Some Real Texas Cookin’

As you may or may not know, Texas has its own style of cooking that is influenced by a few different factors: the neighboring country of Mexico, native Americans, and cowboys. The food in the Lone Star State is Southern cooking but with a unique Texas flavor. Most dishes are friendly, informal, and definitely worth experiencing.

To start off a meal, the beverage most chosen that is typically Texan is iced tea or a long neck beer. Emphasis on the iced tea though, most meals are served with a nice big cold glass of iced tea to wash everything down. Dr. Pepper and Kool-Aid are up there too but nothing beats an iced tea.

A true staple in Texas Cuisine is beans, usually pinto beans. They can show up at any meal and can be boiled, mashed, baked, fried, or re-fried. Here is a list of different variations of beans you can find in a Typical Texas meal:

Frijoles
Frijoles Refritos
Paetzel’s Pinto Pot
Red Fire
Cowboy Beans
Red’s Prize Winnin’ Pintos
Threadgill’s Texas Chili Beans
Barbecued Baked Beans
Swedish Brown Beans
Frijoles Borrachos

For the main course, chicken fried steak is what every Texan would say is the national dish of Texas. Don’t know what chicken fried steak is? There is no chicken involved; it is a piece of steak that is prepared the way fried chicken is prepared. The steak is coated with seasoned flour then fried in a pan. It is usually served covered in gravy with a side of beans. There are also many various ways of cooking chicken fried steak involving different spices, hot peppers, and sometimes beer.

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