CORRECTIONS TO YOUR 2001 ADS Post

Tue Jul 18 14:16:30 UTC 2006

Andrew Smith suggests that I post here corrections to my 2001 post.
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The post is an old post, I had citations before me that I don't have now, and there are (of course) newer citaitons in digitized databases. This was written soon after a trip to Texas, and before I joined the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink project. At the time, I assumed that Bruce Kraig (an editor on that project) would again use my "hot dog" work without credit.
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Barry Popik
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-----Original Message-----
From: ASmith1946 at aol.com
To: Bapopik at aol.com
Sent: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 11:00 PM
Subject: CORRECTIONS TO YOUR 2001 ADS Post

HI BARRY:

I JUST BELATEDLY READ YOUR ADS POST ON MY PAPER "TACOS, ENCHILADAS AND REFRIED BEANS: THE INVENTION OF MEXICAN-AMERICAN COOKERY" THAT YOU POSTED IN 2001. I TAKE EXCEPTION TO MANY OF YOUR COMMENTS.

 That said, Smith makes errors.  ...   Smith lectured before food scholars on Mexican-American cuisine, but apparently never went to Texas!  The El Paso cookbooks from 1898, 1909, and 1926 are never cited.  Not even the Junior League cookbooks are mentioned.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION, I HAVE BEEN TO TEXAS MANY TIMES AND HAVE CONDUCTED EXTENSIVE RESEARCH THERE. IT IS A NON SEQUITER FOR YOU TO CONCLUDE THAT I "APPARENTLY" NEVER WENT TO TEXAS BECAUSE I DIDN'T CITE THESE PARTICULAR COOKBOOKS. I DIDN'T MENTION MANY COOKBOOKS PUBLISHED IN TEXAS-- OR CALIFORNIA-- OR NEW MEXICO-- OR ARIZONA.  (BTW, I DID WRITE THE INTRODUCTION TO THE REPRINT OF THE EL PASO COOKBOOK (1898) AND YOU CAN BUY IT FROM APPLEWOOD BOOKS.)

   Smith also missed the 1916 New Mexico cookbook that I posted here.  He claims that a later cookbook was the first to be published in New Mexico.

WHAT I MEANT WAS THE FIRST COOKBOOK THAT FOCUSED ON NEW MEXICAN "MEXICAN" COOKERY (NOT THE FIRST COOKBOOK PUBLISHED IN NEW MEXICO) -- WAS FERGUSON'S. I AGREE THIS WAS SLOPPY WRITING ON MY PART, BUT THE INTENT WAS CLEAR. FOR YOUR INFORMATION, THE FIRST COOKBOOK PUBLISHED IN NEW MEXICO (THAT I KNOW OF) IS:

St. John's Episcopal Church. Choice Recipes (Albuquerque, NM : Press of the Daily Citizen, 1899).

DOESN'T THAT MEAN YOU WERE IN ERROR IN CITING THE 1916 COOKBOOK AS THE FIRST COOKBOOK PUBLISHED IN NEW MEXICO?

   "Guacamole" was in a cookbook before 1930.

NO, I STATED THAT THE FIRST RECIPE TITLED GUACAMOLE WAS PUBLISHED IN 1930 (NOT BEFORE) -- AND I GAVE THE CITATION. WHERE'S THE ERROR? IN THE SUCEEDING SEVERAL YEARS SINCE I WROTE THE PAPER I HAVE NOT FOUND AN EARLIER RECIPE SO NAMED. HAVE YOU?

Other foods, such as "fajita," are not mentioned in the paper.

SO? I DIDN'T MENTION MANY "MEXICAN AMERICAN" FOODS. DOES THAT MEAN I WAS IN ERROR FOR NOT MENTIONING THEM?

   The Gebhardt "Mexican Cooking" booklet clearly copyrighted "1911" is given by Smith as "pre-1910."

NO, YOU'RE WRONG. THERE WAS A COOKBOOK TITLED "MEXICAN COOKERY" PUBLISHED BY GEBHARDT IN 1911. THERE WAS ALSO A PRE-1910 COOKBOOK OF THE SAME NAME PUBLISHED BY GEBHARDT. FOR YOUR INFORMATION, I ALSO WROTE THE INTRODUCTION TO THE REPRINT OF THIS "PRE-1910" COOKBOOK AND YOU CAN BUY IT FROM APPLEWOOD BOOKS.

   Smith mentions the Taco Bell story and the Gebhardt story.  He neglects Ashley's (a popular Tex-Mex food company in the 1930s-1960s, based in El Paso).  Ashley's was the subject of a research paper that's exclusively at UTEP.

SO WHAT? THERE WERE DOZENS OF SUCH FOOD COMPANIES. IS IT AN ERROR NOT TO MENTION THEM ALL? OR WAS IT AN ERROR JUST TO NOT MENTION THIS ONE THAT YOU LOCATED? IF YOU THINK THAT ASHLEY'S WAS IMPORTANT AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCLUDED, THEN OFFER YOUR REASONS WHY IT WAS IMPORTANT.

   San Antonio's Old Mexico restaurant claims to be the oldest Mexican restaurant in America.  An early menu is in the clipping file of the San Antonio Public Library.  Smith mentions old Mexican restaurants (California and New Mexico), but not the oldest and most famous one...
   I will not work for free.

SORRY, BUT I MADE NO STATEMENT AS TO WHAT WAS THE OLDEST MEXICAN RESTAURANT IN SAN ANTONIO -- OR ANY PLACE ELSE. BTW, WHERE'S THE PRIMARY SOURCE THAT PROVES THAT THIS RESTAURANT IS THE OLDEST MEXICAN RESTAURANT, WHICH I DON'T BELIEVE? LOT'S OF RESTAURANTS CLAIM LOT'S OF THINGS-- THAT DOESN'T MAKE THEM TRUE, OR IF TRUE, IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY'RE IMPORTANT. SO WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

AND JUST FOR YOUR INFORMATION, I RECEIVED NO MONEY FOR WRITING THE ARTICLE THAT YOU FALSELY CLAIMED WAS IN ERROR-- AND I PAID MY OWN WAY TO THE CONFERENCE. AND I PAID MY OWN WAY TO CONDUCT RESEARCH IN CALIFORNIA, NEW MEXICO, ARIZONA AND TEXAS.

I'VE MADE PLENTY OF ERRORS IN MY WRITING. THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT I USUALLY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO CORRECT THEM. I'M SURE YOU FEEL THE SAME WAY ABOUT ERRORS THAT YOU MAKE-- SUCH AS THE ONES ABOVE. CAN YOU KINDLY POST THIS ON THE ADS LISTSERV FOR ME?

THANK YOU,

ANDY SMITH
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