Tortilla chips and salsa, chili con carne, and fajitas are now typical European bar food. Rare is the English pub that doesn’t serve “nachos.” The influence of Tex-Mex on world cuisine fascinates us here at Texas Eats. So when our correspondent, Julia Walsh, moved to Manchester, England in January 2017, we asked her to chronicle Tex-Mex influences on the local English fare. Here is her latest report:
I recently went for a pub crawl night with a few friends. After our first few drinks, we were properly buzzed and walking along the sidewalk when we were struck with the sudden hunger a night of drinking will bring. We meandered past a place called Chango’s Burrito Bar and I convinced them to accompany me inside to check it out.
Chango’s is a build-your-own burrito place in the style of Freebird’s or Chipotle back in Texas. You choose a receptacle (burrito, salad, tacos, etc) and your desired fillings and receive a tasty, custom masterpiece at the end. They had an impressive selection of sauces/salsas, as well as the normal meat (or non-meat), filling choices. I chose to fill my burrito with chicken, white rice, black beans, cheese, and pico de gallo instead of sauce.
I was very happy with the resulting burrito, and I promise I wasn’t just hungry or drunk – it tasted just like a burrito built back at home.
Post Script: My dad says burritos are Cal-Mex, they came from the Sonoran wheat-growing area of Mexico and migrated to California and Arizona. But they are lumped into the Tex-Mex category by many Americans and most Europeans, so we decided to include this.