Frontera Bar & Grill, Jaya 1
Today, my friend J, who has perfected the art of talking a mile a minute, not even pausing for breath for a second, told me a rather interesting story about the origins of the Fajita. I googled it, and apparently, he was telling the truth.
Frontera is located at Jaya One,
Best ever Chimicangas and Chili Burgers in Petaling Jaya! You must eat these two items.. you must.
You see, there was once a man, Mr. Homero who, as part of his graduate work in animal science at Texas A&M, was intrigued by a spike in the retail price of skirt steak (cheapo cut of meat from the cow). This sparked his research into the dish that took the reject cut of the cow, from poor man fodder, to the table of the rich.
During cattle roundups, beef were butchered regularly to feed the hands. Throw away items such as the hide, the head, the entrails, and meat trimmings such as 'skirt' were given to the Mexican vaqueros (cowboys) as part of their pay.
Considering the limited number of skirts per carcass and the fact the meat wasn't available commercially, the fajita tradition remained a poor man practice, and relatively obscure for many years, probably only familiar to vaqueros, butchers, and their families.
Then all of a sudden, Fajitas appear to have made the transition from obscurity to mainstream dining, starting with commercialization e.g. the opening of the first commercial fajita taco concession stand in the united states. Soon after, entrepreneurs started to recognized the commercial potential of this popular local Tex-Mex dish and chefs started putting "sizzling fajitas" on the menu of local diners and finally, the big time.. on the menu of the Hyatt's La Vista restaurant.. and the rest as they say was history.
That brings us to the great irony of fajita success: The more popular the dish became, the less likely it was to be made from the cheapest cut of steak! J thumped the table as he hit the climax in his story.
Everybody yawn... erm, I mean jumped up and applauded his story! Bravo J ! Now, can we please eat? :P
During cattle roundups, beef were butchered regularly to feed the hands. Throw away items such as the hide, the head, the entrails, and meat trimmings such as 'skirt' were given to the Mexican vaqueros (cowboys) as part of their pay.
Considering the limited number of skirts per carcass and the fact the meat wasn't available commercially, the fajita tradition remained a poor man practice, and relatively obscure for many years, probably only familiar to vaqueros, butchers, and their families.
Then all of a sudden, Fajitas appear to have made the transition from obscurity to mainstream dining, starting with commercialization e.g. the opening of the first commercial fajita taco concession stand in the united states. Soon after, entrepreneurs started to recognized the commercial potential of this popular local Tex-Mex dish and chefs started putting "sizzling fajitas" on the menu of local diners and finally, the big time.. on the menu of the Hyatt's La Vista restaurant.. and the rest as they say was history.
That brings us to the great irony of fajita success: The more popular the dish became, the less likely it was to be made from the cheapest cut of steak! J thumped the table as he hit the climax in his story.
Everybody yawn... erm, I mean jumped up and applauded his story! Bravo J ! Now, can we please eat? :P
Frontera is located at Jaya One,
Best ever Chimicangas and Chili Burgers in Petaling Jaya! You must eat these two items.. you must.
Add:
Frontera Bar & Grill
18-G-2, Block L
Jaya One
No. 72A, Jalan University
Petaling Jaya
Tel: 603 7958 8515
Frontera Bar & Grill
18-G-2, Block L
Jaya One
No. 72A, Jalan University
Petaling Jaya
Tel: 603 7958 8515
