
The Myth of Authenticity Is Killing Tex-Mex - samclemens
https://www.eater.com/2018/3/7/17081968/best-food-texas-tex-mex-barbecue
======
weeksie
Certainly one of my biggest pet peeves. If I had a nickel for everybody that
got in my ear about "authentic" Mexican food and of course was talking about
one particular regional cuisine: Tex-Mex, Southwest American, Californian
Mexican, Mexico City, . . .

The search for authenticity in food is a weird obsession anyway since cuisine
changes on contact with new ingredients.

~~~
kalcode
People are always taken back about how much classic staples didn't exist prior
to the discovery of America. On top of that realization is that the food
wasn't adopted immediately. Meaning a lot of common dishes didn't exist until
after 1700/1800s.

Things like tomato sauce and pasta in italian cuisine wasn't until almost
1800. Yet we talk about 'authentic' cuisine we usually use it in context way
before 'America'. Yet most cuisine we eat didn't come into existence until
AFTER America.

Another example is chilis in thai cuisine. Capsicum didn't make it over the
ocean until america was discovered. So all the spicy peppers in so many dishes
from Thai to Vietnamese food didn't exist in their cooking until it was
brought over and eventually incorporated.

Potatoes is another one. Originated in Peru. Russian potato vodka? Irish
Potatoes? Germans bangers and mash?

Nope, nada until America was discovered.

Chocolate, Vanilla. Staples of desserts of european cooking...except not until
America was discovered.

These above ingredients alone are associated with so many traditional recipes
but they didn't exist until recently. It really shows how quickly food and
traditions change and the idea of 'authenticity' is over blown.

~~~
derefr
Being discovered _in the New World_ by European explorers (and then taken back
to Europe and cultivated there); vs. being a cultural invention of people
living _in_ the Americas and having to deal with its local climate and growing
conditions; vs. being discovered by European explorers but found to only grow
in the local climate and so farmed there, are all pretty different things, and
it’s weird to conflate them like this.

Tomatoes and potatoes, and the vanilla bean, were _cultivated_ in Europe, by
Europeans.

Chilies were cultivated in the Americas (over 6000 years ago), and then traded
to European explorers who took them back home and grew them there, too.

The cocoa bean was cultivated in the Americas, by the Olmec; and then traded
to European explorers who tried to grow it, failed, and ended up invading the
area to farm it.

Of these, the first is European cuisine, through-and-through. The second is
aboriginal Mesoamerican cuisine. And the third is what you might call
“American” cuisine, insofar as—like most of the historical cuisines in America
itself—it was a cuisine invented by farmers from Europe (and the slaves they
brought from everywhere else) learning to live in the Americas.

~~~
chromaton
Are you claiming the tomato and potato were not cultivated in the Americas
before Europeans came?

~~~
kwhitefoot
I think the claim was that the cuisine in question that uses them is European,
not that no one used them in South America but rather that the use of them in
Europe is specifically European.

------
chrissnell
I was born and raised in San Antonio. My grandmother wrote a locally-famous
cookbook back in the 1960s, "The World of Mexican Cooking". [1] It's actually
almost purely Tex-Mex, although she does have a chapter for "Mex-Mex" recipes.
The recipes are fantastic, authentic, and most are easy enough fo r the
average home cook to prepare. I asked my aunt, who now owns the copyright, if
I could typeset the book in LaTeX and distribute it under an open-source
license. She was cool with it and I started the transcription but never got
beyond the second chapter--it's hard, tedious work! If anybody knows of some
software that I can feed scanned pages into and get a PDF of OCR'ed text plus
the artwork (it had wonderful art doodled in between the pages and
paragraphs), please let me know.

By the way, Tex-Mex is the quintessential melting pot cuisine and one of the
things that ties us San Antonians together. Tex-Mex has been embraced by many
different ethnicities. My great aunt and uncle were children of Syrian-
Lebanese immigrants who came to the US via Mexico. They opened up a
restaurant, Karam's, that was one of the most famous and popular Tex-Mex
restaurants in San Antonio for decades until it closed in the early 2000's.

If you're ever in San Antonio, skip all of the crappy tourist restaurants on
the Riverwalk and head straight for the original location of the Blanco Cafe
[2]. In my opinion, it's the most authentic and delicious Tex-Mex joint in
town.

