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September 3, 2024

You had me at Queso

By: Mando Rayo

Let’s take a melty, gooey trip into what we know as queso, chile con queso, con queso or for you phonetically abled chip eaters, keso. Guest is Nadia Chaudhury – editor of Eater Austin.

The full transcript of this episode of Tacos of Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.

Mando Rayo What’s up, Taco World? I’m taco journalist Mando Rayo and welcome to the Tacos of Texas podcast The Cuatro. Produced by Identity Productions in partnership with KUT and KUTX Studios. And we’re back exploring cattle culture in Texas through the eyes of the people in the Lone Star State. So grab some chips and dip into some gooey, melty castle and get ready for some more tasty taco conversations. Sort. The that you had me, at queso in today’s episode of Doctors of Texas, we’re going to take a melty, gooey trip into what we know successful silicone queso cone queso or for you phonetically abled chip eaters. Okay, so we’ll explore this fascination around this Texas size appetizer with none other than Nadia Choudhary from Eater Austin. And that’s what we’re getting into in today’s Tacos of Texas. Okay, so we’re talking about queso. That’s right. Oh my god. If you’re in Texas you love that appetizer can be an appetizer, but it can also be a meal. Like what’s wrong with dipping your tortilla or your chips or your tostadas into that melty, gooey. But the queso that I know is different from maybe, the queso so that you might know. At Central Texas, we live in Austin, close to San Antonio, but my OG queso definitely is a little bit different. Probably more rooted in Rajasthan queso, for example. Or for us, I grew up eating it. It was more heavy on the chilies. You know, the rajas from Latinos, onions, garlic, and very special. We use Munster cheese. That’s right. Isn’t that we. We didn’t use the Velveeta stuff, man. But if you’re, a boomer or you grew up with that television, you know, that Velveeta, that big giant block, and you just put it in a in a pot? Yeah. Maybe you can cut it out if you cut it up and then you run to the store, get that little can of rotel, put it in, swap it in, and maybe if you’re brave enough, you put a few peppers in there, so maybe some jalapenos or said, I know if you’re feeling brave. So that’s kind of like, you know, the take on Castle around Texas. But now people have this huge fascination around. They put it on over burgers, they put it over on barbecue. I mean, every time you go to a restaurant, whether it’s a Mexican or even like a Tex-Mex place, they’re like upselling you. The queso are oh, more queso sir? Oh, would you like more queso? Would you like, you know, walk with your queso? Would you like chorizo or picadillo con queso? There’s so many questions that you can have. And in fact, I’m going to run that list in a hot minute. First I have to write it down. Then I’m going to record it. One of my first introductions into how deeply, gooey this castle was when I moved to Austin from El Paso. I work at this restaurant, called Three Amigos or Tres Amigos. Amigos. And, you know, the the average median age was about 75 there. So, you know, it was like the after party, after Luby’s. And so they would order, you know, the queso, it was a plate. It was like, like one of those Tex-Mex plates, rice and beans. And then they had a tortilla, and all they did was run queso over that, and that was a plate. And I was like, oh my God, that’s what people are having for dinner here. That’s crazy. So anyway, so whether you’ll love it or you love it, queso is here to stay. So when you think about gasoline, what it makes you feel, you know, not at the moment that you’re eating it because the moment you’re eating it, you’re like, oh, this is so good. But then at the M and maybe you had too much, it’s a little hairy. Right? And so make sure you proceed with caution as you explore your queso fascination, if you will. And yeah, so let’s run down like the different styles of gas so you can have there’s obviously queso con queso, chile con queso. oh. Queso flameado, queso fundido right. You can have queso with picadillo, queso with guac, queso with with tostadas, queso with extra queso. Yeah. The list goes on and on. And me gente, I know you love your Velveeta queso, but there are alternatives to doing your queso in your own way. There’s queso blanco, queso fresco, queso Oaxaca queso cotija, queso manchego, panela, queso Chihuahua, queso azadero, queso enchilado, queso requeson, queso cremosa.

