To discuss Tex-Mex culture we must begin with the food that bears that name.  Anyone can see that the name is derived from combining Texas and Mexico, but is that all that there is to it?  There’s a long history of cultural mixing in that geographic area, as the whole of Texas was at one time a part of Mexico, so it’s not surprising that a morphed version of Mexican food eventually emerged in Texas.

Real Mexican Food

The root of the argument centers around the question of whether Tex-Mex is authentic Mexican food.  This is a point that is not worth debating.  Clearly, the authenticity of a cuisine is always linked to its place of origin.  Similar arguments can be made for Americanized versions of Chinese, French, Italian, Indian, and every other food from around the world.

Tex-Mex food is generally found in restaurants, so the substitution of ingredients and modification of recipes are due to efforts to commercialize the cuisine and slant the foods toward an American palate.  One culture borrowing from another to make something unique is as common an occurrence as the adaption of language, rituals, and customs by peoples who share geography for an extended period of time.

The Mimicked Aren’t Always Flattered

Along with language and customs, food is a major component of cultural identity and a source of cultural pride.  The purpose of food is more than mere subsistence; it is an expression of who we are.  Food plays an integral part in our development, as our native cuisines are at the center of our social interactions, our celebrations, our upbringing, and our memories.  The forming of this strong connection with the foods of our individual cultures is innate, so the introduction of a cuisine that lowers the quality and diminishes the cultural traditions of a food is mimicry that is rarely viewed as being flattering.

Tex-Mex Culture

But to the people north of the Texas-Mexico border who have embraced elements of Mexican culture in their language, food, and music there is no slight intended.  For them, it’s simply a reflection of the melding of the two cultures that forms their reality.  Tex-Mex is not meant to replace Mexican culture, nor does it.  It’s not even meant to “improve” it, per se.  Rather it is simply intended to stand on its own merits as a different culture that has evolved over time.