[1] [https://www.amazon.com/World-Mexican-Cooking-Margaret-
Curry/...](https://www.amazon.com/World-Mexican-Cooking-Margaret-
Curry/dp/0931722462/)

[2] [https://www.yelp.com/biz/blanco-cafe-san-
antonio](https://www.yelp.com/biz/blanco-cafe-san-antonio)

 __* EDIT: I just remembered that I _did_ scan the book to PDF already. I have
it here on my phone but I'm on a plane at the moment. Once I'm on the ground,
I'll see about uploading it to Github for everyone to check out. The scanned
version is sub-optimal and I think my grandmother would have appreciated my
efforts to typeset this. If you're interested in helping out, we can figure
out some way to divvy up the chapters and you can help me with OCR+proofing or
doing the image->text manually. Thanks for your nice comments! I hope to get
something for Show HN soon.

~~~
conductr
Life long Texan and agree San Antonio has the best Tex Mex. Houston & Austin
are close enough to be very good (and where my expectations come from, first
25 years living there). I live in Dallas now, the Tex Mex here is just
horrible (comparatively). It's more of a Cali/modern inspired style. I've only
found a couple places that are close to what I consider authentic, but they're
in odd locations that are difficult to patron. This, well the Dallas food
culture in general (it sucks), is my biggest complaint about living in this
city.

That said, I still eat Tex Mex 2-3 times a week, but always look forward to my
visits back to Houston/Austin. Unfortunately don't make it to SA too often but
will give that place a try next time I do.

~~~
djrogers
> I live in Dallas now, the Tex Mex here is just horrible (comparatively).
> It's more of a Cali/modern inspired style.

California would like a word with you...

To call Cal/Mex cuisine 'horrible' is patently ridiculous. If you can say
that, haven't had a gordita from an L.A. roach coach, or a green corn tamale
from El Cholo, or a Mission style burrito, etc etc.

Oh, and lest we not forget San Diego - a legit fish taco is sublime.

~~~
conductr
What does any of that have to do with authenticity of Tex mex?

Cal mex is great. Just don’t call it Tex mex.

------
Chardok
The best part of the "great American melting pot" for me is the fusion of
cuisines. Trying to knock a restaurant or food because it isn't "authentic" is
completely missing the beauty of the different combinations of flavors and
styles that arise. Texans know the difference between Mexican and Tex Mex, and
can enjoy both without having to act like one is superior.

By the way if you've never had brisket chili I highly recommend it.

~~~
jihadjihad
Was just talking with my wife about this yesterday when we went to an Asian
fusion place for lunch. Sometimes you just want to eat gyoza, sushi, and mapo
tofu in the same meal. Doesn't mean you don't appreciate that they're foods
from different cultures. It's quintessentially American to gather up the best
bits of multiple cultures and offer them all in one convenient package.

~~~
pbhjpbhj
Aren't all modern cultures (with exception of "lost" tribes perhaps) amalgams
of multiple historic influences.

It's the quintessence of culture to be a composite of prior cultural aspects.

It doesn't appear to be distinctly American in that it seems to be present in
the other continental areas too?

For example traditional British chip shop food includes battered pineapple,
and curry sauce and may just as well be cooked for you by a person born in
China, say.

~~~
flyinghamster
Indeed, food gets remixed worldwide. The gyros I get in Chicago are almost
identical to the kebabs I found in Britain, except that the British variety
has a wide variety of sauce options, including ones more commonly associated
with curry, such as tikka.

Tikka masala, on the other hand, was invented in the UK and has made its way
back to India.

Food would be boring indeed if ingredients and techniques strictly stayed in
one place.

------
kodablah
The death of traditional tex mex is hinted at in the article. I think it's
because the vast majority of transplants and modern youth simply do not want
cheap mounds of food from dingy establishments. Yet true tex-mex can only
operate this way. They cannot raise prices and modernize their establishments
because then they are completing on a separate, higher-priced plane. I'm not
going to a tex-mex restaurant that wants > $8 for lunch because it's unlikely
to be tex-mex. But others are not going to any dingy restaurant serving mounds
of unhealthy, greasy food regardless of prices, and so we have the impasse.

It's no different than saying froyo is killing the ice cream truck.

Having said that, there are still a ton of tex mex establishments just barely
raising their prices. Some are locally chaining up (e.g. Matitos, Cristinas,
etc in the Metroplex), some are not really traditional (or in the process of
losing it) and already chained up (Chuys, Pappasitos, Uncle Julios, etc). The
rest are operating on small margins, but they're not completely dead and some
are even opening anew or revamping. They are no longer dirt cheap, but still
not expensive.

~~~
conductr
In Dallas area, I find you have to go south to find anything close to
authentic. Like Herrera's in Oak Cliff (which is now even getting chained up).
Dallas is very economically segregated and south is where the these rent
issues are less present and dense mexican communities have formed.

