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Apparently you've never been to a Sanborn's? I totally agree with this. Some of the best Tex-Mex items I've had were expensive as hell at The Mansion at Turtle Creek. They were every bit as good as items I've had at The French Laundry or Charlie Trotter's. That said, however, in looking at things as "they really are", isn't a lot of this judgment based on the fact of the matter? As I said before, most people encounter Mexican food at mediocre to bad chains around the country and at the local combo plate place that has bland beans, flavorless rice, and mediocre enchiladas. However, the burritos are gigantic and so are the margaritas and you get free chips and salsa. It seems that a lot of the Tex-Mex tradition has earned this negative opinion of it. Extolling a Velveeta dip, to me, is the equivalent of praising a pot roast that uses cream of mushroom soup in a crockpot. We always ignore such home-cooking modern conveniences in cookbooks. There are few Thai cookbooks that tell people to go buy Mae Ploy and few Mexican cookbooks that tell someone to go buy Dona Maria. I imagine no French cookbook would recommend getting your bechamel from a jar, either. But is it possible to ignore Velveeta queso dip in Tex-Mex cookbook?

You know that scene in Roxanne where Steve Martin sniffs a the smoke of a fire and follows it to the source.... When you come up to Portland, make sure you post or PM, we've got some quite competitive options. People often don't realize that Portland proper has a population of Hispanics, mostly Mexicans, of over 10%. The percentages are higher in the outlying areas and the many agricultural areas. I'm looking forward to Santa Rosa and Sebastopol taco reports for when I visit family.

And she was originally looking at it when velveeta queso dip and baked crunchy Taco Bell style tacos were popularized, wasn't she?

On Kennedy's recent book tour, I saw her asked what she thinks about Tex-Mex. She essentially said that if you like it, great, but it's not what she likes. I got the impression, though, that she still held strong feelings about its general inferiority. I think she thinks of it as contrary to a slow food way of cooking that she promotes. However, as that LA Times article points out, the same disappointment can be applied to the average Mexican cooks in Mexico. I'd be interested to see you take her to a few of your favorite spots. How someone could disparage something as simple and wonderful as good brisket tacos, I don't know. Do you think that Mexican-American food has earned its negative reputation with gourmets at all? Afterall, most of the country encounters Mexican food in the form of Taco Bell and other fast food and low-level chains or at their local combo plate place whose two draws are alcohol and large portions. Gourmets generally feel similarly about Italian-American food, Tex-Mex's most analgous cuisine.

Stuffed jalapenos. The sweat from the fiery little devils will cool you off! My favorite chile relleno is chiles en nogada: poblanos stuffed with picadillo with lots of dried fruit, all covered in creamed walnuts and garnished with pomegrantes. Really a December dish, but there are lots of similar rellenos. But I like the idea for summer because they're usually served just above room temp with the sauce kind of cool. Of course, there are always cocktails and ceviches on tostadas and such. I usually think more coastal Mexican in the summer and interior Mexican in the winter.

Yeah, I've read Bayless's opinion on that before. I just got back from Chicago where I ate in the Pilsen district. I hope to go to the Maxwell Street Market, possibly in September. I think that assumes that Mexicans are stupid and can't figure out the tastes of the people around them, to say that these people opening taco trucks and taquerias need established communities to show them how the locals do it. More than likely, they're just making smart business decisions and pandering to the greater palate of the area. That pandering may not be necessary in Chicago or Oregon because there's not really as strong a presence of a competing, similar cuisine like there is in Texas. Although, nearly every taqueria in Oregon serves burritos, and many serve quesadillas made with flour tortillas. I think your opera vs rock and roll analogy misses the point. Mexican cuisine is more like blues, be-bop, tribal music, '50s rock, etc, while Tex-Mex is rock and roll. In other words, the mother cuisine is a broad pallette with influences on Tex-Mex. Tex-Mex is more narrow and younger, truly, and less complex and varied as a whole (which is not to devalue it). I agree that Tex-Mex is also an American regional cuisine, but to some degree it's only so because of national borders. Unlike Cajun's relation to French or Italian-American's relation to Italy, Tex-Mex is always there close to its mother cuisine. How often do Italian joints in NY or Cajun shacks in Louisiana get influenced by Italians or French anymore? Whereas, you say that Mexican immigrants continue to keep Tex-Mex honest. I would say that they also continue to keep it part of Mexican food, not fully American.

