The designation Tex-Mex refers to the particular style of Mexican food found in the Lone Star State. Unlike New Mexico’s Mexican food, which might include blue corn tortillas, or California Mexican food which relies on avocados and black olives, Tex-Mex depends heavily on ground beef, cheese, and chili sauce.
You can find great chicken enchiladas with a flavorful verde tomatillo sauce as well as vegetarian dishes, or even shrimp enchiladas. But the real Tex-Mex favorite, often known affectionately as “Regular Plate No. 1”, is an order of beef enchiladas, refried beans, and Spanish rice. If you’re lucky, leche quemada, a sugary pecan praline, will be brought out with your check.
Tamales, both mild and spicy varieties, are also found on every Tex-Mex menu, but they’re most popular during the Christmas season. Making tamales at home is a time-consuming job, one traditionally tackled by large families.
As you venture further south in Texas, you’ll find a larger variety of Tex-Mex dishes, including some that are sold primarily in mom and pop restaurants. One of these dishes is cabrito, tender young goat usually cooked over an open flame on a spit. Cabrito is a common dish in border towns, where you can often see it hanging on spits in market windows.
Another Tex-Mex specialty is barbacoa, a spicy barbecue that’s usually served in tacos. It’s one of those dishes that tastes great until you discover what you’re eating. Barbacoa starts as a head of beef, with eyes, brain and tongue intact, that’s buttered then wrapped in cheesecloth then a burlap bag.
The traditional way to prepare barbacoa begins by digging a pit or pozo and filling it about one-third full of hot coals covered with pads of the prickly pear cactus (to add moisture).
Traditionally these spicy dishes are washed down with cold cerveza. If you go overboard, the Tex-Mex cure the next morning is a bowl of menudo. This spicy soup, made from tripe, is a popular hangover remedy.
Tex-Mex Dining Dictionary
Bunelos–cinnamon crisps served as a dessert.
Botanas–appetizers.
Cabrito–young, tender goat.
Cerveza– beer.
Chalupa– fried, flat corn tortilla spread with refried beans and topped with meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese; open-faced taco.
Chicarrones–fried pork cracklings.
Chile con queso–dip made from peppers and melted cheese.
Chile rellenos–stuffed peppers.
Chorizo–spicy pork sausage.
Enchilada–corn or flour tortillas wrapped around a filling and covered with a hot or mild sauce; varieties include beef, chicken, cheese, sour cream, and shrimp.
Fajita (pronounced fa-he-ta)–grilled skirt steak strips, wrapped in flour tortillas and usually served still sizzling on a metal platter with condiments (pico de gallo, sour cream, cheese) on the side.
Flauta–corn tortillas wrapped around beef, chicken, or pork and fried until crispy; may be an appetizer or an entree.
Frijoles Refritos–refried beans.
Guacamole–avocado dip spiced with chopped onions, peppers, and herbs.
Huevos Rancheros–ranch-style eggs, spicy and made with tomatoes and chiles.
Leche Quemada–pecan praline made with burnt sugar; the number one dessert in Tex-Mex restaurants.
Margarita–popular tequila drink, served in a salted glass either over ice or frozen.
Menudo–soup made from tripe.
Migas–eggs scrambled with torn strips of corn tortillas.
Molé (pronounced mole-ay)–an unusual sauce made with nuts, spices, and chocolate; served over chicken enchiladas.
Picante Sauce–red sauce made from peppers and onions, and eaten as a dip for tortillas chips; ranges from mild to very hot.
Pico de Gallo–hot sauce made of chopped onions, peppers, and cilantro.
Quesadilla (pronounced kay-sa-dee-ya)–tortilla covered with cheese and baked.
Queso–cheese
Sopapilla–fried pastry dessert served with honey.
Tamale–corn dough filled with chopped pork, rolled in a corn shuck, and steamed; served with or without chile sauce.
Tortilla (pronounced tor-tee-ya)–flat bread-like disc made of flour or corn; used to make many main dishes, and also served as an accompaniment to the meal, with or without butter.
Tostada–fried tortilla.
Verde–green sauce, used as a dip or on enchiladas.