AMERIQUE:


A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: It is the unspoken statistic, but it is as real as anything to do with the lingering U.S. war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to the military, 1,800 American servicemen have killed themselves since the initial invasion of Baghdad. That is in addition to the more than 4,000 who died in battle. This week, families of the soldiers who committed suicide asked President Barack Obama to change the government policy of not forwarding letters of appreciation to mothers and fathers of these servicemen. By week's end, the White House had reversed the policy and agreed that such letters are needed, as well... - Eduardo Paz-Martinez, Editor of The Tribune

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

In The Nooks & Crannies of The Rio Grande Valley's Backroads, A Man Finds His Palate in Birding...

By RICARDO KLEMENT
Staff Writer

SAN JUAN, Texas - We were halfway through a late-afternoon snack at a place called La Mejicana when someone said the Rio Grande Valley just can't get past chicken tacos and nachos as the fare of choice. Tacos, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. On weekends, often at 2 Ayem at one of those 24-hour taquerias where you see the dispossessed arrive in ragged khaki pants and the pretty people in fancy evening gowns. We are in a rut.

The other day, while driving up and down U.S. 83 like a moron and looking for a new place to stop and taste different grub, it hit me that perhaps it's time someone went goddamned wild and introduced some new dishes to Valley cooks and chefs. I could use some pheasant. Sure. And maybe some yak. Who knows? Crocodile nuggets could be The Next Big Thing in the RGV.

All I know this morning is that I must have eaten six-seven cows one fajita plate at a time. And maybe that's why my skin has turned leathery, although it has saved me from the wrinkling effects of the bright South Texas suns. I swear most women here look like they've been to the desert and back. Yeah, maybe more seafood would help. I mean, we're here on the lip of the Gulf of Mexico, so...

Tonight, I'm going for a new plate of something or another. Bird, yeah. Serve me a bird, honeybuns. Yeah, a whole one, head included. I wanna try something else. No, no salsa, no chips, no tortillas. Hand me the silverware and bring me the appropriate wine. I'm a new kind of freakin' birder, baby...

- 30 - 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

My good man what do you expect?? This is South Texas, where the best tacos in all of America are made and served.
Embrace the moment and enjoy it.

Patrick Alcatraz said...

ANON:...And we do enjoy them. We remain the foremost authority on RGV tacos and taquerias, as our reportage will attest. Still, it's not always a bad move when you angle off the main road in search of something different, is it?...Editor

Anonymous said...

Well, my dear editor, there is nothing wrong with something different every once in a while, nothing at all.