When did Mexican food become popular in US mainstream culture?
Mexican food popularity coincided with the arrival of large numbers of Mexican immigrants after 1950, and have for the most part followed the from and style of what is called “Tex-Mex” food, and amalgam of Northern Mexican peasant food with Texas farm and cowboy fare. Food historians tell us TexMex cuisine originated hundreds of years ago when Spanish/Mexican recipes combined with Anglo fare. TexMex, as we Americans know it today, is a twentieth century phenomenon. Dictionaries and food history sources confirm the first print evidence of the term “Tex Mex” occured in the 1940s. Linguists remind us words are often used for several years before they appear in print. TexMex restaurants first surfaced ouside the southwest region in cities with large Mexican populations. The gourmet Tex Mex “fad” began in the 1970s. Diana Kennedy, noted Mexican culinary expert, is credited for elevating this common food to trendy fare. These foods appealed to the younger generation Only in the last decade h
