Re: [CH] Fajitas

Matt Evans (tmattevans@gmail.com)
Wed, 5 Oct 2005 14:39:11 -0400 

Well said, Doug.  Obviously, I had no real idea about the origin of
fajitas, I just knew that their current incarnation had very little to
do with Mexican food.  I (like many others) tend to lose sight of the
fact that before Tex-Mex was a bad word to describe poorly executed
too-cheesy Mexican food it was an actual cuisine.  As you indicated,
it was borne of necessity, as were most cooking styles and recipes.

Which brings up an interesting point -- spicy food is consumed in
primarily hot climates because sweating cools you off, right?  Well,
every CH should own a copy of "Big Flavors of the Hot Sun" by Chris
Schlesinger and John Willoughby.  I know I trumpet these guys way too
often on this list (or at least I used to) but this is an exceptional
book of foods from hot-weather locations from around the world -- a
culinary trip around the equator.

Matt

On 10/5/05, Doug Irvine <dougandmarie@shaw.ca> wrote:
> 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
>