Friday, August 16, 2024

White Spice (Guys)

Walz explained that "white guy tacos" are tacos with ground beef and cheese. Maybe some lettuce. For the record, those are the tacos I grew up eating in Texas. That's how they were served everywhere, though I think the Texas tacos had a bit more chili powder in them than tacos in Minnesota. Frankly, that's all Taco Bell tacos were the last time I had them. Truly, you can find Tex-Mex north of the Rio Grande (the first burrito I ever had was in Bartlesville, OK, a stone's through south of the Kansas border. It was mostly beans and cheese, and as spicy as a donut.) As you go north, it becomes less and less spicy. The Tex-Mex I ate in East and North Texas (Dallas area), was very bland compared to the stuff I ate in Austin and San Antonio. The chili I grew up on is red beef soup compared to that I make now. And all of this before the hot sauce craze that made people think scotch bonnets and ghost peppers were edibles. Walz also said, somewhere (can't find it now) that in Minnesota (and probably Nebraska), salt and pepper are exotic spices. Can confirm. This was my first realization when I moved to St Louis, in which area I lived for four years; and for a year in Chicago, where I found decent Tex-Mex thanks to the migrant farm workers who had settled there of late. But any spices I got for my own cooking I practically had to buy in Texas. Pickled jalapenos? Fuggedabout it. Chili powder? So bland it didn't merit the name. If you could find it. No slight against Midwestern cooking, but how you gonna keep 'em down on the farm after they seen Paree? Or just had a decent, proper bowl o' red?
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1 comment:

  1. The Thought Criminal1:19 PM

    Chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, somehow I don't think they're going to turn that into the Hillary doesn't bake cookies theme they hope to. And little Bennie Shapiro, retired semi-pro virgin? Talk about weird.

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