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Encuentro: The Native American Roots of Texas Mexican Food
Tony Diaz spotlights the upcoming event “Encuentro: The Native American Roots of Texas Mexican Food.”
Several food scholars explore the culinary scene with chefs and writers, and sometimes, both!
Victoria Elizondo is chef owner of Cochinita Co. in Houston where she insists that fresh and preferably local ingredients are key to her vibrant and flavorful Mexican food. At her restaurant in the Greater East End, Cochinita co., she usually has sever al dishes featuring the ancient food that is native to Texas for thousands of years: nopalitos. When she was 12, Elizondo left her native Nuevo Leon, south of the Texas Mexican border, with her mother to move to the United States, where she became a DACA recipient. Following in her mother’s footsteps, she got her first job at 16 as a restaurant hostess. During her career she has worked at top Houston restaurants like State of Grace, Pax Americana and Xochi. In 2016 she started her own business venture, Cochinita Co., initially a food truck concept that pivoted to a pop up and catering model, now a small restaurant that is receiving high honors. The Houston Chronicle named Cochinita Co. one of the top 25 Best Restaurants of 2022. This year, Elizondo is nominated for the prestigious national Emerging Chef James Beard Award.
Chef Joseph Gomez, is honoring his roots through his new food truck Con Todo, focusing on comida frontera (Spanish for “border town food”). The Rio Grande Valley native debuted the truck in 2021 at Celis Brewery’s new beer garden in North Austin. Gomez who’s worked at Austin restaurants such as Be More Pacific, Tha i Kun, She’s Not Here, and Easy Tiger sees the truck as showcasing the foods and stories of the Rio Grande Valley and his family. It’s through the menu that he wants to jump start “a long conversation about Mexican food in south Texas,” and what it truly is. Eater named Con Todo one of America's 15 best new restaurants of 2022.
Lilliana Patricia Saldaña is an Associate Professor of Mexican American Studies (MAS) at UTSA and is co-director of the UTSA MAS Teachers’ Academy. Her activist scholarship draws from Chicana/x studies, decolonial and anti-colonial studies, Indigenous epistemologies, and Chicana/Latina feminisms to investigate teacher identity and consciousness, and decolonial practices in schools and community spaces. She’s published in nationally recognized journals, including Latinos & Education, Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, and Association of Mexican American Educators Journal, and has published in various edited volumes. When she’s not teaching or researching, she’s learning about Mexican and Indigenous foodways, facilitating gastronomy workshops, and tending to her kitchen garden.
Adán Medrano is a Chef, Food Writer and Filmmaker. Author of “Truly Texas Mexican: A Native Culinary Heritage In Recipes” – Book Of The Year Finalist by Foreword Reviews. His most recent book, Don’t Count the Tortillas – The Art of Texas Mexican Cooking, is reviewed and listed by “Spruce Eats” in “The 8 Best Mexican cookbooks to read in 2021.” Both history/cookbooks are academically peer-reviewed and published by Texas Tech University Press.
Adán Medrano is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. His professional work in restaurant kitchens includes fine dining at “Restaurant Ten Bogaerde” in Belgium, and volunteering as the Chef of Houston’s Casa Juan Diego, a shelter for homeless persons.
Adán is also an award-winning filmmaker and holds a Master of Arts degree in Radio, Television and Film from the University of Texas at Austin. In 1976 he founded the San Antonio CineFestival, the first and now longest-running Latino film festival in the USA. His recent documentary feature film, Truly Texas Mexican, won “Best Documentary” at the New York Independent Cinema Awards.
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By Tony Diaz Tells It Like It Is
4.9
88 ratings
Tony Diaz spotlights the upcoming event “Encuentro: The Native American Roots of Texas Mexican Food.”
Several food scholars explore the culinary scene with chefs and writers, and sometimes, both!
Victoria Elizondo is chef owner of Cochinita Co. in Houston where she insists that fresh and preferably local ingredients are key to her vibrant and flavorful Mexican food. At her restaurant in the Greater East End, Cochinita co., she usually has sever al dishes featuring the ancient food that is native to Texas for thousands of years: nopalitos. When she was 12, Elizondo left her native Nuevo Leon, south of the Texas Mexican border, with her mother to move to the United States, where she became a DACA recipient. Following in her mother’s footsteps, she got her first job at 16 as a restaurant hostess. During her career she has worked at top Houston restaurants like State of Grace, Pax Americana and Xochi. In 2016 she started her own business venture, Cochinita Co., initially a food truck concept that pivoted to a pop up and catering model, now a small restaurant that is receiving high honors. The Houston Chronicle named Cochinita Co. one of the top 25 Best Restaurants of 2022. This year, Elizondo is nominated for the prestigious national Emerging Chef James Beard Award.
Chef Joseph Gomez, is honoring his roots through his new food truck Con Todo, focusing on comida frontera (Spanish for “border town food”). The Rio Grande Valley native debuted the truck in 2021 at Celis Brewery’s new beer garden in North Austin. Gomez who’s worked at Austin restaurants such as Be More Pacific, Tha i Kun, She’s Not Here, and Easy Tiger sees the truck as showcasing the foods and stories of the Rio Grande Valley and his family. It’s through the menu that he wants to jump start “a long conversation about Mexican food in south Texas,” and what it truly is. Eater named Con Todo one of America's 15 best new restaurants of 2022.
Lilliana Patricia Saldaña is an Associate Professor of Mexican American Studies (MAS) at UTSA and is co-director of the UTSA MAS Teachers’ Academy. Her activist scholarship draws from Chicana/x studies, decolonial and anti-colonial studies, Indigenous epistemologies, and Chicana/Latina feminisms to investigate teacher identity and consciousness, and decolonial practices in schools and community spaces. She’s published in nationally recognized journals, including Latinos & Education, Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, and Association of Mexican American Educators Journal, and has published in various edited volumes. When she’s not teaching or researching, she’s learning about Mexican and Indigenous foodways, facilitating gastronomy workshops, and tending to her kitchen garden.
Adán Medrano is a Chef, Food Writer and Filmmaker. Author of “Truly Texas Mexican: A Native Culinary Heritage In Recipes” – Book Of The Year Finalist by Foreword Reviews. His most recent book, Don’t Count the Tortillas – The Art of Texas Mexican Cooking, is reviewed and listed by “Spruce Eats” in “The 8 Best Mexican cookbooks to read in 2021.” Both history/cookbooks are academically peer-reviewed and published by Texas Tech University Press.
Adán Medrano is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. His professional work in restaurant kitchens includes fine dining at “Restaurant Ten Bogaerde” in Belgium, and volunteering as the Chef of Houston’s Casa Juan Diego, a shelter for homeless persons.
Adán is also an award-winning filmmaker and holds a Master of Arts degree in Radio, Television and Film from the University of Texas at Austin. In 1976 he founded the San Antonio CineFestival, the first and now longest-running Latino film festival in the USA. His recent documentary feature film, Truly Texas Mexican, won “Best Documentary” at the New York Independent Cinema Awards.