On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.When considering chipotles, or any other piquant peppers, you need to keep two names in mind. One is Rolaids, if you’re of a timid stomach. But you should also be aware of Wilbur Scoville, the…

On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Growing up, the most magical place in the world was not Six Flags, Playland Park, or Disney World. Nope, not even the State Fair of Texas. You see, the place near and dear to every…

On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.In Spain, as well as throughout Latin America, the dining public is big on pig. How big? Well, it is estimated that the entire chorizo production of Spain is 65,000 tons annually, more than the…

On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Puerto de Veracruz is a bustling metropolis of half-a-million located on the Gulf of Mexico. Its rich history stretches back to Pre-Columbian times, and it is sometimes called The Four Times Heroic City after resisting…

On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Let’s suppose a job offer landed in your lap that’s just too good to be true. The money is a significant upgrade from your present position.Only one problem: You’d have to move out of state,…

On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Say the word ’empanada’ anywhere in Latin America, and you’ll most likely get an instant nod of affirmation. That’s because the little wrapped pastries (the word literally means ” wrapped or enveloped in bread”) may…

On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Cochinita pibil, a slow-roasted Mexican pork dish which originated on the Yucatan peninsula, is often made from suckling pig. Of course, in these less literal times, cooks use butt or loin as well.During Mayan times…

On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.”If everybody had an ocean/Across the U.S.A/Then everybody’d be surfin’/Like Californ-I-a/You’d see ’em wearing their baggies/Huarache sandals too…” Despite the popularity brought to them by the Beach Boys way back when, huaraches aren’t just a…

On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.No matter that you haven’t read the strip in many years, or even if you’ve never perused the comic that has been a staple of the funny papers across the country for over 70 years,…

On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.”Arnold Layne had a strange hobby/Collecting clothes/Moonshine, washing line/They suit him fine” OK, so what in the name of Pink Floyd does a song about a dirty old Brit have to do with a Canary…

On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Migas, chilaquiles, menudo. In this series, we’ve written numerous times about savory South-of-the-border breakfast and brunch dishes. But what about pastries such as dulce de leche cake or alfajores cookies or pan dulces? And why…

On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Eggs, tortilla strips, onions, chiles, and cheese. Or bread, oil & vinegar, spinach, alfalfa, and….licorice flavoring?? Believe it or not, these are some of the raw ingredients of two classic versions of that breakfast staple,…

On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.How do you describe a tostada? As with many Latin dishes, it often depends on what side of the border you come from. In Texas, or most of the other Estados Unidos, the tostada (“toasted”)…

On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.In Puerto Vallarta, you can enjoy pozole poolside. According to food writer Eduardo Rincon-Gallardo, the only place to enjoy the savory pork and hominy stew in the Mexican seaside resort town in its green incarnation…

Seriously, you would think that the people of Mexico had enough hangover remedies. After all, this is the culture that gave us menudo, that savory dish of cow or sheep stomach soup that is de rigueur eating on New Year’s morning–not to mention other sopas such as chicken tortilla, which…

On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Be careful how you use the term “gordita”. It can get you into trouble real fast. Like many food-related expressions in Mexican culture, gordita has more than one meaning. You can use it colloquially as…

On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Ceviche is marinated seafood, so it should come as no surprise that Mexico and nearly every country in Central and South America with a coastline features it in their cuisine.In an article entitled ‘The Many…

On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.If you think cookout in Texan terms, you are usually thinking of brisket…well, steak and burgers, too–but that’s everywhere. If you think of grilling in Mexican terms, though, it’s carne asada all the way. That’s…

On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.If you’ve never been farther than Tacos Bell and Bueno, then it’s quite likely that you’ve never heard of mole, or if you have, that you dismissively think of it as “that chocolate sauce,” and…

On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Say cheese.Quesadilla translates as “little cheesy thing”–so no true recipe can exist without it. Even vegan variations tend to use soy cheese prominently. Writing in his book Mexico: One Plate at a Time, Rick Bayless…

On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Why in the world would anyone crave a bowl cow or sheep stomach soup? They do a stuffed stomach dish in Scotland, but that’s just to get through Burns Night and all that Scotch…Oh. Great…

On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.If Cole Porter, world-famous composer, musical philosopher and inspiration for the Jonas Brothers…yeah, right…were alive today and writing about food instead of music, he might term El Salvador’s love affair with pupusas this way: “Birds…