Synopses & Reviews
Nobody knows Tex-Mex like Houstonian Robb Walsh, who has spent much of his career researching the vibrant Mexican-American-and-Texan kitchen. Now he shares all the savory details in a comprehensive Tex-Mex bible, filled with outsize characters, fascinating stories, rare archival photographs, and of course great recipes for making an easy-to-elegant range of classic and
nuevo dishes.
The Tex-Mex Cookbook takes readers from the Spanish missions of the eighteenth century to the nineteenth century’s short-lived Republic of Texas and beyond, capturing the flavor of old San Antonio’s Chile Queens as well as the distinctively homespun inventions of rural border towns in lively prose and historic photographs. From the birth of corn chip mania to the booming Tex-Mex aisles in supermarkets across America, The Tex-Mex Cookbook reveals how "America's oldest regional cuisine" became a nationwide passion. Recipes include tacos, enchiladas, and authentic Texas chili, as well as fajitas, nachos, and Frito pie. Upscale contemporary selections such as Wild Mushroom Chalupas and Prickly Pear Margaritas bring this western saga up-to-the-minute.
A food fiesta that will delight home cooks and history buffs alike, The Tex-Mex Cookbook celebrates this inimitable culinary culture with the fact-filled, fun-filled tribute it deserves.
Synopsis
Join Texas food writer Robb Walsh on a grand tour complete with larger-than-life characters, colorful yarns, rare archival photographs, and a savory assortment of crispy, crunchy Tex-Mex foods.
From the Mexican pioneers of the sixteenth century, who first brought horses and cattle to Texas, to the Spanish mission era when cumin and garlic were introduced, to the 1890s when the Chile Queens of San Antonio sold their peppery stews to gringos like O. Henry and Ambrose Bierce, and through the chili gravy, combination plates, crispy tacos, and frozen margaritas of the twentieth century, all the way to the nuevo fried oyster nachos and vegetarian chorizo of today, here is the history of Tex-Mex in more than 100 recipes and 150 photos.
Rolled, folded, and stacked enchiladas, old-fashioned puffy tacos, sizzling fajitas, truck-stop chili, frozen margaritas, Frito™ Pie, and much, much more, are all here in easy-to-follow recipes for home cooks.
The Tex-Mex Cookbook will delight chile heads, food history buffs, Mexican food fans, and anybody who has ever woken up in the middle of the night craving cheese enchiladas.
About the Author
Robb Walsh is the author of Legends of Texas Barbecue Cookbook, A Cowboy in the Kitchen, and Nuevo Tex-Mex. He is also the restaurant critic of the Houston Press, an occasional commentator for NPRs Weekend Edition, and has served as the food columnist for Natural History. He has been nominated for six James Beard awards, including for last years Legends of Texas Barbecue, and has won twice.