Unidentified It’s the most iconic.

Mando Rayo Vamos a chico town. Come visit El Paso. It’s the hometown of this taco journalist looking for the perfect pairing for your melty queso. Look no further than El Paso Salsa is the ultimate companion, bringing rich flavors and spices to your table. El Paso has the best red and green salsa around. From local Mexican restaurants to fine dining, Salsa is a staple in the sun city thanks to our close proximity to Mexico and New Mexico. We have access to the tastiest and hottest New Mexican green chiles, salsa taquera pero la pica perfect for enchiladas, burritos, imas. Whether it’s green or red, milder, hot. You can discover Los ivories and some of the best items in El Paso. Your taste buds will thank you. Muchas gracias to our friends at Visit El Paso for sponsoring this podcast episode. Follow visit El Paso on Instagram and Facebook at Visit El Paso or on their website at visitelpaso.com today on Tacos of Texas, we’re excited to have Nadia Choudhary, a talented writer, journalist and photographer from Queens, New York, now living in Austin, Texas, as the editor of Eater Austin, Nadia keeps track of the city’s food restaurants and chefs. Join us as we explore the delicious world of queso with her. What’s up me can’t. We’re back at the Taqueria Sin Nombre. And what goes better with tacos? And maybe especially with your, you know, your Tex-Mex special, then some queso. And for that we have now the Nadia Chaudhury with eater Austin. Welcome to the podcast.

Nadia Chaudhury Thank you so much for having me Mando.

Mando Rayo Hey, Nadia. It’s been a hot minute since we talked. It has been. Yeah. Catches up on what you’re doing. Tell us about your role at Eater Austin and, you know what’s kind of your mission to you? You’ve been at it for a while, right?

Nadia Chaudhury I’ve been at a for a while. I’ve been with eater unofficially since 24. Freelance at least since 2014. Officially eater Austin editor since July 2015. Oh my goodness, what a time. So basically I cover food and restaurant chef, anything related to restaurants, food trucks, etc. anything having to do with that, like news about that? We do a lot of dining guides as well. I probably know the most about food in Austin in the past ten years in my role. It’s fun. My whole mission, my personal mission, at the very least, is to share stories of restaurants and cooks and foods and stuff that don’t necessarily get as much spotlight as they should. I’m making people aware of.

Mando Rayo Them love it.

Nadia Chaudhury And like, just highlighting amazing foods.

Mando Rayo Yeah, I mean, why not? And then you get to go to all these foodie events.

Nadia Chaudhury It’s fun. It’s great. It’s delicious.

Mando Rayo It brings people together. I get some invitations, I get out there. But yeah, no, I, you know, I feel like, you know, since the beginning of, Tacos of Texas, you you’ve been there. And so, you know, kind of where I would see you at different events. And we’ve even collaborated.

Nadia Chaudhury We’ve written about y’all’s books. That’s right. That’s like, yeah.

Mando Rayo Yeah. And so I love that. So I’m excited to have you on to talk about, you know, something that’s I think I think it’s part of that Austin vibe and culture is queso.

Nadia Chaudhury So is very important to Texas. I feel like it’s not Texan necessarily. And origins I if forgive me if I’m incorrect and I. But Texans have pride in their queso and they have opinions on their queso.

Mando Rayo That’s right.

Nadia Chaudhury Major opinions.

Mando Rayo Yes they do. And you know, it’s funny because when I grew up eating Castle, I called it Chili con queso. Right. And then when I came to Austin it was called queso yeah.

Nadia Chaudhury Good accent. I like that. Good pronunciation.

Mando Rayo So, you know, for something that doesn’t know, I guess, what what is queso to you?

Nadia Chaudhury So I mean, and I’ll be frank to like, again, I’m not a Texan. I’m from New York, moved to Texas ten years ago. Queso was a novelty to me. To me queso, I mean, I know it’s probably blasphemous to describe it this way. Essentially, it is a cheese dip, right? Like at its core, it’s a cheese dip. It’s an appetizer. It’s, a party food. It’s, shareable, like little, little snack cheese. Like. Yeah, yeah, that’s what I think of queso. Yeah.

