Some say that the cultural and culinary mashup Tex-Mex seems to have fallen out of favor lately. But Mando Rayo, the co-author of The Tacos of Texas, disagrees.
“We have a long history of Tex-Mex here in Texas, and it is its own food group,” Rayo says.
Rayo says some people think of Tex-Mex as inauthentic. “You hear it, you know, from Mexicans. They turn their noses up to Tex-Mex,” he says. “They’re like, ‘That’s not real Mexican food.’”
Rayo says it’s simply a way of life in Texas, though. “You wake up and you’re eating a breakfast taco, you’re eating Tex-Mex,” he says. “If it’s happy hour and you’re digging on that chips and queso, that’s Tex-Mex.”
He says some menu items, like fajitas, have become so common that some people don’t realize that they’re eating Tex-Mex.
Written by Jen Rice.