For the area code challenged, like myself, here's a map: http://docs.nanpa.com/area_code_maps/display.shtml?ca

Isn't the problem here the balance? In defending Tex-Mex, someone can easily make the mistake of implying that interior Mexican isn't important. I think it's sad that Fonda San Miguel needs to pander to Texans' expectations for Mexican food because of their own regional version's traditions. Going into a Oaxacan restaurant and expecting nachos reminds me of that episode of Sopranos where Tony and the boys go to Sicily and Pauley bitches about not having simple pasta and "gravy". When some friends and I visited Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, Bayless's restaurants in Chicago, one of them from Dallas bitched that we didn't get free chips and salsa. He considered that a major fault. Same when he visited Cafe Azul. I like chips and salsa as much as the next person. But why should we expect it just because Mexican-American food has made it a standard? Should we expect all-you-can-eat salad and bread sticks at our local trattoria? For that reason, isn't it good that people like Kennedy insist on pointing out the differences? I don't think you have to make a judgment about the quality of Tex-Mex in doing so, though I realize Kennedy often does. You wouldn't say that Tex-Mex is on an equal standing with Mexican as a cuisine, though, would you? At most, isn't it just a regional subset of Mexican? PS It also seems ridiculous to say that taquerias have to use fajita meat, etc. If the taquerias here in Oregon can serve birria de chivo cheaply made of goat, certainly they can in Texas where if you go an inch over the border you can get cabrito. More than likely, it's expectations of Texans.

It's also worth looking back at this article: http://www.houstonpress.com/issues/2003-09...ml/1/index.html And this non-Walsh article: http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-12...ntic.story?null

Further, do you worry that Tex-Mex will lose a lot of its unique properties as influences from California and the broader tastes of America are imported and exchanged? Obviously, Tex-Mex has always been a cuisine in transition, as all are, and I wouldn't expect a French or Italian style response, such as certifying what can be called "nachos". But do you worry that the inventions of the cuisine will be lost and that as geography becomes less and less important, Tex-Mex will just be subsumed into the greater Mexican-American food? Do you see your book as some measure to document great dishes that might be lost?

Good advice. I almost bought those vacuum sealing cannisters they sell on infomercials just for the fun of seeing things shrink and expand. Plus, you can test whether Newton was right and a feather will fall as fast as a lead ball.

I just don't see many New Mexican dishes making it into the broader Mexican food scene, places like Taco Bell, your average Mexican place in Ohio, or mid-scale chains. It seems to have gotten lost by the domination of California and Texas. That's not necesarily a bad thing. About the closest I've seen is that every once in a while you get blue corn this and that at more upscale places. But it's more just for the novelty, I think.

I'm always fascinated with the history of Mexican food. It seems really difficult to find many sources, especially in English, for the history of a) Mexican-American food, and b) regional Mexican food post-conquest. Do you have any recs (besides your own, of course)?

I'd like you to explore, though, the difference between Tex-Mex and Mexican-American. I generally don't use the term here in Oregon (ie, Tex-Mex) because it's misleading. People have a tendency to call our food here Tex-Mex even though it's largely not, imo. It's more influenced by California (and hence, Sonora) than by Texas. We have both the baja influences and the Sonoran influences and the ubiquitous items like the "mission burrito". You rarely see chile con queso, or chili as a topping for enchiladas, nor the spicy beans, or puffy tacos you can find in Texas here. Do you delineate much between Tex-Mex and the rest of Mexican-American? There seems to have been a strong intermingling of cuisines both ways. The burrito is now part of Texas, as are blue corn, sopapillas, quesadillas, etc. And fajitas and nachos are certainly a part of every Mexican restaurant's repetoire, as are cheese and ground beef enchiladas. Do you eat much non-Texas Mexican-American? It seems to me that New Mexico's foods are still largely undiscovered. Sonora/California and Texas seem to have made much bigger strides through places like Taco Bell, Chilis, Chipotle, and so on. I've looked through the book a little and plan on buying it at Amazon (so I can give a little cut to this site) soon. It looks every bit as good as your Legends book.

