The term "TexMex" first became notice as a nickname for the Texas-Mexican Railway, chartered in 1875. Train schedules, published in newspapers, abbreviated the names of railroads. For example, the Missouri Pacific was called the Mo. Pac. and the Texas-Mexican was abbreviated Tex. Mex. It was in the 1920s that the hyphenated form was used in reference to the railroad as well as to describe people of Mexican descent who were born in Texas.
Food historians claim that the first print evidence of "TexMex" in reference to food happened in 1945. From there, TexMex restaurants slowly surfaced outside the Southwest U.S. in cities with substantial Hispanic populations. TexMex went "gourmet “in the 1970s when Mexican culinary expert Diana Kennedy was credited for taking this common food and making it trendy fare and a new "must-eat" cuisine for a younger generation.
What exactly is TexMex cuisine?
Several hundred years ago, during the mission era, Spanish and Mexican-Indian foods were combined in Texas, as in other parts of what was called the Northern Frontier of New Spain. It was this cuisine that would eventually be called TexMex. The cuisine actually originated with the Texans of Hispanic descent or Tejanos, as a hybrid of Spanish and Mexican Indian foods when Texas was still part of New Spain and, later, of Mexico. The first Spaniards to arrive in Texas encountered a variety of Indian groups. The nomadic tribes lived off the land, eating game, fish, and available edible plants. Sedentary groups, such as those at La Junta de los Ríos, cultivated such crops as corn, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, squash, pumpkins, sunflower seeds, and peppers. Their squash was likely the cushaw, a winter squash that could be eaten in its tender stage or a...
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...Mexican restaurant owners considered it an insult. For the rest of the world, TexMex had reflected the wilder, untamed parts of Texas. It evoked images of cantinas, cowboys and the Wild West. Dozens of Tex-Mex restaurants sprang up in Paris, and across Europe, to Bangkok, Buenos Aires and Abu Dhabi.
Tortilla chips, margaritas and chili con carne are now well-known TexMex staples around the world. The cuisine is found in many independent and chain restaurants in the state of Texas as well as throughout the rest of the country. TexMex chain restaurants include Chili's, Casa Ole, Chuy's, El Fenix, El Chico, and Taco Cabana. While Chili's serves some TexMex items, it is considered to be more Southwestern cuisine. And of course, there’s Taco Bell; a conglomeration of fast food versions of Mexican and TexMex dishes, owned by Yum! Brands, Inc., based in Louisville, KY.
In the beginning, Burciaga provides a brief history when Taco Bell was established. First starting in Mexico City and then spreading throughout the United States, the chain sold “mild imitations of the real thing” (382). Many Mexican businesses and people protested against Taco Bell because unlike homemade tortillas made from hand, they used “prefabricated hard tortilla shells” (383) that tasted nothing like real Mexican tacos. Additionally, the restaurant also combines food and makes up names so that it appears different. From Enchiroto, a combination of a burrito and enchilada, to Cinnamon Crispas, known as bunuelos, Burciaga points out that “the Taco Menu can be a mystery if one is not familiar with the renamed food items” (383).
What stereotypes did many Anglos who settled Texas have about Mexican Americans? Where did these prejudices come from?
Many people that were indigenous to New Spain and latter, Mexico had settled in Texas when it was a northern State of Mexico. Many contributed in an effort to tame the wild paradise and bring civilization to the region beyond what the Spanish missionaries had begun a century before. In 1821, Mexico gained independence from Spain, and began to actively recruit people to populate the land north of the Rio Grande with far more urgency that did Spain. The residents were both of Spanish decent as well as Euro-American. Those delegated the authority to organize these settlements were called Empresarios. The Empressarios applied for huge tracts of land and then had the authority to sell to those that wished to settle it and swear an allegiance to Mexico---- agreeing to become citizens as well as become Catholics. Mexicans that moved north to Texas were known as Tejanos ( Tejanas for the females) .In 1836, when Texas acquired independence from Mexico, Tejanos remained concentrated in settlements founded during the eighteenth century, namely Nacogdoches, San Antonio, Goliad, and Laredo. Other communities with a primarily Mexican descent population in 1836 included Victoria, founded by Martín De León in 1824, and the villages of San Elizario, Ysleta, and Socorro in far west Texas. ( Arnoldo De León,).
Mexican culture is perhaps the largest influence on the state of Arizona, affecting the cuisine of Arizona quite heavily. Mexican food is widely popular in Arizona, meaning that there are plenty of local Mexican restaurants, each giving a unique experience. Mexican culture also has strong ties to the history of Arizona, as it was once territory belonging to Mexico. Mexicans who inhabited the region over a century ago fought with tribes native to the land in order to wrest control from them. However, war erupted with America on April 25, 1846. The war, now known as the Mexican-American War, resulted in the Mexican Cession. The Cession effectively indoctrinated the states of California, Nevada, most of Arizona, and various sections of other current day states. The war’s start can be contributed to many things, one such reason being the acceptance of Texas as a recognized state by the U.S. This created a great deal of tension with Mexico, as Texas was once their territory, until Mexicans and Americans overthrew the governor of the region and appointed their own leader, Samuel Houston. Houston then brought Texas in as a state to the U.S. in order to assuage any aggressive acts by Mexico. However, tensions soon flared when several small incidents along the border of Mexico and Texas lead to the war. Many politicians in the northern states opposed the war, claiming that it was an attempt of the southern slave owners to gain influence in the new territory. While most of the territory of Arizona was obtained by the end of the war, it was the Gadsden Purchase that attained the rest of the state, along with the southwesternmost part of modern day New Mexico. The purchase gets it’s name from the United States ambassador to Mexico, James Gadsden, who signed the treaty approving the purchase of the territory in the year 1853, not all too long after the
Form 10-K Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., 2011. 1.2 Product Offering Chipotle’s cuisine is Mexican. Their menu consists of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls, and salads prepared with fresh ingredients employing classic cooking methods. The customer proceeds down an assembly line, choosing the various components of their meal as they proceed. They have recently created a children’s menu offering smaller portion sizes.