~~~
kodablah
While mostly true, we have to be careful with words like "authentic". Tex-mex
has variations in every area, even among metropolitan areas (same deal w/ Fort
Worth, except many "authentic" ones are in North Fort Worth). For example, I
consider a chimichanga to be quintessential tex-mex even though it's probably
not Texan or Mexican and not "traditional" or "authentic". Some tex-mex places
may laugh at you for asking while others will serve it proudly.

~~~
conductr
Good point. Authentic _to me_ \- but I do think the greasy food of cinder
block buildings are a good sign of authenticity (in Texas). And you just don't
see that at all in most of the north of I30 Dallas. I'm not too familiar with
Ft Worth, except Joe T's (IMO: authentic but poor execution on the food, great
patio & margaritas). I'm not a purist, I agree with you on the chimichanga.

------
jordigh
The article doesn't seem to talk about it, but why do people crave
authenticity anyway, as if they were afraid that they were getting scammed by
their food? Nobody cares that spaghetti bolognese isn't from Bologna or that
Haägen Dazs isn't a remotely Scandinavian word, and nobody had cared for a
long time. Why are they caring now? More internet? More migration?

What's changed that's making everyone realise, in abject horror, my god, we
have seen this food's ethnicity, and it is ours!

~~~
ravenstine
People like things that seem exotic because it's novel.

They care more now because life is generally easy(or, rather, straight-
forward) so people need amusement and ways to feel special. It's unique
experience they crave, even if it's the merely perception. Oddly, flavor comes
second. [ which I believe is the case with the recent popularity of phở, but
that's my subjective belief. ;) ]

------
kurthr
Tex-Mex was really popular in Europe in the early 90s (along with the color
orange). I ate at a restaurant in Paris that served decent enchiladas and
chalupas, but the guacamole old, brown, and inedible. Today, I suspect you
could get much fresher avocados... and of course margaritas are everywhere.

Now Tex-Mex is moving up-scale even in Texas. It's weird, but there's so much
competition at the food trucks, fast casual, etc that it's hard for the old
grease ladlers to pay the rent (and rent has really gone up).

The joke, “Tex-Mex is it’s invented in the Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio
makes it popular, and Austin takes all the credit.” really only sounds right
in Austin where self-deprecatory hipsterism is a thing. The valley and SA
don't care.

------
nailer
I'm not American, so have no patriotic love of US food, and was fully prepared
for 'authentic' Yucatan to completely eclipse Austin (where I'd eaten a bunch
of Tex Mex food before).

I was actually disappointed - the quality of the produce, and the sharpness of
flavour in even the cheapest food in Austin eclipsed anywhere on the mid/low
range in Yucatan. Queso aside (I do not like American cheese) I'd prefer
Austin any day.

~~~
always_good
I lived in Austin. Now I live in Mexico, various parts, and I'd say that
Austin has a very short supply of Mexican food.

But there are people who will always prefer Torchy's bizarre tacos over a
legit taqueria you'd find in E Riverside or wherever. And they didn't enjoy
some of the best tacos I could take them to in Guadalajara. But I would never
conclude that Austin's food is better from that sort of experience.

~~~
bretthoerner
Hopefully you realize that your comment perfectly embodies the point of the
article?

You're complaining about the "authenticity" of Austin Tex-Mex in a reply to
someone who said they loved the Austin food more than "authentic" food they
had in Mexico.

------
beat
The myth of authenticity isn't killing Tex-Mex. Economics are. The increasing
advantage of corporate chains over mom-and-pop restaurants, the increasing
cost ratio of mass-market factory ingredients over local meats and
vegetables... it's just plain cheaper and more profitable to build another
Taco Bell or Chi-Chis than to keep Grandma's restaurant going into a third
generation.

~~~
DoreenMichele
When I worked for a Fortune 200 insurance company, I sometimes had to call
healthcare providers to verify information. Healthcare providers were
sometimes major hospitals, but they were often small offices providing medical
or dental care.

Although doctors are highly educated professionals, their education
specifically covers medical stuff, not business stuff. Small offices routinely
had piss poor knowledge of regulations like HIPAA and lousy business
practices. Small shops often simply lack robust practices in important areas
outside their main area if expertise. This is a serious problem in business.

Similarly, I imagine that in many cases, Grandma's restaurant was started
because Grandma was an excellent cook and she decided to make money off of it
in an era where her lack of business acumen was less of a hindrance. The
grandkids may not cook as well as Grandma and may have no idea they need to up
their game in non cooking areas as well.

So Taco Bell comes in and Taco Bell has better business practices and a robust
system in place to standardize the quality of its so so food. The fact that no
gourmet chefs work there won't hurt the business the way it kills Grandma's
restaurant when the grandkids just can't turn out a dish like Grandma could.

I would really like to see a world that does a better job helping small shops
perform well as business entities. But that isn't the world I live in
currently. Currently, small shops often die because they simply lack business
acumen that franchises have well sorted.

