In 1967, Frito-Lay Corporation launched a national advertising campaign featuring the Frito Bandito. Initially, the commercials appeared during children’s television shows, where they were an “unqualified success,” leading Frito-Lay to use the character in all its television and print advertising. In January 1971, a $610 million suit was filed against Frito-Lay in Federal court “for [...]]]>

In 1967, Frito-Lay Corporation launched a national advertising campaign featuring the Frito Bandito. Initially, the commercials appeared during children’s television shows, where they were an “unqualified success,” leading Frito-Lay to use the character in all its television and print advertising. In January 1971, a $610 million suit was filed against Frito-Lay in Federal court “for the malicious defamation of the character of the 6.1 million Mexican Americans in the United States.” Under increasing pressure as members of congress, local television stations, and the press joined the cause, Frito-Lay reluctantly dropped the Frito Bandito campaign. (From Chon A. Noriega’s article in The Tex-Mex Cookbook)

My daughter gave me a Frito Bandito T-shirt for Father’s Day. Do I put it in a display case–or do I wear it to my favorite Tex-Mex restaurant?

Most people go to Gerardo’s for the awesome barbacoa on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Some swear by the crispy carnitas. I like the barbacoa de borrego and the chile rellenos too. But don’t ignore Gerardo’s sublime mollejas. You can buy them by the pound or by the taco.

Deep-fried sweetbread tacos are a lovely way to [...]]]>

Most people go to Gerardo’s for the awesome barbacoa on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Some swear by the crispy carnitas. I like the barbacoa de borrego and the chile rellenos too. But don’t ignore Gerardo’s sublime mollejas. You can buy them by the pound or by the taco.

Deep-fried sweetbread tacos are a lovely way to start the day. You’ll find them on the steam table buffet at Gerardo’s Drive In Grocery on Patton St. just east of I-45 in Houston.

Will our Tex-Mex joint serve fried eggs on cheese enchiladas?

This morning, the Sidedish Newsletter from My Table Magazine reported that I am a partner in a new Tex-Mex restaurant venture.

Heard on the Street

We had a chat with Bill Floyd today at Reef, and he confirmed that he and chef Bryan Caswell are partnering with former [...]]]>

Will our Tex-Mex joint serve fried eggs on cheese enchiladas?

This morning, the Sidedish Newsletter from My Table Magazine reported that I am a partner in a new Tex-Mex restaurant venture.

Heard on the Street

We had a chat with Bill Floyd today at Reef, and he confirmed that he and chef Bryan Caswell are partnering with former Houston Press restaurant critic Robb Walsh on a new Tex-Mex spot that will go into the Tower Theatre location on Westheimer near Montrose. Permitting has already begun, and the handsome Art Deco design will be kept intact. The great old balcony is also being rebuilt. Floyd says the new as-yet-unnamed spot will seat 300 and be open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. Look for it to open right after January 1.

Thanks to all the well-wishers who have responded to this report. I wish I could have you all over for cheese enchiladas topped with fried eggs  this morning. I haven’t got much to add to the My Table report–we are talking about a restaurant that is scheduled to open 7 months from now! But I promise to write a whole lot about it when there is something interesting to share!

Okay so maybe my old favorite Freddy Fender is a little dated. I like Los Lonely Boys alright. But the cutting edge in Tex-Mex music has got to be H-town’s underground hero Chingo Bling. Tamales, tortas and tacos are among his favorite song subjects. This is a musical icon with his own brand of hot sauce. [...]]]>

Okay so maybe my old favorite Freddy Fender is a little dated. I like Los Lonely Boys alright. But the cutting edge in Tex-Mex music has got to be H-town’s underground hero Chingo Bling. Tamales, tortas and tacos are among his favorite song subjects. This is a musical icon with his own brand of hot sauce.

Check out his “taco shop” video?

The other day I twittered a smartass remark: Authentic Mexican is to Tex-Mex as the Ballet Folklorico is to Freddy Fender. My fellow food writer Colman Andrews asked if I meant by that Tex-Mex was more fun and closer to the truth. His question caused me to reflect for awhile.

I have often faulted Diana Kennedy for [...]]]>

The other day I twittered a smartass remark: Authentic Mexican is to Tex-Mex as the Ballet Folklorico is to Freddy Fender. My fellow food writer Colman Andrews asked if I meant by that Tex-Mex was more fun and closer to the truth. His question caused me to reflect for awhile.

I have often faulted Diana Kennedy for assuming that the only way to champion authentic Mexican cooking was to trash Tex-Mex. I don’t want to make the same mistake in reverse. I love Mexico and most of its food. I eat antojitos in Houston taquerias and taco trucks all the time.

Its the “authentic Mexican” restaurants for gabachos in the U.S. and their ritualized recreations of relics like mole Poblano and chiles en nogada that remind me of Ballet Folklorico performances. People rave about the sophistication of this stuff, but both the food and the music strike me as stilted imitations of an outdated tradition.

Nobody is calling Tex-Mex sophisticated. It is a raw and primal half-breed border culture. I first heard this Freddy Fender Tex-Mex love song when I was in college and it still hits me hard.

