As a food nerd at least as much as a foodie or Roadfooder I appreciate this information.  I was aware that what is served as Tex-Mex varies across the state but I’d never heard this term or understood the nuances.  Whether I’ll ever be using the term in ordinary discourse I don’t know.  Most people in my age group (War babies) just use the word Mexican – we’ve been eating it since before the term Tex-Mex came into use!  Most of them have never been to a taqueria or even the upscale places specializing in dishes from the interior of Mexico like Hugo’s Xochi, Cuchara.

I’ve been to Alamo Tamales many times. I think of them as Tex Mex tamales as distinguished from Oaxacan, Mexico City or Salvadoran, etc., and they are the best in town of that variety.  I knew to get there early and ask for the hand-made tamales (chicken and pork only) vs. the machine made (many other flavors)  But I’d never heard of the roasted tamales with blackened husks.  Dang.

Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchens are in rather upscale neighborhoods.  She’s much bally-hooed by the foodie press and has won lots of awards — in other words, exactly the sort of place I tend to not hang out in.  But I’ve looked at the website many times, reconsidering whether I want to go.  I know she used to really emphasize that her food was South Texas Tex-Mex and I could tell it looked different.  I’ll have to give it a try.

Here’s another article on the topic, penned by Mr. Medrano and published a few years back.  It puts a little more of a political interpretation on it.

https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-mexican-food-medrano https://www.texasobserver…-mexican-food-medrano/

I’ll agree if he doesn’t call Pizza Hut,  Pizza…or Spaghetti and Meatballs Italian!!

I love when the NYT embarks to the hinterlands and discovers something in plain sight.
🙂