Okay, Slu, mind if I call you Slu?, I'm always reading your comments over at AoS and now I have a crazy man crush that I can't seem to drink away.

So, Slu, I'm pretending you said, "Yes, oh yes!" to the previous question, are any of the things we consider Mexican/Tex Mex actually real Mexican food?

A girl I'm friends with says, nope, we don't eat that much meat or have so many spicy hot flavors in the main dish.

A guy I'm friends with says, no absolutely, add the beef or chicken and add the spices but then said it was because Tex Mex went south before he was even born.

Topically, they were both legal at my college and are now both citizens.

I'm lost at this point but I think my main question is in the second paragraph.

Well, um...

A "man crush?"

Um...

Okay, I'll just deal with the questions, which don't freak me out. Much. No, most of what we consider Tex-Mex is not real mexican food. Most Mexican food is not hot at all, doesn't depend on meat and is extremely simple.

The spice I use the most is cumin. It's earthy, but not spicy.

Sorry, my bad, no actual man crush, something about coming here from AoS made me feel like I had to go with that or Valu-Rite or Thai Hookers as a newly commenting ice breaker.

Food-wise, I thought that was the case but my buddy Chavez, no relation to the asshole Hugo, swears he ate tons of hot and spicy Tex Mex type foods as a kid and he's not really sure if that's because Juarez folks started making their families Tex Mex type food long before he was born. He's 31 now so we're talking 20-25 years ago. Kind of a dumb question but I've always wondered how long ago Tex Mex style cooking hit northern Mexico.

I don't know much about Tex/Mex but this thread reminds me of a memorable comment on that very fact. One day during my freshman year at Michigan State, my next-door neighbor Greg from New Mexico was eating chips and salsa. I asked whether I might have some and he demurred, saying, "This stuff will burn right through your Maine ass."

A "man crush?"

You ought to be getting used to it by now.

Slu.

Well, I have had a man-crush on Dave in Texas for some time...

Are those little tacos you can get in the little "Spanish only" shops in LA--the ones with just a touch of pollo, lengua, cabeza, whatever topped with a touch of fresh cilantro/pepper/tomato/onion salsa--authentic?

If not, they're way yummy, but just curious.

Bert - not sure. I've only been to L.A. once, and that was only an overnight before flying further west. The tacos you describe sound tasty, though.

Neat blog layout! Very easy on the eyes.. i like the colors you picked out

Dreamin. I love blogging. You all express your feelings the right way, because they are your feeling, focus on your blog it is great.

Kudos to you! This is a really good blog here and I love your style of writing. How did you get so good at blogging?