Blue Corn © Denzil Green Blue Corn is a variety of flint corn that is blue. It is also a variety that is harder to grow. It produces a lower yield than other types of corn, and its stalks tend to just fall over in the fields. In compensation, it has more of a “fuller”…
Tex-Mex Food
Chile con Queso
Chile con Queso is a “Mexican” cheese sauce with chiles in it, used as a dip or as a sauce over dishes such as enchiladas and burritos. The sauce is not really Mexican; it is actually more Tex-Mex. Some writers speculate that the inspiration for it may have been asadero cheese, roasted chiles and chorizo…
Chili Powder
Commercial Chili Powders are made from dried, ground chiles combined with other spices such as cayenne pepper and garlic powder, as well as oregano and a lot of cumin. The powder is an American invention as a shortcut to taste and some heat in making chilis; Mexicans don’t really use it. Despite its name, it…
Enchiladas
Enchiladas © Benny Gradillas In Mexican cooking, Enchiladas are usually small appetizers (“antojitos”); in Tex-Mex cooking, they are made larger and are part of a main course. They are like baked, stuffed crêpes that are covered in a sauce, though sometimes they are not rolled up, but made layered one on top the other with…
Monterey Jack Cheese
Monterey Jack Cheese © Denzil Green Monterey Jack Cheese is a semi-soft cheese made from cow’s milk, whole or skimmed. It’s normally aged two weeks to a month. It’s somewhat like a cheddar, though it’s always white. Its main virtue is that it melts well and that its mild, inoffensive flavour won’t clash with whatever…
Nachos
Nachos are tortilla chips arranged on an oven-proof platter or dish, topped with cheese and chiles and then broiled/grilled. Other toppings usually include tomato. Some more mediocre versions top them with chili con carne, making them heavy and gloopy. See also: Nachos Day. History Notes It’s hard to know whether to class nachos as an…
Nachos Day
It’s a myth that nachos weren’t invented in Mexico. They actually were — just across the border with Texas in a Mexican town called Piedras Negras.
Tex-Mex Food
The name “Tex-Mex” is a combination of “Texas” and “Mexico.” It’s used to describe a cuisine which is an Americanized form of Mexican cooking — or more precisely, Mexican food, largely from northern Mexico as it has come to be made in Texas. Or, as some wags have put it, Mexican food for gringos. The…
Tortilla Chip Day
The 24th of February is Tortilla Chip Day. You can make your own if you have the time, or buy a bag. Don’t forget the dips!