[CH] Fajitas
Doug Irvine (dougandmarie@shaw.ca)
Wed, 05 Oct 2005 11:15:07 -0700
Matt is almost correct, except that the idea of this meat wrapped in a
tortilla, with whatever type of "fixins" and spices came from a lot
further back than a fast food chain. Actually this is a Tex-Mex
invention by South West cowboy cooks in the mid 1800s who got the idea
of wrapping grilled sliced beef in a flour tortilla, rolling it up and
giving it to the guys who were still out riding herd. I have an old Los
Angeles cookbook which gives a recipe for that very item...a very long
time before fast food joints! This book is dated 1905! Got a lot of
other interesting stuff as well, for after all, the Spanish were in
California long before the Anglos. However, Matt is also correct in
saying that all that other stuff added to the fajita was not the normal
mode. That something similar would also be in Mexico, but with a soft
corn tortilla, is not surprising. The flour tortilla came long after
original corn tortilla, as corn was the only grain available. Wheat came
along a lot later. Don(Rael)could jump in here, as he has a great
knowledge of food history, I believe. So, a little bit of ancient
history from the ancient chile head :-D !! Cheers, Doug in BC