National Magazine Editor Dismisses Tex-Mex as Glop — and Houston Chefs Aren’t Pleased

Texas has its fair share of naysayers when it comes to the state’s favorite cuisines: chili isn’t chili without beans, and Fritos have no place in it. Whataburger is no Shake Shack. The bad opinions are out there.

Lone Star State believers often take it all in stride, knowing Texas boasts some of the most flavorful and satisfying eats anywhere, from signature brisket and barbecue to life-changing Tex-Mex.

But while Texans can be  quite forgiving, self-appointed food critics cross the line when they come after Tex-Mex with ignorance or venom.

Mother Jones magazine editor-in-chief Clara Jeffery is finding that out after going on a Twitter diatribe against Texas’ signature cuisine. Jeffery went as a far as dismissing Tex-Mex as “glop.”

Now that’s below the big Texas-buckled belt.

It should be said that while the tweet was cruel — and uninformed — it was not entirely unprovoked. Twitter user Paul Musgrave asked Jeffery, “If you run for president, what would your unforgivable food gaffe be?”

Still, Jeffery could have been more forgiving, more polite, more measured in her response. Instead, she volunteered, “Queso is nasty and Tex Mex is glop.”

First off, someone who doesn’t realize there’s a hyphen in Tex-Mex has absolutely no business talking about it, much less rating it.

Secondly, even despite her string of tweets that followed, it’s unclear if Jeffery has ever even tried legit Tex-Mex.

You’d  better believe Texans and Tex-Mex fans alike didn’t take that tweet lying down.

“If you don’t like queso, you’re un-American. Apple pie, baseball, hotdogs. Come on, you don’t like melted cheese? You’re not American,” Ronnie Killen tells PaperCity. Killen recently opened a new restaurant, Killen’s TMX, where fajitas and enchiladas abound.

Ricardo Molina, one of the third-generation owners of Molina’s Cantina, was cordial in his response. He’s a Texan. He has good manners.

“I’ll try to be polite… The young lady is certainly entitled to her opinion, but because she doesn’t enjoy it, I guess no one should?” Molina asks.

He finishes off with a statement that couldn’t be truer, Mother Jones be damned. “Tex-Mex is here to stay.”

Many on Twitter had equally strong reactions to Jeffery’s Tex-Mex attack.

“Then you have never really had authentic Tex Mex and that is a different argument than calling it glop,” C. Stewart replied.

But this Mother Jones maven insisted otherwise. “Nope, eaten at some of the top spots, high and low end, with some very nice folks as hosts and ambassadors,” Jeffery tweeted back. “Not my jam, and I am far from alone. Sorry, Texas. Never sure why there’s so much defensiveness about it.”

Conveniently ignoring that “glop”? Them’s fightin’ words.

Responding to the influx of responses, like Mark R. Yzaguirre’s “How on earth can fajitas, tacos and enchiladas fall into the category of “glop”? If you don’t like queso, that’s fine (many people dislike melted cheese), but you’ve either never had good Tex-Mex or you’re a philistine,” Jeffery shared a weak and pretentiously worded defense: “My problem with Tex Mex is it has not enough spice of flavor.”

OK. Some people probably should stay away from Twitter. Jeffery did get the gaffe part, right.