Oh, Laredo! Tex-Mex Border Delights Quiz

Answer: Tampiquena

Tampiquena plates are an exercise in excess! Be sure to order this gem on a truly empty stomach! Veracruzana is a style of cuisine famous in southern Mexico, Xochimilco is the famed floating flower and produce market near Mexico City, and Huitlacoche is corn smut-- a fungus prized in traditional central Mexican cooking.

Answer: shredded dried beef

"Machacado" is usually made from thin slices of raw beef that are salted and dried in a hot, dry, well ventilated place. The dried beef is then pounded into little shreds and used to make this sublime dish, which also includes chopped onions, chili peppers, tomatoes, and eggs. Fabulous!

Answer: Vuelve a la Vida (Come Back to Life)

Long before sushi was introduced to our area, Tex-Mex cuisine used lime juice to marinate raw seafood to produce many different varieties of "ceviche." These cold, refreshing seafood salads are wonderful! "Vuelve a la Vida" is possibly the most complex of the ceviches.

Answer: Machitos

I've never been able to bring myself to eat a machito, although I've prepared quite a few for family gatherings! It seems that every form of international cuisine has a dish that even the strongest and most adventurous gourmand quails before (Scottish Haggis comes to mind here). Machitos are an ingenious way to prepare "cabrito", or kid goat, organ meats. Grilled cabrito is tender, flavorful, and low in cholesterol-- but I can't vouch for the machito cholesterol count!

Answer: grilled beef sweetbreads

Mollejitas are mild and very delicious rolled in tortillas de maiz, or corn tortillas. Definitely not a food item for those on a low cholesterol diet!

Answer: Huachinango

Huachinango is red snapper. Huitlacoche is corn smut, a delicious fungus common in the interior of Mexico. Almejas are clams, and Angulas are eels.

Answer: regalo (gift)

All of the answer choices are delicious pastries forund in a typical Laredo bakery. Marranitos are gingerbread pigs, conchas are rounded egg-and-yeast breads flavored with cinnamon and anise, and campechanas are flaky, puff-style pastries that melt in your mouth. My absolute favorites are regalos, though!

Answer: Menudo

The staple of Laredo cookoffs, every family has their own jealously guarded menudo recipe. A word of caution--boiling the tripe is an unbearably smelly affair--my family always did it outdoors! This inconvenience is well worth the result!

Answer: Champurrado

Chocomilk is a popular south-of-the-border chocolate drink mix, Chocolate Abuelita is a famous brand of Mexican drinking chocolate, and ponche caliente is a heated fruit drink also served at Christmastime.

Answer: beer

Surprisingly, adding a can of beer, along with cilantro, chilies, tomatoes, onions, and bacon, changes the humble pinto bean into the star of any backyard barbecue! See you in Laredo soon!