Tastemakers: Readers share their favorite dishes from the Lone Star State
The ballots have been certified. The votes have been tallied.
The winners?
All Texans who love food.
On Aug. 30, I asked readers which dish best represents the entire state of Texas.
Monica Peters Hardy of Abilene summed up the range of responses best: "Texas is so culturally diverse that picking one favorite dish to represent Texas was difficult for me."
In particular, Hardy wanted to make sure that I didn't forget great German Texan dishes, especially those she craves from Fredericksburg.
About 60 readers wrote to describe their quintessential Texas dish. Yet many correspondents, like Hardy, could not choose just one. Too many mouth-watering options.
Some of the culinary candidates took me by surprise.
"I don't know if this can be called a 'dish,' but I nominate the humble pimento cheese on Texas toast for at least an honorable mention," writes Joe Starr, a longtime friend who lives in Houston. "When my family moved from California to Corpus Christi in 1972, I had heard of neither, but I soon became a convert."
Other dishes were new to me.
"We can’t possibly leave out BBQ crabs," writes Rima Isam Anabtawi, who resides on the Texas Gulf Coast, "Sartin’s Seafood Style — originating in Sabine Pass."
Then there were the readers who wanted it all.
"Breakfast tacos for breakfast," writes David Rojas, a former Austinite who now lives in New York City. "Brisket for lunch. Enchiladas for dinner."
Barbecue, chili, tacos and chicken fried steak
What follows are some of the tributes to our state's leading cuisine sent in by Think Texas readers:
Chicken fried steak: I was a bit taken aback by the volume of votes for this breaded cut of beef. After all, one can find variations on this comfort food across America, or at least across the Midwest and South.
In fact, in 1988, the Oklahoma legislature chose chicken fried steak as the centerpiece for the Oklahoma State Meal. Yes, there really is such a thing: Officially, the bounteous meal includes fried okra, squash, cornbread, barbecue pork, biscuits, sausage and gravy, grits, corn, black-eyed peas, chicken-fried steak, strawberries and pecan pie.
"My vote for the most Texan of all Texan foods would be chicken fried steak," writes John Cook of Austin. "With a cheese enchilada on the side. When I was a kid, traveling from Houston to Austin, we would always stop at the Cottonwood Inn in La Grange for what I called 'beige food.' Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes with cream gravy, and an iceberg lettuce salad drowned in ranch dressing. No green allowed to show."
My family stopped at the iconic Cottonwood Inn as well. Attached to a motel, the mod limestone eatery still stands and is now home to La Marina Restaurant, which advertises Mexican, American and seafood.
For subscribers:This might just be the best chicken fried steak in Central Texas
"Mine is a tie between chicken fried steak and fried okra," writes Cynthia Gudgel. "I grew up eating more okra than CFS, but learned quickly how good the CFS was. Native Texan, so I am qualified to vote on the best."
Several readers directed me to just the right chicken friend steaks spots in the state.
"As a lover of chicken fried steak, I recommend the Barbeque Inn in Houston as having the best I've ever tasted," writes John Nugent of Georgetown. "Despite good reviews of multiple eateries on this dish, I've found most to be mediocre at best.
"This no-frills, family-owned place serves up an exceptional CF steak along with other tasty foods. It also has an interesting history and a low worker turnover rate. The last time I ate there, the newest hire had been there 10 years. Well worth a try if you have a chance."
James Robertson endorses instead the chicken fried steak at Green Chili Willy's in Amarillo, which happens to be on my short list for future Think Texas road trips.
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Tacos: Many readers advocated for tacos, especially breakfast tacos. Another contingent argued for San Antonio fluffy tacos.
"I would like to nominate breakfast tacos as a quintessential Texas dish," writes Dottie Frey of Round Rock. "That is something that we eat regularly and pretty much use all Texas ingredients in the making.
"It’s versatile, since we can use any combination of eggs, leftover brisket or grilled chicken or pinto beans, Texas sweet onions, any of the plethora of Texas grown produce — red peppers, green peppers, poblanos, jalapeños, etc. — fresh H-E-B tortillas and H-E-B cheeses."
As anyone who has traveled across the state knows, each community expresses tacos in their own ways.
"I enjoy going to rodeos across the state, especially those in the small towns," Grady Giles writes. "I think my favorite is in Pecos, Texas, whose rodeo can boast several superlatives. They sometimes have a food vendor that serves up cabrito tacos. Sort of half-barbecued and half-grilled over mesquite and otherwise served like a fajita taco. So good."
Not to be left out, Jim Briggs introduced to me the concept of "cheesesteak tacos." Philadelphia meets Presidio.
Barbecue: I wrote a lot about barbecue in the first column, but I wanted to pass along a note that sums up a shared method of finding the best of it.
"When I traveled around the state, barbecue was always my No. 1 pick to sample the local flavor," writes Mike Daniels of Austin. "I would go with the holy trinity of BBQ — brisket, ribs and sausage.
"Anytime I found BBQ I really liked, I would look forward to visiting that town again to re-sample the BBQ and assure myself that my initial judgment was correct. My No. 1 regret is not sampling Snow’s Barbecue (in Lexington)."
Chili: I started my previous column on Texas food thusly: On May 11, 1977, Texas adopted chili as the official state dish. The legislative language included this paean: “One cannot be a true son or daughter of this state without having his taste buds tingle at the thought of the treat that is real, honest-to-goodness, unadulterated Texas chili.”
In particular, Jay Bute of Austin recommends venison chili.
