02
The Chili Queens
Open-air stands and the city that ran them off.
Section 01
Tejano Kitchens
Mexican families in Texas, and the food they made. 4 entries, each naming the community, the city and the period.
Entries in this section
- 01.1Who cooked itTex-Mex is Tejano cooking — food made by Mexican families in Texas — and the name arrived long after the food did.
- 01.2The border kitchenA kitchen working with what northern Mexico and south Texas both had, which is why it looks like neither one alone.
- 01.3What authentic means hereThe markers read as compromise are the actual regional markers, which makes the usual authenticity test the wrong instrument.
- 01.4The word Tex-MexWhere the compound came from, what it first described, and when it attached itself to the food.
Other sections
03
The Pantry
The markers outsiders read as compromise.
04
The Comal
Dry heat, corn and wheat.
05
The Plate
The dishes themselves.
06
San Antonio
Where most of it happened.