Ok, this is one meal even I am pretty good at making. I remember as a kid sitting outside watching my dad cook them on our bbq pit, letting the intoxicating aroma of mesquite, meat marinade and grilled onions waft around me. The smell of the fajitas on the grill today brings back memories of when all was right in the world, where my only worries were which cartoons to watch on Saturday morning and how to convince parents to get me that Cabbage Patch doll.
Now a staple on restaurant menus and in our homes, the fajita had humble beginnings. Hispanic ranch workers originated fajitas in south Texas in the late 1930s.
Fajita comes from the Spanish word "fajita," meaning belt or girdle. The skirt is the heavily used diaphragm muscle from beef. Often beef skirts, and other less desirable cuts, were given to ranch workers as partial payment for their services in trading or slaughtering cattle. The workers tenderized the meat by pounding it and marinating it in lime juice. The meat was then cooked over an open fire using wood from the mesquite tree, a hardwood which grows readily in the Texas open range. After grilling, the meat slices were wrapped in Mexican bread (tortillas) and called tacos de fajitas.
The word "fajita" did not appear in print until 1975.
In 1984 Homero Recio, a lecturer on animal science at Texas A & M University, obtained a fellowship to study the origins of the item, coming to the conclusion two years later that, ironically, it was his grandfather, a butcher from Premont, Texas, who may have been the first to use the term "fajita" to describe the pieces of skirt steak cooked directly on mesqutie coals for family dinners as far back as the 1930s. Recio also hypothesized that the first restaurant to serve fajitas--though under the name "botanzas" (appetizers)--was the Roundup in McAllen, Texas. But Sonny "Fajita King" Falcon claimed to have opened the first "fajita stand" in Kyle, Texas, and in 1978 a "Fajita King" stand in Austin.
I remember when I went to visit family in North Carolina, I had promised them I would make fajitas for them. This is the Cuban part of my family, they had eaten fajitas when they had visited us in Texas, and had been craving them since. However, there was an obstacle there in NC, I could not find beef skirt anywhere! Maybe it was the stores I went to, maybe it was the fact that we were shopping for beef skirt at 11pm, but it was nowhere to be found. We eventually found a cut of meat that resembled skirt steak, don't ask me what it was, but it wasn't the same. Maybe I was in the wrong place or something, but I also had problems finding avocados to make guacamole, an essential part of the fajita experience.
Guacamole: Required eating
CJ at 10/04/2004
Comments:
Fajitas are even more alien to me than burritos. Definitely a border-food. Moreover, due to my intollerance of onions, I really can't partake of the real thing.
Hmmm...now I need to figure out my alternative dinner. I guess I will make sopes again. I still have beans and rice left over...and oh, my avocado should be ripe by now. Ok, this is shaping up nicely.
I am sorry you cannot partake of the gastronomic delights you are posting about. Although, I am sure you still look great, I understand the need to slim down. I usually do it more through increased activity and just more moderation with my portions. But to each their own.
Where are you going on vacation? I hope somewhere with good food!
Heheh..yeah I am at amazed at my own willpower, I haven't even touched a tortilla in 2 weeks.
I'm going on vacation, gonna drive around the New England area, New Hampshire, Maine, etc.....in November. Am I crazy? Will it be very cold. I'm kinda used to the mild Texas winters, but I'm not afraid of the cold.
I like to think I grill some Fajitas chingonas. Oye, Xolo, you need to have some - it's just carne and more carne.
Did you say Cuban?
Fajitas are my favorite - and even weight watchers recommends them as a low fat favorite. Use some chicken breast for the meat, all of the peppers and onions your little heart desires....of course, you're going to have to fake it a little with the rest - olive oil & lime juice for sauteeing everything, fat free refrieds (or, black beans....mmmm) and low fat tortillas. You can eat a whole lot of fajita for hardly any fat. :o) I know, it's not quite as authentic, but just as good!
Mmmmm....guess what I'm having for dinner?
Back to Tortilla Sandwich
4 comments
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