"Wick Fowler’s, modified, is as good a place to start as any place," Bute writes of the famous chili-making kit. "Leave out the red pepper but add about six to eight chopped, roasted poblano peppers with about half the seeds. A half teaspoon of cocoa powder is a tip of the hat to the Aztecs.
"What makes this ultra-Texas? First you have to kill a native whitetail deer, or get some venison from a friend who killed it. It is illegal to buy or sell whitetail deer (commercially) in Texas."
Documentary maker Anne Rapp thinks chili represents a sort of prelapsarian Texas before folks from other states discovered us and Texas had to work a little harder to maintain its identity.
"I’m all for welcoming folks here from places less desirable, but what better dish to make everyone prove they can handle the Texas 'heat' along with the Texas 'cool' than chili?" Rapp writes. "If everyone who wants to move to Texas is required to sit down and finish a big bowl of 5-alarm at a place like the Texas Chili Parlor before getting a drivers license, buying property, or buying one of those hipster LBJ hats, I reckon we’d have a lot easier time of maintaining our identity.
"I rest my case. Chili is still the king! If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it."
Frito pie: I was delighted to discover that so many readers thought this happy dish, often consumed at picnics or sporting events, was worthy of carrying the banner of state food.
My friend Suzie Harriman was tickled that her out-of-state relatives discovered Frito pie — chili and shredded cheese mixed with Texas-made Fritos, served in the original corn chip bags — at a gala Texas event.
"You can get tacos and chili and hamburgers and even chicken fried steak in every state in the country," Harriman writes. "But not Frito pie."
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King Ranch chicken casserole: Although I've relished this gooey Tex-Mex dish at many a potluck dinner, I've never made it myself. I hope to rectify that failing soon.
Sandy Pollock and Crystal Cook, who call themselves the Casserole Queens, touted the dish on a 2014 episode of National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." Right off, they admitted that it had nothing discernible to do with the King Ranch, located in South Texas beef country.
"The history of it is a little murky," Pollock said. "Nobody really knows 100 percent where it came from."
Several readers suggested the casserole, but I was fascinated by Jennifer Dinger's detailed take.
"While it's definitely not my favorite Texas dish, I nominate King Ranch chicken casserole," Dinger writes. "First of all, (the name) 'King Ranch,' even though it didn't originate there at the home of beef cattle. Second, many recipes use canned Ro-Tel tomatoes, which originated in Elsa, Texas. Third, it contains corn tortillas — pretty Tex-Mex. Fourth, Lady Bird her own self liked to serve it at the ranch, as well as queso made from Ro-Tel and Velveeta.
"Some say this calorie-rich dish came from Campbell's soup promos, since a lot of recipes use cream of mushroom and/or cream of chicken soup for the sauce. I make my own cumin-flavored cream sauce with stock from the boiled chicken, butter roux, sour cream and a little lime juice.
"Still not my favorite, but pretty danged Texan I think."
More:Here are 10 reasons why Corpus Christi is the most promising city in Texas
Pinto beans: To my shame, I left this Texas ingredient completely off the initial ballot. Several readers wrote to say that they cook these staples with ham hocks, bacon or ground beef. Some serve them with a side of cornbread.
"I am shocked that you failed to mention the most common dish," writes Charles Brown of Austin, "as well as the one which reflects both Indigenous and immigrant usage: the pinto bean."
Brown lists his sterling arguments:
Grows in Texas.
Is served in, on, or as a side with all of the different dishes you listed — except maybe the chicken fried steak.
Has a long history of an old Texas brand — Ranch Style Beans. The factory was built on the east side of Fort Worth in 1913.
Bean recipes were more common than those for black-eyed-peas in every Texas cookbook index I reviewed. Interestingly, it was even more common in the Neiman Marcus cookbook, “Pure & Simple” (1991), indicating that the Dallas high-end shoppers were on board.
Last, but not least, they get the Willie Nelson nod. The second line of "Put Another Log on the Fire” (“Outlaws” album, 1976) is "Cook me up some bacon with some beans”.
All of the above
Given the chance, I'd order — or cook — any of the other nominated Texas dishes listed below.
Migas
Pecan pie
Grilled okra
Tres leches cake
Grilled jalapeños
Flan
Slaton Bakery cookies (near Lubbock)
Pralines
Barbecued shrimp
Red Raider Meats (Lubbock)
Rare steak
Homemade tamales
Roasted corn
Spanish rice
Vletas candies (Abilene)
Salsa
Collin Street Bakery fruitcake (Corsicana)
Moon pie
Beef fajita
Corn dog
Queso
Two more bites to finish off the meal
Lest you think I've ignored the cultivated gourmands among my readers, Trish Wesevich, a food consultant, sent in an unexpected candidate.
"Now that Texas is raising 100% pasture-raised Iberico pigs and creating some of the finest cured meats in the country," Wesevich writes, "all while using regenerative agriculture practices, I'd say Texas Iberico products on a nice charcuterie board, incorporating some local seasonal produce and local cheeses, represents well."
The black Iberian pigs feed mainly on acorns and produce a juicy, nutty pork. I've enjoyed the delicacy exactly once.
Jac Darsnek, master to the Traces of Texas social media empire, brought this week's chat about Texas food all the way home while he reflected on a 1939 Russell Lee photograph of a San Antonio woman making a tortilla.
"What is it about a simple, homemade tortilla that makes it so good despite being so basic?" Darsnek writes. "It's some kind of magical thing."
Michael Barnes writes about the people, places, culture and history of Austin and Texas. He can be reached at mbarnes@statesman.com. Sign up for his weekly history newsletter, Think Texas, at statesman.com/newsletters.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Best Texas dishes include Frito pie, barbecue crabs and pinto beans