Mando Rayo Are you sure it’s not, like, for your meal?

Nadia Chaudhury I mean, you could make it a meal. That’s not someone who, like, loves eating cheese in general.

Mando Rayo Yeah, could.

Nadia Chaudhury Make it a meal. But also, you should share it with people. I feel like that’s part of the.

Mando Rayo Yeah. Maybe. Maybe. Yeah. But like.

Nadia Chaudhury That. And. Yeah, that’s what it is to me.

Mando Rayo Yeah, yeah. So you know what, part of part of that is thinking about there’s so many places in Austin that offer queso, all right? And it’s just like it’s everywhere you don’t have. To go to a Tex-Mex place, right? So. So tell me about, from your experience, where have you seen it? Pop up where you can see it traditionally, and then where it’s like, what? What is this?

Nadia Chaudhury I mean, I feel like the general like, especially from I mean, even in Austin and even in Texas, it’s Torchy’s queso it’s good.

Mando Rayo It’s cool. Yeah.

Nadia Chaudhury Like I’ll like to enter it like it has this appeal obviously. Like I remember one of the when we moved to Austin, I think at least our first or second meal was at Torchy’s. Honestly, like when we just drove in from like it Torchy’s case was good. I feel like that’s a very much like across the board broad appeal, like people coming in to visit. If you’re just, like, hungry, you need just a quick and easy. It’s a the epitome of the fast casual queso, right?

Mando Rayo Torchy’s is good. Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. Hey, I’m not going to not. Yeah. Don’t don’t talk to me about the tacos, but the queso is good.

Nadia Chaudhury Like, that’s hot. Like, they they have their place. Yeah, I guess they have their place. That’s how I got here. But, Torchy’s case, though, is ideal. I think my personal favorite, like, oh, my goodness. It’s not I mean, it’s obviously going back to what you’re saying. It’s not like a Texas Tex, not a Mexican restaurant or a Tex Mex restaurant. Right? I really enjoy butter house queso.

Mando Rayo Okay.

Nadia Chaudhury They have they they add pastrami in it.

Mando Rayo Oh, that’s really good.

Nadia Chaudhury Really fantastic. But, yeah, I feel like queso has become as ubiquitous as, like, every restaurant does a burger now. Honestly. Right. Yeah. Like I it’s going back to that like broad appeal where like you always want to have a burger option. Like usually if you’re going out.

Mando Rayo Right, right.

Nadia Chaudhury You need to have a case okay.

Mando Rayo queso option.

Nadia Chaudhury Salsa. It’s queso that.

Mando Rayo Yeah I mean you can go to the Chili’s and have some queso bruh. Yeah. Well yeah when I think of queso I think of, Matt’s El Rancho.

Nadia Chaudhury And the SA. Oh my God, how could I forget that? Like, that’s the that’s a that’s the Texas queso.

Mando Rayo I like that right. Yeah. Yeah. And they’ve been around I believe since the 50s. Right. And and it’s the what is it, the Bob Bob’s.

Nadia Chaudhury Oh my goodness.

Mando Rayo What about the Bob queso?

Nadia Chaudhury It’s not. Oh, it’s, this is where I wish I had my phone with me.

Mando Rayo I know, right.

Nadia Chaudhury Because we’ve dealt with, my predecessor at eater, Austin, did a profile about the creation of it and how it came to be, and it was like, it’s really fascinating.

Mando Rayo Yeah, yeah. Interesting in Bob’s, is it the Bob’s? We call it Bob’s Queso.

Nadia Chaudhury And we’ll say that’s what it is and correct ourselves later.

Mando Rayo Yeah, yeah yeah. But that but that it’s iconic to be honest. Like when you get that and you get like the big portion that’s enormous. Ginormous. And people can have it as a meal. It’s great.