~~~
Retra
And entrepreneurship becomes harder, so it becomes rarer, and of course people
by far tend to go into business only if they know other people who do, and so
inequality continues to grow.

------
dahart
Maybe it's just keto/Atkins trends that are making BBQ so popular?

Tex-Mex might be plenty authentic, but I haven't found carnitas in the states
that match my memories of Mexico. Not even BBQ pulled pork that compares
either. It could be entirely a perception that is influenced by being in
Mexico rather than the quality of the food itself, but it doesn't really
matter, the Mexican food in Mexico seems better.

Best meal I ever had in Mexico was a hole in the wall joint in Guanajuato
where a woman would bring a new dish of her choosing to all 4 tables in her
restaurant room, about once every 15-20 minutes. You could walk in and sit
down, and just eat what you get, for as many courses as you wanted, then on
your way out, pay for however many courses you ate. It was soups and meats and
vegatables, not much of the fare you'd consider "Mexican food", but one of my
best memories of eating in Mexico.

------
ddavis
Thanks a lot for sharing, I enjoyed reading this.

I spent most of my life in Texas and went to college in Austin. The first
thing out of my mouth when I get home: "let's go grab some Mexican." I can't
think of anyone (friends and family living outside of Texas) that doesn't do
the same -- Tex-Mex will never be killed :)

------
JoeAltmaier
My wife cuts to the chase: its good, but its not what she grew up with in New
Mexico. No argument of 'authenticity'. Just not how Mrs. Mays cooked it!

------
sudosteph
Growing up in NC, I was never really exposed to the idea that there were
different types of Mexican cuisines in the US. Everything was just "Mexican"
food there. Now that I've experienced west coast varieties, I'd definitely say
it's Tex-mex dominant in the southeast. Queso is such a staple there. I just
couldn't believe it when I arrived in Seattle and couldn't find it anywhere!

I don't think tex-mex will die any time soon though. It definitely is a
comfort food that people will always crave. I haven't noticed a downturn in
tex-mex style mexican in NC, but it's not competing with Brisket there either.
Still, even small towns in NC usually have some sort of mexican restaurant,
often staffed by immigrants from Mexico with soccer games playing on the TV,
so maybe that makes it feel more authentic. Ultimately it's the portions, the
approachable tastes and textures, and the price that will keep Tex-Mex
restaurants chugging along. It's not a hip food, and probably wont ever be
again.

------
dalacv
People care more about this topic than Net neutrality. As they should. I mean
it's Tex Mex for crying out loud.

------
S_A_P
No mention of the city with the best Tex-Mex. Houston. Sorry this article is
not accurate.

------
sbussard
I'm from El Paso and lived in New Mexico for six years. Personally, I've never
had really good TexMex or Authentic Mexican food anywhere outside of the
southwest. I've always thought of TexMex as a variation of Mexican food
involving high quality beef with a peppery seasoning, like you can get at Taco
Cabana or Rosa's. It's sad to me that some people might think places like Taco
Bell/Chilis/Applebees are an accurate representation of TexMex or Traditional
Mexican. It's also strange that queso is so overused everywhere outside of the
southwest. Side note: Navajo Tacos are superbly delicious.

------
mcguire
Here in north Alabama, El Palacio (of Mexican Food) on the parkway in
Huntsville closed a few months ago. Another part of my childhood is dead.

