Discovering Tex-Mex, the Cuisine of San Antonio
Tex-Mex is to Texas what pizza is to New York. Although it takes many of its ingredients from Mexico, you won't find anything like it in Guadalajara. This unique cuisine has endless variations—no two cooks make the same enchilada. In San Antonio in June 2001 there will be plenty of opportunity for culinary adventure.
Starting out
While you peruse the usually lengthy menu, the server will bring tortilla chips and salsa. Carefully dip a chip in the salsa and do a taste test. Salsa varies from mild and tomatoey to hot and spicy.
Aperitivos--Appetizers
One of the most popular appetizers is nachos. These are crisp tortilla chips smothered in melted cheddar and sprinkled with jalapeño pepper slices. While some Texans eat jalapeños like pickles, they can be pretty hot—especially the seeds. You can get nachos "loaded" with beef, beans, or chicken.
Quesadillas are flour tortillas filled with cheese and a variety of other things and pan-fried. They serve one as a lunch or many as an appetizer. They come topped with sour cream, guacamole, and pico de gallo. Pico de gallo is tiny bits of onion, peppers, and tomatoes with cilantro, an herb that looks like parsley but has a very different flavor.
Entradas--Main dishes
Most main dish items involve a tortilla, either corn or flour, rolled or folded over a stuffing of cheese, onions, spinach, mushrooms, shrimp, beef, chicken, or pork. The result is served with some sort of sauce, salsa or sour cream. Below are basic descriptions of some of the most popular delicacies:
Chalupas—crispy flat corn tortillas topped with refried beans, lettuce, tomatoes, and shredded cheddar.
Chimichangas—burritos that are deep-fried.
Enchiladas—corn tortillas, stuffed with cheese and onions, beef, chicken, fish, or spinach, rolled up, and baked in sauce. Sauces may be red (ranchero), green (sour cream and spinach), or cheesy.
Fajitas—designed for extroverts. Strips of seasoned meat or shrimp, red and green sweet peppers, and onions grilled and delivered to the table still sizzling in a very attention-getting manner. Place a SMALL amount of the fajita mixture in the center of a flour tortilla, fold up the bottom third, and then fold in the sides.
Flautas—corn tortillas stuffed with beef, chicken or pork, rolled up and deep-fried.
Tamales—cornmeal dough surrounding a meat filling, then wrapped in a corn husk and steamed. REMOVE the corn husk before eating.
Nearly all meals are served with refried beans, pinto beans that have been cooked and then mashed up a bit and fried, and rice. Your server may also ask if you want corn or flour tortillas with your meal. Try one of each. Butter them, dip them in salsa, or fill them with your refried beans.
Postres--Desserts
Too stuffed for dessert? Too bad! Tex-Mex has some wonderful ones. Most restaurants serve flan, a sweet custard, and sopapillas, a puffy fried bread rolled in cinnamon and sugar, similar to a beignet (for those of you from New Orleans). To eat a sopapilla, make a hole with a knife or fork and pour in honey. They're a little messy, but worth it.
Bebidas--Beverages
In addition to unlimited iced tea, you may want to try some of the traditional alcoholic beverages. Many Tex-Mex restaurants offer a variety of beers imported from Mexico. On a warm day (almost any day in June) a frozen margarita can cool you down fast. The primary components are crushed ice, lime juice, and tequila. Be careful though, a good margarita goes down very smoothly and you may not feel the effects until you try to stand up.
Tex-Mex food is filling, fattening, and addictive, so come hungry and enjoy.
To plan your culinary expedition, check these web sites:
http://mexicanfood.about.com/food/mexicanfood/
http://home.digitalcity.com/sanantonio/dining/
http://sanantoniocvb.com/restaurants/individual%20pages/Mexican.htm
Chris Dobson is president of F1 Services, Inc., a library consulting firm, and a member of the Texas Chapter. She works and eats in Dallas. Her email address is } .
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