Southmost Taco Tales: Part 1

by: Michelle Mejia

It's hard to think sometimes that I grew up with flautas-

Si las enrolladas…

I remember being at my grandma Tocha's house, my mom's mom, and watching Bozo the Clown on her fancy brown couch in the living room. Back then she was still La DOÑA Teodiosa--her fierce and scary name that only became cuter as she got older. 

In the background, I could clearly hear the jingle de la XEMS, a border radio station that was too powerful, even for Bozo, for it would blast "radio mexicana. . .matamorense. . .XEMS"

a reminder of the division

 Since then I knew I was (an)other person from Brownsville, frontera with Matamoros. Side by side. Bien enrollados en la cultura. Rolled up in culture-- en la onda--the wave. 

I would occasionally walk to the dining room and join the cluster of adults working--enrollando flautas. Tocha or my mom would hand me a fresh corn-rolled tortilla, that I would then take back to the sofa. 

Siempre. Always. The words I heard on a daily basis before the age of 5: Flautas, pollo, carne, tortillas, paquetes, changarro. 

My grandma was still the head of the business by the time I came into existence. My mom, dad and I were just spectators--or occasional helping hands--occasional hungry stomachs. This would not last forever, since she decided to sell her business to a goddaughter--I believe this was in the early nineties. 

                                                                       Easy to Go Tacos, 2344 Southmost Blvd. 2010

Almost a year ago--Texas Folklife gave me the opportunity to delve into my deepest cravings - -tacos-

con cebolla, 

sin queso. . . 

with onion

without cheese--

no cilantro--

de bistek porfavor! bistek please!

I was to do some research about Southmost taquerias . . . 

which led to the unlocking of some of my deepest childhood memories. 

I was discovering and creating an "antojo" with every question I asked and every answer that was given to me--not just about the literal food, but a craving for a family history, to a greater extent--the history of my neighborhood--of a communidad that creates stories through the food they make--either for pleasure or survival.

This is just a probada, a ration of what is to come. 

I got the tail end of "el changarro" my parents would tell me, for I wasn't there for the height or the hype--only for the spinoffs. 

TXF Board travels to the Rio Grande Valley

by Nancy Bless
  

Our board chairman, Moira Porter and board member Susan Morehead joined Cristina Balli and me on an action packed, weekend trip to the tip of Texas. We took some back roads from Austin, sampling BBQ (Luling), bread pudding (Beeville) and cabrito (McAllen) along the way-- with church spires and court house cupolas pointing our way to historic town squares. Somewhere around Falfurrias the heat, wind, palm trees and cactus let you know you are entering Tejas.

Mark with his work

Saturday began in downtown Brownsville at Galeria 409, housed in a 158 year old building right across the street from the border wall and a US/Mexico crossing point. The wall, at least in this section, is like a wrought iron fence, albeit 20 feet tall. Galeria 409's owner, the artist Mark Clark, produced an "Art Against the Wall" exhibit--at the wall--that featured a 30 foot bamboo and reed ladder studded with thorns, and piñatas in the forms of life sized border patrol agents, one of whom is looking through a pair of (piñata) binoculars. 

Bottom to top: Susan Morehead, Moira Porter, Mark Clark

Mark hosted a lunch at the gallery for us to meet with University of Texas Brownsville History Professor Manuel Medrano and businesswoman and cultural activist Bitty Truan to talk about Texas Folklife and our mutual interests in preservation and promotion of traditional expressions in the Valley. There was lots to discuss as each has tremendous passion for regional culture and history. Dr. Medrano will be working closely with us on "A Place at the Table," contributing essays on the Taquerias of Southmost and on the area's struggling fishing and shrimping industry.

And of course--the best of all is getting to meet artists and see some great art! Mark Clark's own work was a revelation: intense, contemporary interpretations of Mayan mythology filtered through a somewhat wry and loaded (as in thinking about many things) imagination. Bitty, whose late husband George Truan was an artist, has a beautiful home on a Resaca filled with Mexican and Mexican American art. We wish you could have seen it all!

More posts on our Valley coming soon; stay tuned!