(I grew up in Texas, frequently eating in dimly-lit Tex-Mex restaurants with
pictures of toreadors and dying bulls, sometimes on actual felt. This was
before even fajitas became popular---burritos, enchiladas, tacos, and chile
rellanos were the popular fare. Walking into El Palacio made me feel like I
was 6 again.)

~~~
logfromblammo
Guadalajara Jalisco on Madison Blvd., next to the Wal-Mart. It's the best one
in Madison, in my opinion, but I can't speak for Huntsville proper. Chapala,
the one that has "authentic mexican restaurant" right in the name, next to
Publix on County Line, is certainly genuine enough, but the service
responsiveness ranges from sluggish to glacial.

Places like Casa Blanca, Rosie's, and Phil Sandoval's are all like Olive
Garden for Mexican. They're what I think of when I imagine an "inauthentic
tex-mex" restaurant.

Speaking of which, there are zero good Italian restaurants in the area,
according to my spouse. There's a decent one in Chattanooga, within a mile of
the 24/75 junction. But that's at least 2 hours away.

Chuck Wagon BBQ on Madison Blvd. sells Texas barbecue, if you didn't already
know. Most of the other barbecue joints in the area are essentially Memphis
barbecue, plus white sauce. The owner has also been referred to as the
"barbecue Nazi", in reference to the "soup Nazi" Seinfeld episode, so you'd
best know what you want before reaching the counter.

~~~
mcguire
It's been a while since I worked out that way and ate at Guadalajara and the
Chuck Wagon (it's the only Texas barbecue around, it's good, you take what he
gives you when he's open and you eat it and like it). Guadalajara is good, but
it's just not the same. (Do they even serve fried ice cream?)

Is that Portofino's in Chattanooga?

~~~
logfromblammo
You are correct. There may actually be a decent Italian restaurant closer, but
Chattanooga is on the way to a lot of potential long weekend destinations.

------
Joof
It's partly how we view the cultures. Popular 'chinese' food is also supposed
to be cheap, but we have a similar view of their manufactured goods. Japanese
food is expensive, we consider their manufactured goods as high quality.

Meanwhile, Chinese food is some of the most highly regarded food in the world.

Mexican food... probably gonna expect it to be cheap.

------
cicero
When I think of "authentic" Tex-Mex, I think of El Fenix in Dallas. They
certainly have a long (in American terms) and interesting history[1] with that
cuisine. My favorite comfort food, especially during cold weather, is their
Mexican Dinner with tamales, chili con carne, and a cheese enchilada.

1: [http://www.elfenix.com/history](http://www.elfenix.com/history)

~~~
kodablah
I don't think that, personally, at least its modern incarnation. But this just
goes to show that opinions differ on this. Also we shouldn't necessarily
attribute history to "authenticity" as many times the history is held up for
marketing purposes and does not represent their modern approach.

------
bluedino
This site contains information about the origins of many tex-mex dishes - it's
an interesting read

[http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodmexican.html](http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodmexican.html)

------
wallacrw
Crunchy tacos. All day long. I don't care where it's from, it's genius.

------
Kalium
Given the obesity rate in San Antonio, the death of tex-mex is almost
certainly going to be a boon for the health of many a Texan.

------
banned1
First it was Tex Mex music. Now this? :-(

------
nimbius
Whats killing tex mex --and frankly quite a number of other american fusion
cuisines-- is what I like to term lard-as-a-service. Elites didnt kill tex-
mex, Texas did.

Things like Tacos al Carbon and fajita dishes take time, patience, and effort
to achieve not only a reproducible but flavorful and healthy results.
Huitlacoche, corn, and other fresh produce have the duality of problems for
restaurants and cooks: discounts offered only at scale and the potential to
spoil.

Finally, places like McDonalds have ruined food. Everything has to be
delivered in 6 minutes or less, or your yelp review will shutter your
business. this combination of 'fast/cheap/good' drives restaurants to eschew
creative dishes and involved recipes in favor of simple durable ingredients.
Sure, the fajitas came frozen, but most customers wont care if you fry them in
margarine and drown them in an ocean of inexpensive cheese that has an
amicable shelf life. Refried beans can either be made in house, or if you dont
like the idea of hiring a chef for a fair wage, purchased from a sysco truck
on 70lb batches of flavourless grey box shaped paste.

Or, skip it altogether and sell something that was cheaper than sourcing 6
vegetables like Brisket and canned beans. So long as someone else cooked it,
its not on your ledger.

~~~
jimmaswell
Do that many people look at yelp? The most anyone I know sees are the reviews
that pop up on Google Maps, and I've never noticed those reviews to be unfair
about small wait times or the like.

~~~
ravenstine
Everyone I know looks to Yelp first, I'm guessing in part because Google Maps'
UI for reading reviews is somewhat obtuse in contrast. I live in the LA area,
so it's possibly a regional thing.

