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comment by ThurberMingus
ThurberMingus  ·  1689 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Howdy, Hubski! What culinary crimes is your home infamous for?

Between my family and in-laws I've had the whole range of TexMex from Abuela saying "now we'll feed you some real Mexican food" to the new white person all the way to white Grandma excited to show off her Mexican casserole to the new Mexican family member. The second is super cringey. The first was still unmistakably TexMex.

The main appeal is "this is the way Grandma makes it." By now there's better restaurants and Mexican grocery stores if you want to find them. But why do that when you've memorized the secret family ratio of Velvita and Rotel to make perfect queso.

There's also a "Spanish from Santa Fe" branch of the tree -- that mess doesn't translate to Texas' race situation at all but he tried anyway.





kleinbl00  ·  1688 days ago  ·  link  ·  

My wife's family are from Minnesota/Wisconsin. I can't say that all of Minnesota/Wisconsin fears flavor, but I can say that there are vast strains of Minnesota/Wisconsin that fear flavor.

    But why do that when you've memorized the secret family ratio of Velvita and Rotel to make perfect queso.

I can also say that in any Mexican restaurant you care to name, you sit down and you are given chips and salsa. In the good ones you are given chips, pico de gallo and salsa. In the really good ones you are given hot, just-made chips, pico de gallo and salsa. In the serious New Mexican restaurants you are given hot, just-made chips, pico de gallo and two different kinds of salsa.

Every Mexican restaurant I've been to in Texas starts you off with "queso."

"Queso" is takfir. When you wish to offend your enemies back to their ancient dead, serve them "queso." "Queso", more than any other aspect of Tex-Mex cuisine, is the embodiment of effrontery.

I believe that Tex-Mex fans and Mexican fans could probably find common ground if it weren't for the fact that Tex-Mex holds at its heart something so essentially sacrilegious that it ends the conversation immediately and succinctly. If you choose to eat "queso" when there are so many better things to do with food, you are an infidel, an unbeliever, and may god have mercy on your soul.