from a mix of cultures comes from the blend of Texas and Mexico.
You know what we’re talking about here – good old Tex-Mex.
But as taco journalist and host of the Tacos of Texas podcast Mando Rayo points out, there is a distinct line that marks the difference between where Mexican food ends and Tex-Mex begins.
Rayo joined the Standard to break it all down. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: All right, so this latest episode is all about this distinction. Break it down for us. What do you see as the difference between Tex-Mex and Mexican food?
Mando Rayo: Yeah, you know, when we looked at this episode, we wanted to kind of give people that maybe were new to the food… Maybe transplants. Texas gets a lot of transplants.
And so we wanted it to give kind of like maybe an introduction and a delineation.
Like a primer or something.
Yeah, exactly. And so what we wanted to do is like, for us – at least for me – I know the difference between both. And for a long time you have magazines that, you know, basically put them all together in one category.
But the idea is around like, there’s very specific dishes that are Mexican. And then there’s very specific dishes that are Tex-Mex, right? And so while they both have roots in Mexican culture, because this was Mexico, right – the lands that we’re on… But, you know, some of those recipes changed because of access to certain ingredients or even like this idea around Tex-Mex around making it easier or more palatable toward white people.
I see. You know, it’s interesting that you should say that because I have heard that one clear giveaway is how much cheese you’ve got. Is that true?
That is true. That is true. And it’s that melty cheese that everybody loves. Queso.
There is a Mexican version called chile con queso, right. But no, the yellow one with the Velveeta cheese, that queso thing. It definitely is that.
So say you want to eat an authentic Mexican dish… Hit us with some names, something we can look for.
Yeah, for sure. Well, so first and foremost, you know, you can just throw authenticity out the window because “authenticity” is just kind of like one of those buzzwords now. It’s really kind of what you are comfortable with and what you grew up with, whatever that is.
So what I would say, when you think about when you go to Mexico and what are the things that stand out for you? Definitely tacos al pastor, right? And tacos al pastor with that sweet pork and the pineapple, onions and cilantro and a good salsa, right?
The moles, right? Mole. There’s so many varieties of mole and it’s beautiful.
Those are the thing that really kind of stand out.
I was looking back at some early writings about Tex-Mex dishes and it seems like they really started to get popularized, at least in Texas – not that people hadn’t been eating these dishes in Texas – but right around the 1950s, when there started to be the appearance of a lot of commercial restaurants in places like Dallas and Houston.
Ninfa’s is often mentioned, right? In the 1970s. So if you think about one of those prototypical menus, that’s more of the Tex-Mex thing, not the authentic Mexican.
Right, right, right.
See, there I went. I said “authentic.” I said, authentic. That’s the no-no word. OK, so it’s not close to the original Mexican.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. So what it is, it’s this commercialization of Mexican food and where it became Tex-Mex is this infusion of what was the local ingredients and what was accessible and, you know, obviously this idea around thinking about, say, for example, breakfast tacos, right?
It’s the introduction of wheat flour, right? When you go to Mexico or, you know, Central and South Mexico, it’s mostly corn. But you do actually see the flour tortilla like in San Antonio and South Texas and even northern Mexico. And so you have breakfast tacos or even tacos mañaneros.
But do you think of like the breakfast taco as more Tex-Mex? That’s what you’re saying.
Yeah, yeah, that’s what I’m saying, because the key ingredient is that that flour tortilla.
In San Antonio, this idea around like where the street vendors – and you see them along the border, too… And so the idea around the commercialization that happened was people that have access to opening up restaurants or commercializing the food tended to be white Texans.
And so they’re the one that kind of took off with it. And they’re like, “well, we’re going to change this and we’re gonna change that.” And then all of a sudden, you have kind of what you have in most restaurants here across Texas, some Tex-Mex places.
But like, you know good examples is a carne guisada, too, right? A carne guisada is a great taco. Add some yellow cheese to it.
This interaction that you had, by the way, from the Tacos of Texas podcast.
Yeah, we talked to, we invited Chef Kirk – they’re based out of San Antonio, originally from Laredo – and talked about their journey and really like helping us figure out, okay, well, you know, what’s the difference?
Fantastic. Let’s listen to a little bit of a clip.
Chef Kirk [in clip]: I started then seeing the Jalisco’s, right? Eventually they became the Jalisco’s. And I like to call those Mex-Tex. Those are Mexicanos that have migrated to San Antonio.
And they see that this food, the Tex-Mex, is something that is thriving, that the people love. And so they adopted it as well. So now I see Tex-Mex and I see Mex-Tex.
Mando Rayo [in clip]: It’s also Texas-Mexican, right? The indigenous original.
Chef Kirk [in clip]: The indigenous original. And a lot of people ask me, like, what’s authentic, right? And it’s like, well, what’s authentic to you and your family? Like, what is your story?
There’s not really anything that I feel like now that can be considered as authentic, but it’s evolved to where like your story…
Mando Rayo [in clip]: It goes back to your family and your roots and what you grew up with.
Now Mando, if someone were to say, what is your go-to Mexican dish? See, if I had to take a bet, I would think that you’re going to say some kind of taco dish.
Yeah. OK, so I have two because, you know, I’m a home cook, right?
But my favorite go-to is tacos al pastor. You can’t, I mean, that is just like the purest and the simplest. And it’s so delicious, but it’s also complex and it’s hard to make.
But when I actually cook at home, I make carnitas. And that’s kind of like this idea around, you know, slow cooking that pork and fried until it becomes tender – crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside.
So for me, it’s always like, I always answer that with a one-two punch.
Now, what about a go-to Tex-Mex dish?
Oh, you know, definitely I’ll go back to… Well, probably, gosh, it’s crazy because I do eat a lot of breakfast tacos, right? But when I’m like really feeling Tex-Mex, it’s a crispy taco. That crispy taco, and it’s just crunchy.
The classic with the ground beef and all that?
Ground beef, yellow cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. But then the chile con carne enchiladas.
Oh, yeah. Dang. Yeah, don’t hold the jalapeños.
Exactly. With raw onions.
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