A great Tex-Mex kitchen takes as much pride in its tostadas and salsa as in its combination plate. If the chips nearly float off the greasy paper underneath and the salsa clears your sinuses, you've chosen wisely. OK, this is an exaggeration. The only meats we fry are beef, chicken, pork, fish and game. You almost never hear of chicken-fried lamb chops.
Some restaurants even fry ice cream.
But we don't fry everything. We boil beans and turnip greens. Well, podner, that's a whole other story. Donnis Baggett is publisher and editor of The Bryan-College Station Eagle. This column originally appeared in The Dallas Morning News on May 5, 1991.