Don’t Count the Tortillas – The Art of Texas Mexican Cooking

The comfort food of Texas Mexican cooking is coming to the Museum of South Texas History with a special presentation featuring a book signing and cooking demonstration by Chef Adán Medrano.

Medrano will demonstrate dishes from his most recent history and cookbook, “Don’t Count The Tortillas—The Art Of Texas Mexican Cooking.” In his cookbook, Medrano focuses on the aesthetic aspects of cooking that universally impact identity and community, with more than 100 recipes that illustrate the modern cooking in Texas kitchens.

The cooking demonstration will feature three local dishes inspired by Medrano’s research: chacales, caldo de chayote and chipotle en adobo. At the end of the presentation, visitors will have the opportunity to sample three unique dishes. Medrano will sign copies of his cookbook, which will be available for purchase in the Museum Store.

Medrano is a food writer and chef, specializing in the indigenous foods of Texas and the Americas. Medrano spent 23 years working throughout Latin America, Europe and Asia. He returned to the US in 2010 to focus his attention on the culinary traditions of the Mexican American, Native American communities of Texas and the indigenous cooking of the Americas. He is currently President of “The Texas Indigenous Food Project.”

Medrano has lectured about food and culture at academic institutions, including the Harvard University Co-op, Northeastern University and last year was invited to Moscow by the US Ambassador to Russia, as the featured Chef for the July 4^th US official celebration. Medrano has showcased his recipes at the Museum Of Fine Arts, Houston; at the California, New York and Texas campuses of the Culinary Institute of America, as well as at The Briscoe Western Art Museum, the American Book Center in Amsterdam, and the Yorkshire Dales Food and Drink Festival in Great Britain.

Admission to this program: $8 for adults; $6 for seniors (62+), students (13+) and active military; $5 for children ages 4 to 12; free for children ages 3 and under. FRIENDS of MOSTHistory are admitted free as a benefit of FRIENDship. For more information about Fiesta de Noche Buena or on how to become a FRIEND, please call the museum at 956-383-6911 or visit mosthistory.org/events.