Evening Series

Texas and Tex-Mex Cuisine

Reservations available from 5:45 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Events are held in the Commodity Council Room, 154 Eckles Hall.

Nov. 17, 2009

Hear the gunshots from the Alamo, and see the tumbleweeds dusting the plains on your journey down to the border where the spicy haberno is as hot as the desert sun. Originally regarded as poor man's food, Tex-Mex cuisine has taken a sophisticated turn, combining corn, pinto beans, tomatoes and chilies while also including cattle, cowboys and chili. In central Texas we have the "German belt" where the immigrants used their skills in preparing food and combined them with the local ingredients available from the land. Meat smoking barbeque and chicken fried steak are some dishes from this region using traditional German processes and southern ingredients.

Over to Deep East Texas where plantation owners and Southern hospitality have greatly influenced the Texas plantations and Cajun and Creole cookery has become a staple in the food there. Seafood, rice and jambalayas take a traditional "Old South" feel and transition over to the Lone star state. Let's head on over to West Texas where the deer, the antelope and the cattle play on the range thanks to the land granted to Mexican families by the king of Spain. Cows and seafood are staples of Tex-mex cuisine, included in main dishes such as jambalaya, fish and rib-eye steaks. South Texas is the last part of the state where Midwest farmers produce over forty crops including the most famous Texas crop, the onion.

Being the second largest state in the United States, Texas borders several different regions that have impacted every aspect of Texan cooking. Chuck wagon cooking dates back to Charles Goodnight who used a chuck box and a tailgate as a workstation. The chuck box contained shelves and drawers, a coffee grinder, tools and utensils but the most essential tool was the cast-iron Dutch oven. It was with this oven that roasting, braising, and baking occurred and where the Mexican cowboys would introduce their favorite foods- chili, beans and tortillas to chuck wagon cooking.

Texas has one of the most interesting cultures and backgrounds when compared to other states in the southern region of the United States. Being the second largest state and bordered by over 4 states and Mexico, Texas has the benefit of having a colorfully blended array of influences ranging from Spanish conquistadors, plantation owners and workers, to immigrants from European countries half way across the globe. The food on our menu correctly connects the array of influences that the Texas culture and cuisine have ranging from our hand fried tortilla chips and delightful salsas to our seductively cool pineapple habanera sorbet that will cool your palate after our spicy meal.

Don’t Mex with Texas