Editing Tex-Mex (section)

==History==
[[File:Chili with garnishes and tortilla chips.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|right|Chili with garnishes and tortilla chips]]
[[File:Ninfasfajitameat.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.75|Original Ninfa's ''tacos al carbón/[[fajita]]s'']]

The cuisine that would come to be called Tex-Mex originated with ''[[Tejanos]]''  as a mix of native Mexican and Spanish foods when Texas was part of New Spain and later Mexico.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.history.com/news/tracing-the-history-of-tex-mex|title=Tracing the History of Tex‑Mex|work=History|date=2 September 2020 |last1=Pruitt|first1=Sarah}}</ref>

[[File:Fajitas_Wraps.JPG|thumb|right|upright=0.75|''Fajitas'', wheat ''tortillas'' as ''taco'' wraps]][[File:Chili-con-carne.jpg|thumb|Bowl containing ''[[Chili con carne]]'' served in a Tex-Mex style, with pork, beef, [[Cheddar cheese|cheddar]] and [[Monterey Jack|monterey jack]] on top.]]
From the [[South Texas]] region between [[San Antonio]], the [[Rio Grande Valley (Texas)|Rio Grande Valley]] and [[El Paso, Texas|El Paso]], this cuisine has had little variation, and from earliest times has always been influenced by the cooking in the neighboring northern states of Mexico.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.eater.com/2018/3/7/17081968/best-food-texas-tex-mex-barbecue|title=Everything You Know About Tex-Mex Is Wrong|last=McCarron|first=Meghan|date=7 March 2018|work=Eater|access-date=2018-06-13}}</ref>

The [[ranch]]ing culture of South Texas and Northern Mexico straddles both sides of the border, where beef, grilled food, and tortillas have been common and popular foods for more than a century.<ref name=":0" />

A taste for ''[[cabrito]]'' (kid [[goat]]), ''[[barbacoa]] de [[cabeza]]'' (barbecued beef heads), ''[[carne seca]]'' ([[Beef aging#Dry aged beef|dried beef]]), and other products of [[cattle]] culture is also common on both sides of the [[Rio Grande]].

In the 20th century, as goods from the United States became cheap and readily available, Tex-Mex took on such [[Americanized]] elements as [[Cheddar cheese|Cheddar]], [[Monterey Jack|jack]], and [[pimento cheese]]s.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NMBnDwAAQBAJ&dq=tex+mex+20th+century+american+cheeses&pg=PA16|title=Tex-Mex Cookbook: Traditions, Innovations, and Comfort Foods from Both Sides of the Border|isbn=978-0-525-57387-6 |last1=Fry |first1=Ford |last2=Dupuy |first2=Jessica |date=23 April 2019 |publisher=Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed }}</ref>

In much of Texas, the cooking styles on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border were the same until a period after the [[U.S. Civil War]]. With the railroads, American ingredients and cooking appliances became common on the U.S. side.<ref>{{cite news|last=Walsh |first=Robb |title=Pralines and Pushcarts |newspaper = [[Houston Press]] |date = 27 July 2000 |url = http://www.houstonpress.com/2000-07-27/restaurants/pralines-and-pushcarts/2/ |access-date = 11 December 2011}}</ref>

Around the 1970s the composition of dishes popular in Tex Mex changed; [[Ninfa's]] popularized the [[fajita]] beginning in 1973.<ref name=Sharpe101/>

A 1968 ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' feature wrote "[i]f the dish is a combination of Old World cooking, hush-my-mouth [[Cuisine of the Southern United States|Southern cuisine]] and Tex-Mex, it's from the Texas Hill Country."<ref>"Pedernales Recipes 'Good for What Ails.'" ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. 12 September 1968. p. K30</ref>

=== Outside the US ===
[[File:Zarillo Western & Tex Mex Puutarhakatu 8.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Zarillo Western & Tex Mex restaurant in [[Tampere]], [[Finland]]]]
In [[France]], [[Paris]]'s first Tex-Mex restaurant opened in March 1983.<ref name=":3">{{cite web|url=http://www.houstonpress.com/2000-11-23/restaurants/the-french-connection/2/|title=The French Connection|last=Walsh|first=Robb|date=23 November 2000|website=Houstonpress.com|access-date=14 October 2017}}</ref> According to restaurateur Claude Benayoun, business had been slow, but after the 1986 release of the film ''[[Betty Blue]]'', which featured characters drinking [[tequila]] shots and eating ''[[chili con carne]]'', "everything went crazy."<ref name=":3" /> According to Benayoun, "''Betty Blue'' was like our ''[[Easy Rider]]''; it was unbelievably popular in France. And after the movie came out, everybody in Paris wanted a shot of tequila and a bowl of chili."<ref name=":3" />

Tex-Mex became widely introduced in the [[Nordic countries]] and the [[United Kingdom]] in the early 1990s through brands like [[Old El Paso]] and ''Santa Maria'', and very quickly became a staple meal in the Nordics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theculturetrip.com/europe/norway/articles/how-taco-tuesday-became-taco-friday-in-norway/|title=How Taco Tuesday Became Taco Friday in Norway|access-date=9 July 2021|date=23 July 2018|website=The Culture Trip}}</ref> Minor local variations on Tex-Mex in these areas are to use [[gouda cheese]], or to substitute taco shells with stuffed [[pita]] breads. Previously, Tex-Mex had been sold on a limited scale in [[Stavanger]], Norway since the late 1960s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nrk.no/rogaland/_-vi-solgte-taco-og-tortillachips-for-alle-andre-1.14297697|title=– Vi solgte taco og tortillachips før alle andre|language=nb|access-date=9 July 2021|date=23 November 2018|website=[[NRK]]}}</ref>

Tex-Mex has also spread to [[Canada]], where it has become as naturalized as in the United States. The cuisine is also readily found in [[Argentina]], [[India]], [[Japan]], [[Mexico]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Thailand]], and many other countries.<ref name=":3" />