I couldn't do that. I'd have to see how far I could shrink it down at least once. In fact, I've thought about getting a foodsaver, but I think I'd waste all my plastic on "scientific experiments" to see the results of pressure changes on various different things around the house until finally I get put in jail for testing it on the neighbor's cat that always shits in my yard. My friends and I did some wicked things when I was kid with our extra microwave.

fiery, they were terrible before the change, so I'm not sure if I understand the difference.

I want to know how small a loaf of Ken's gets during vacuum packing. I want before and after pics.

Thanks for the report. This is actually on my to-do list when I get back. I'm eager to see the place and it's the perfect time of year for that sort of thing.

If you do know of some better quality moles in jars, I'd love to know. Thai curries work well from the store, but they have to be refreshed and used correctly and aren't such a difficult flavor, generally, as a mole poblano.

Joel Palmer was inconsistent in my few trips. I had one great experience, one bad experience, and one mediocre experience. It really depends on what you get. I'd recommend sticking with mushroom dishes, getting the soup, but avoiding the godawful "tart". The place is beautiful and the herb garden area nice to sit and rest. The service can be good or bad, but they will charge you 18% either way. Too many high school/college-age people working the floor.

It's different, though, Jon. I've had plenty of decent mole poblanos and it's just not the same. It's like tasting an enchilada sauce from the can that has a tinny and burnt chile flavor, like Old El Paso, vs one made fresh. Many people might never think they like enchiladas if that was their only experience. Another example is good wine vs 2 buck chuck. I'm not much of a fan of wine, but when I've had wine that people consider awesome, I could at least understand why they liked it. But I shudder when I take a sip of the $5-10 bottles from the local grocery store. There's an acquired taste, and then there's an acquired taste someone has to burn your tongue with a searing hot poker before you can palate it.

I agree with Caroline. Probably a jarred mole, most likely Dona Maria. I thought I hated mole for years before I went to a restaurant where they were made from scratch. I still know and hate that bitterness. I think it takes an adept hand to make a good one using the jarred stuff. You can't really say what a mole should taste like because there are so many. Some are earthy, some are sweet, some are herby, but all have the flavor of chiles, that I know of, as a major component. I think the best beginner mole (to eat) is a manchamanteles because it's a little sweet and fruity. But good luck finding one at any typical Mexican restaurant. You're in NY, right? Zarela Martinez has a duck dish in it. I've never been to her restaurant, but I'd love to try it. PS "Mole Sauce" is actually redundant. Mole, like salsa, means sauce, basically.

That sucks. I don't get back until the 18th. I'd love to go take some pics and do a writeup. I've been lazy on my site lately. I should have done a bunch of work while I had the chickenpox, but I just gained 10 lbs eating ice cream instead. Good luck!

Remember, the min wage, cost of living, cost of doing business, etc, is much higher in Portland than it is in most of the south. It's like comparing the prices for a taco in Mexico to the price in the US. LOW is a stand at the corner of 6th and Hawthorne that serves Central Texas style BBQ, brisket and pork ribs. They also do lamb ribs at the Portland Farmer's Market. You get cole slaw, sweet pickles, and 2 slices of white bread with your brisket. No white bread with the ribs, I don't think. I can't remember the exact price, but they have a regular and large order now of each. They also serve chopped beef sandwiches.

The couple times I've been to Reo's, I had to wait less than 15 minutes. I think it depends on when you hit them. They took it directly out of the pit, checking it to see if it was done, so they must be timing it, probably staggering the start times, rather than reheating. I think their ribs are decent, worth eating if you're on that side of the hills and have a hankering for ribs. I know some people have suggest Stanford's instead, though. They're clearly not as good as LOW, Yam Yam's, or Campbell's. I think they're slightly worse than Cannon's, for those that have tried them. Both Cannon's and Reo's tend to be a bit fatty, often giving you the shoulder piece from the spare ribs. I like that fine, but many people don't.