One of the methods to acquire food for the Cahuilla was through Gathering and Harvesting seasonal foods. One of the most notable food the Cahuilla’s enjoyed was the Pinion Nuts. Pinion Nuts derive from a pine tree that is local to the South Western California and upper Mexico. The pine tree contains a small edible s...
The Mexica, or more commonly known as Aztecs, were a small tribe searching for a new place to settle during the 12th century. Before the Aztecs came to the Valley of Mexico, the area had already been inhabited by other tribal groups wandering the land. One of these groups of inhabitants built the city of Teotihuacan. An empire was made due to the expansion and growth of Teotihuacan. At about 600 A.D., the empire of Teotihuacan was overthrown by other tribes. Centuries later, another empire was created by the people of the city of Tollan. They were known as the Toltecs. Their empire lasted from about the 10th to 12th century. At the end of the 12th century, Tollan was captured and destroyed by its enemies (Watkins). The Aztecs did not migrate
In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed to form a boundary between the United States and Mexico. This boundary was formed along the Rio Grande River. It wasn’t until 1944 that the Texas Mexico Water Treaty was signed and described how the water would be shared between Texas and Mexico. The Treaty explained how the water was to be shared between the two parties based on the surplus of water in the river.
Corn had a very deep religious significance to the Mayan people. It was believed that the gods created man from corn flour and the blood of the gods, making them literally children of the
Firstly, one aspect that is both Mexican and American is the cuisine. The original food for Mexico is very spicy and most of the time very colorful as well. Mexicans use spices, peppers, tomatoes, and cheese in many of the native dishes. They use an assortment of meat: pork, beef, lamb, and chicken. When Mexican restaurants spring up in the United States the food is toned down to appeal to Americans. The Mexican Americans use less spices to make the dishes milder rather than the hot, spicy native food. The food, still Mexican, takes on the likeness of American food. This is shown in the United States by all of the Mexican American restaurants such as Taco Bell. Therefore Mexicans have Americanized their food. “For Hispanics live on this side of the border, where Kraft manufactures Mexican-style Velveeta, and where Jack in the Box serves Fajita Pita.” (Rodriguez 131). Americans complement the Mexican style and the inverse.
Texas has a rich and long history and much of it has passed through the state over the years to become a part of its folklore. This Texas folklore is part of many cultures within the state and has even filtered outside the state. The first cultural influence on Texas was from the Paleo-American Indians. When these Indians arrived they were in a bit of a culture shock when they met the Spanish in the 16th century. In the following centuries, more people began to arrive in Texas and they brought new ways of talking, believing and doing things. The Spanish and the Mexican set the patterns south of Nueces and along the Rio Grande. Anglos brought their ways of life from the British Isles to the South and Eastern part of Texas. African Americans who came to work on the plantations on the Brazos and Trinity bottoms brought songs, stories and beliefs that came with them from Africa. Germans came directly from the Old World to the Hill Country, Cajuns came from France and eventually through Louisiana and settled in Southeast Texas. The Dutch, Danes, Polish, Czechs, Norwegians who also came here brought with them their ways of life and they all became bound together to become part of Texas. By the year 2000, Texas was made up of 54.5% Anglos, 31% Hispanic, 11.4% African Americans and another 3.1% of other ethnicities.
Mexican American history began in the16th century under Spanish colonialism. The Spanish had a goal of conquest and colonization. Evidently, that goal was successfully accomplished because when the Spanish first arrived in 1492 Mexico’s population was fourteen million, but by the end of the 16th century it had drastically declined to one million. Numbers decreased because of the cruel treatment, forced labor, and disease brought by the Spanish. The Spanish eventually controlled most of the territory in the Southwest and over three hundred towns had been established for the purpose of control and conversion. The Spanish imposed conditions on the natives of Mexico that would belittle them. They aimed to convert them in order to make them re...
was the big problem with the American Settlers, which with in a few years out numbered the Mexican population twice if not more in Texas. The United States had been trying to purchase Texas and other territories unsuccessfully. A movement began to stir in Texas
During the 1600s to 1700s, the Spanish were settling Texas. They did this by building missions and presidios throughout the land. The purpose was to keep the French out and to change the Indians' ways of life. Some of these missions failed and some succeeded. All in all they were closed after years of trying to change the Indians.
Jeffrey Pilcher declares that Mexicans are a people of corn, that “despite centuries of efforts to change them, Mexicans remain a people of corn” (Pilcher, 6). The native and indigenous people of corn formed identity as a society. They made tortillas with corn, and gradually began to add different kinds of meats, vegetables, and spices. Every society creates for themselves a unique set of cuisine to feed and please others. But people’s needs constantly change and the diet that is established for each society is divided through class. Besides this being a harsh reality, this is problematic because of the disparity between the rich and the poor. But even though this was the case, Mexico’s food culture was able to preserve and refine a lot of its cuisine despite evolution and struggles to maintain original forms. Thus, it can be said that the history of food in Mexico is one that is profoundly and intimately tied to the country’s developing national