There is the category of Barbeque. Texas even has its own Barbeque Trail. I’ve traveled all over the United States, and I’ve eaten barbeque
in many places, but I’ve never seen such a concentration of barbeque eateries
as in Texas. And that’s saying a
lot. Kansas City is packed with them,
and so is Memphis. St. Louis-style ribs
have their name for a reason. The
Carolinas and the south are blanketed with barbeque joints, and Santa Maria in
California has someone cooking on every street corner on most weekends
(although I don’t know why). But the
ratio of barbeque restaurants to the population density appears to me to be
greatest in Texas. And every Texan has
an opinion on this category.
The category of Tex-Mex goes without speaking. The ubiquitous combo plate of beans, rice,
and enchiladas started in Texas and is still at the heart of Tex-Mex
cooking. No Texan who has had to move
beyond the state’s borders can forget the smells and tastes of the peppers and
spices that make Tex-Mex uniquely different from Mexican or Southwestern
cooking.
Chili is its own category, although for the sake of
convenience I will sometimes include it with Tex-Mex. The flavors of chili intertwine with Tex-Mex making this bundling
of categories an easy step, but chili is too big to be squeezed in with another
category on a permanent basis. All one
has to do is attend a chili cook-off to understand the reason a single bowl of
this spicy stew/soup can have its own category.
The above-mentioned categories are the most well known to
anyone living outside of Texas. But
another category in Texas is Chicken-Fried Steak. This draws as much passion out of a Texan as Barbeque, Chili, and
a favorite Tex-Mex restaurant. I
believe I have never met a Texan without a preferred chicken-fried steak
recipe, or at least a favorite restaurant where it can be found for breakfast,
lunch, and dinner.
The one category that is not a category (although I am now
declaring it to be one) is Catfish.
When one thinks of the different foods in Texas (doesn’t everyone?), one
tends to overlook catfish, but maybe that’s because catfish is so common that
it is taken for granted.
I cannot remember a time growing up in the big state when
there was a catfish shortage. When I
fished, I fished for bass and crappie, but I brought home as much catfish as
all other fish combined. We had regular
fish frys at my grandparent’s lake home and catfish was the most common fish we
ate. But it wasn’t limited to fish
frys.
At home a fish dinner routinely consisted of catfish. At the local cafeteria where I ate lunch about
once a week when I was in town, I always had the catfish. Several of the breakfast diners I frequented
served catfish and eggs. A good friend
made catfish chili occasionally. And I
made a great Catfish Vera Cruz. Looking
back at the 26 years I lived in Texas, I can’t remember a single time without
catfish available.
I recently read that Texas is responsible for about 50
percent of the nation’s entire catfish consumption. While I find this to be a Texas tall tale, I do believe the
amount of catfish Texans eat is quite high.
I’ve traveled throughout the south, and honestly, Texas has nothing on
Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, or Georgia when it comes to catfish, but my
opinion is that Texas is not far behind on catfish eating. Anyway, I believe that in Texas catfish is a
category of its own.
Texas Fried Catfish Taco
Serves 4
1 ½ cups yellow
cornmeal
½ cup all purpose
flour
2 teaspoons Kosher salt, plus additional
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, plus additional
1 teaspoon smoked paprika, plus additional
1 teaspoon onion powder
8 catfish filets
Canola oil for frying
Jalapeno Chipotle Tarter Sauce, recipe follows
Shredded cabbage
Hot pickled carrots
Corn tortillas, warmed
Lemon or lime wedges (grapefruit wedges?)
Pour about 1 1/2 to 2-inches of oil into a heavy (cast iron)
skillet and heat to 360F. In a wide bowl, mix cornmeal and flour with 2
teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon cayenne, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, and onion powder
and set aside. Rinse fish and pat off excess water with paper towels. Lay
filets out on a platter and season both sides with salt, cayenne, and paprika,
patting the seasoning into the fish. Cut filets into 2-inch strips. Dredge in
cornmeal mixture. Carefully drop fish into hot oil being careful not to
overcrowd and cook until fish comes to the surface and is golden brown (about 7
to 8 minutes).
Serve with Jalapeno Chipotle Tarter Sauce, shredded cabbage,
hot pickled carrots, corn tortillas, and lemon or lime wedges (or maybe grapefruit).
Jalapeno Chipotle Tarter Sauce
Makes about 1 cup.
1 cup mayonnaise
(homemade is good)
1 tablespoon
chopped green onions1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots
1 finely chopped jalapeño pepper
1 minced chipotle chile in adobo
½ teaspoon adobo sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl and refrigerate
until ready to use. (This is quite warm
on the tongue. For a milder sauce, just
reduce the amount of jalapeno and chipotle.)
I know, it sounds more like a Baja-style fish taco, but I grew up eating fried catfish wrapped in a soft corn tortilla and topped with cole slaw, salsa, and shredded cheese. I first encountered this approach to catfish in Eagle Pass, Texas about 1970 or 1971. Just maybe the Baja-style fish taco is a knock-off of the Texas Fried Catfish Taco.
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