Tex-Mex outlaw Freddy Fender, born Baldemar Huerta in San Benito Texas in 1937, started singing Elvis Presley songs in Spanish for the Mexican market after he got kicked out of the Marines. He recorded “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights” in 1959, then spent three years in Angola for possession of marijuana. His number one hit “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” was recorded in 1974. He went on to win three Grammys before he died in 2006.

Tomatillos and Anaheim chiles are evidently hard to come by in other climes. So when food bloggers from all over the planet tried my recipe for Stacked Chicken Enchiladas in Green Chile Sauce this month the cooks in London, the Netherlands, and Canada had to come up with their own variations. There were also [...]]]>
Tomatillos and Anaheim chiles are evidently hard to come by in other climes. So when food bloggers from all over the planet tried my recipe for Stacked Chicken Enchiladas in Green Chile Sauce this month the cooks in London, the Netherlands, and Canada had to come up with their own variations. There were also such wacky spins as gluten-free Thai enchiladas.

The international enchilada cook-off was the monthly challenge from  The Daring Kitchen gang. The website called Daring Kitchen started in 2006 when two women with food blogs decided to try the same challenging recipe. They turned it into a monthly challenge and others started joining in. Now the Daring Cooks Challenge includes legions of food bloggers who all try the same recipe at the same time and blog about it once a month. They choose my enchilada recipe for May in honor of Cinco de Mayo.

The original recipe, which appears on page 111 of The Tex-Mex Cookbook, was published by Fine Cooking Magazine in August of 2005. It was the version of the recipe published on the magazine’s website that was used as a starting point. I have to say reading all these recipe made me hungry for some enchiladas.

The Daring Kitchen gang sound like a lot of fun. But beforewarned, to join the Daring Cooks or Daring Bakers and have your food blog included in the blogroll, you have to agree to participate in 8 out of 12 of the monthly challenges.

At left, Mariano Martinez visits the world’s first margarita machine which he donated to the Smithsonian Institute. For the full story, read the account by Rayna Green, a curator in the Division of Home and Community Life at the National Museum of American History. Its in her blog for Cinco de Mayo. Here’s an excerpt:

“I am [...]]]> At left, Mariano Martinez visits the world’s first margarita machine which he donated to the Smithsonian Institute. For the full story, read the account by Rayna Green, a curator in the Division of Home and Community Life at the National Museum of American History. Its in her blog for Cinco de Mayo. Here’s an excerpt:

“I am a curator who specializes in American foodways (among other things), and a member of the team that brought Julia Child’s kitchen to the National Museum of American History. In the summer of 2003, in the course of developing a public program on Tex-Mex food, I got to know a Houston food writer named Robb Walsh. Robb had just written a wonderful book, The Tex-Mex Cookbook, a history of the phenomenon he calls an American regional cuisine. In that book, he told the story of a Dallas restauranteur who invented the frozen margarita machine. Robb told me that I had to go and get that machine for the museum.” -Rayna Green

I was talking to Lori Moffat at Texas Highways Magazine about Houston’s wacky ethnic fusion dishes yesterday. I thought of Kaiser, the lovable head chef at Himalaya on Hillcroft. Kaiser served me a plate of his wildly spicy Pakistani fajitas the other day. Kaiser calls the dish “steak tikka” on the menu and serves it with [...]]]>

I was talking to Lori Moffat at Texas Highways Magazine about Houston’s wacky ethnic fusion dishes yesterday. I thought of Kaiser, the lovable head chef at Himalaya on Hillcroft. Kaiser served me a plate of his wildly spicy Pakistani fajitas the other day. Kaiser calls the dish “steak tikka” on the menu and serves it with hot flatbread. But the inspiration in unmistakable. The seasoning blend even contains the natural tenderizer papain–just like most fajita recipes. There’s also lots of chile powder, cumin, garlic, and other spices in the Tex-Mex masala.

Kaiser loves Tex-Mex almost as much as he loves his native Desi cuisine. And everybody loves Vietnamese fajitas.So why not Pakistani fajitas?

The Bandito plate at the new El Toro location on Kirkwood and Westheimer features a fajita enchilda in salsa, a cheese enchilada and a ground beef enchilada in chili gravy, and a chicken enchilada in sour cream. The enchiladas were good, but the made-to-order corn tortillas that came on the side were outrageous.

We drove to [...]]]>

The Bandito plate at the new El Toro location on Kirkwood and Westheimer features a fajita enchilda in salsa, a cheese enchilada and a ground beef enchilada in chili gravy, and a chicken enchilada in sour cream. The enchiladas were good, but the made-to-order corn tortillas that came on the side were outrageous.

We drove to El Toro shortly after my plane from La Guardia landed. I was so out of touch with reality, I didn’t even realize it was Cinco de Mayo until the waitress told us that frozen margs where on special. My wife drank hers so fast, she got a brain freeze.

So welcome back! I had intended to blog from NYC while I was up there, but I had a technical malfunction. My photos wouldn’t download on the laptop we were carrying. I’ll do some blog posts about the festivities in NYC soon.

Meanwhile, Happy Cinco de Drinko.