'Ask a Mexican' talks about food

Gustavo Arellano came to town to promote a compilation of some of his ¡Ask a Mexican! columns. Gustavo Arellano came to town to promote a compilation of some of his ¡Ask a Mexican! columns. Photo: DAVE ROSSMAN, FOR THE CHRONICLE Photo: DAVE ROSSMAN, FOR THE CHRONICLE Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close 'Ask a Mexican' talks about food 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

If you haven't read Gustavo Arellano's "Ask a Mexican" column, which has a circulation of 2 million in 38 markets, then you don't know nada. Fortunately, Arellano knows a thing or two about Mexican food, knowledge gathered in the engaging and challenging, but always good-natured new book "Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America." It's a subject near and dear to our hearts. Arellano recently took time to talk about his book, authenticity and burritos in outer space.

Q: You have a chapter in the book titled "Is Tex-Mex doomed?" Really? We hadn't noticed.

A: It wasn't me who noticed - blame Texas Monthly! Also, the era of Tex-Mex dominating the Mexican food conversation in the United States is over - Cal-Mex won. Look at the spread of the burrito. Look at the spread of taco trucks. Look at the spread of regional Mexican cuisine. Don't get me wrong: I love Tex-Mex and will defend its merits to all the haters, but the last Tex-Mex platter to spread across the United States was fajitas - and that was nearly 30 years ago.

Q: Is Mexican food one of the world's great cuisines?

A: You know it! Was even declared a Cultural Heritage of Humanity by one UN arm or other - although I'm sure that the authentic-istas would want to keep Tex-Mex off the list. Me? Deserves its own damn category of beauty.

Q: Why does the American love affair with Mexican food continue?

A: It's a food that Americans are simultaneously familiar with yet not completely accustomed to, meaning there's a perpetual yearn for the next great dish. Americans discover a Mexican foodstuff, enjoy it, devour it, assimilate it, then want the next great thing. Look at your chile con carne, which now goes by the boring ol' "chili" across the United States. And given our proximity to Mexico and the ceaseless migration from that country to this one, new food trends will continue to pique American tastebuds forever - and that's not even counting the hybrids that result here from a mix of the Mexican and the American.

Q: How is Mexican food "epic"?

More Information Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America By Gustavo Arellano Scribner, $25

A: Burritos are now made in outer space - enough said.

Q: What is "authentic" in your opinion?

A: Whatever people think is authentic is authentic. (Texas cookbook author and restaurateur) Robb Walsh put it best - until the 1970s, it wasn't called Tex-Mex food; it was plain ol' Mexican food. The only people who have cared about authenticity are elites like Diana Kennedy and Rick Bayless, and jingoistic buffoons. Just like there's regional Mexican traditions in Mexico, so too are there regional Mexican food traditions in the United States - Sonoran cuisine, tater tot burritos, Tex-Mex and the like. That said, it's not all good. All tacos are created equal; some are just more equal than others.

Q: What has been Mexico's greatest contribution to world cuisine?

A: Nixtamalization - who else except Mexicans would think of soaking corn in deadly lye to create such a beautiful scaffold for an amazing meal. Unfortunately no other culture bothered with it, so let's say chocolate and vanilla.

Q: Who is the most important figure in Mexican cooking today?

A: The guy who's getting all the attention right now is Javier Plascencia, this amazing cook in Tijuana who's leading a movement that's rescuing the city from its long-held negative stereotypes. Stateside, it's the immigrants from interior Mexico who are bringing up new regional traditions that will no doubt entice American palates.

sbennett@express-news.net