Nadia Chaudhury Yeah. And kind of.

Mando Rayo Meat as the meat. The ground.

Nadia Chaudhury Meat. Right. Yeah.

Mando Rayo I’m beef, kind of a bit of a picadillo, but with maybe without the potatoes. And then you have like, the scoop, the tradition of the Tex-Mex scoop of, guacamole.

Nadia Chaudhury As you just, a bit of green and bit colored bit of.

Mando Rayo Differentiation. Right, right. They might put in, like some iceberg lettuce just for the look. Yeah.

Nadia Chaudhury That’s, that’s so important for a glop of yellow cheese.

Mando Rayo Yeah. Yes, yes. And you’ve also, I know you’ve covered there’s even a queso of here. There. Right. Yes. So tell me, like, where do you you’ve covered it, but also you’ve been a judge.

Nadia Chaudhury I judge, I can’t remember off the top of my head what year it was. It was a year. It was like a very thunderstorm. Me and I was very and very rainy. And I was very happy to be on the stage. Yeah, I feel like queso is what you make of it. And it was so fun, especially as an attendee and then also as a judge of just seeing how everyone adds their own different touches to what a case. I remember having a beautifully delicious vegan queso and that’s like a whole thing. Do you like the cashew based, cashew nuts? Cases that are like the one I Veracruz, I believe is vegan and it’s wonderful. So like the creaminess of that, despite having no dairy in it or like the super duper spicy ones which are like, I love, but also my mouth hates me.

Mando Rayo Yeah, yeah.

Nadia Chaudhury But like, I just like the fiery ness or like, experiment. Like, I remember there was, oh gosh, like year two, and I feel like I’ve had it since then. queso ice creams.

Mando Rayo Queso ice cream like like inspired.

Nadia Chaudhury And it works if you think about it. Going back to like, thinking about what was it? Van Lewin, I believe that’s how you pronounce the name. The mac and cheese ice cream that they did. Cheese and ice cream. Makes sense. Yeah, yeah, it makes sense. The queso ice cream. I forget who did it. It was like. And what I really love about the case off, honestly, is like, yeah, you have restaurants also participating, but also you just have like home cooks. Home cooks I think is like even more fun, honestly and more special. Like it’s everyone has their own taste.

Mando Rayo Yeah, yeah. And the old school way of, you know, making queso at home. Okay. We know is that old school crockpot. Yeah. It’s not the Instant Pot. Right. Austin it’s really good about, you know, loving what they love and then telling the world that is.

Nadia Chaudhury Yeah. You have.

Mando Rayo Opinions.

Nadia Chaudhury When The New York Times publishes a case of recipe. We’ve got opinions, you know.

Mando Rayo Well, just don’t talk to me about no peas and guacamole. Okay? But they can sell it, just like, you know, one of those things where you go, you know, barbecue places serve it. You know, with a brisket you have, people are like, pouring over kiss over burger.

Nadia Chaudhury Yes. And that’s like a thing now. Yeah. queso on burgers, obviously queso loaded fries. Yeah. Queso it’s just a part. It is. It’s a it’s an Austin way. Very Texas Austin.

Mando Rayo Way. Yeah, totally. And, and then, so when you were preparing to be a judge. Like what? Like mentally and physically, how did you prepare for, for for the layers to go down body, I guess I.

Nadia Chaudhury Didn’t know what I was getting myself into, honestly.

Mando Rayo Was there like a pre Pepto? I was I’m.

Nadia Chaudhury I’m pretty decent with with the cheesiness and the portions weren’t bad, which I will say we do like the little bitty portions, but it was interesting. I remember judging it was with, other chefs who I can’t remember right now, and I was with also another writer who was at Texas Monthly at the time. And it was interesting hearing like and everyone’s like varying growing up ness with queso and stuff like that because there’s nostalgia and like, what makes a good queso versus like, okay, this is just okay, right?

Mando Rayo Right. You know.

Nadia Chaudhury Like the melting us, the.

Mando Rayo Heat. Yeah.

Nadia Chaudhury The like the smoothness, the like the way it works on a chip. Right. Right. Because that’s actually essential. What is queso without the chip.

Mando Rayo Yeah. Yeah. That has a chip like a.

Nadia Chaudhury Good like an it can’t break. Yeah. But also it can’t be like super goopy like super liquidy because then it’s like well that’s like water to watery like.

Mando Rayo Or like collapse. Yeah. Yeah yeah yeah.

Nadia Chaudhury When you have like the chunks. Yeah. Yeah.

Mando Rayo It’s like, you know.

Nadia Chaudhury Not a good, you don’t want raw. Like the whole point is that it’s supposed to be like that. It has to be that perfect platonic ideal. Yeah. And the way the like, if you have peppers in it or you have meat in it, the way like it mixed in, right? You want to have the good amount of portions to like. It was very fascinating to me.

Mando Rayo Yeah. Well, it’s, one of the later the, the last quesos I had was I forgot where it was, but they put Titan matcha in it.

Nadia Chaudhury Oh, interesting. Yeah. How did that work?

Mando Rayo It worked. Okay. Because, you know, some of the the the grease from the queso and the grease from the, the oil. Yeah. Of the matcha blended really well.

Nadia Chaudhury That sounds delicious.

Mando Rayo Yeah, it was, it really was. And so what are the different variations that I think for you, like, there, like, okay, this is a winning queso.

Nadia Chaudhury I haven’t had it yet personally, but I know people who have had it and I cannot wait to try it. I feel like there’s a really good age of like, new school clothes right now. Speaking of the salsa matcha, there’s a new restaurant called Yellow Ranger. It is American Chinese restaurant in a dive bar. A new dive bar, called Golden. Horn. Okay. The North Loop neighborhood, so they’re doing is, you know, American, Chinese ish.

Mando Rayo Oh.

Nadia Chaudhury Cool food. They have a queso that they’re doing that they’re making with chilies and topping it with chili crisp.

Mando Rayo Ooh, chili crass. Dang.

Nadia Chaudhury And serving it with wonton chips and charred broccoli. It’s such a brilliant idea to, like, serve it with broccoli and, like, with chili crisps and chili like, like. So that’s. I would highly recommend it. It’s a great restaurant. People have been having fun. It’s like there’s fun. You can have fun with chili.

Mando Rayo Yeah. Yeah. Right, right. So like the traditional Y. Yeah. It’s like the Velveeta. Yeah. Right. So that’s kind of I think when people think about cheese dip and keto and whatever, they think of that huge block.

Nadia Chaudhury That’s the it’s like the 50s. It’s kind of esthetics to a degree. Yeah.

Mando Rayo Yeah yeah.

Nadia Chaudhury Again remember I’m not a Texan. Please forgive me.

Mando Rayo Yeah. You you make your casserole smoking. That’s our friend. You’re gonna be like, all right. In the case of kids died. I’m not sorry.

Nadia Chaudhury Okay. Velveeta.

Mando Rayo Yeah. So the Velveeta, then you have. rotel. Okay. Right. Which is the can, of tomatoes. Okay. Yeah yeah.

Nadia Chaudhury Yeah yeah yeah yeah.

Mando Rayo Yeah. Right. That you put that you put that in there and then and then if you’re brave then you put some, some chilies like, you know, some jalapenos.

Nadia Chaudhury As you should. You need a little.

Mando Rayo Little bit of. So that’s like to me that’s kind of like the old school kind of way. Okay. Yeah.

Nadia Chaudhury Now you make queso.

Mando Rayo I do every now and then I do, I do and I do it more like I’m used to more chili con queso. Yes. Where it’s roasted jalapenos peeled with onions, with seeds with the seeds. Because you got to keep the spice.

Nadia Chaudhury Exactly. That’s flavor.

Mando Rayo Right. Yeah. With onions. Not to me. We don’t do the tomatoes. It’s kind of like Arkansas’s like, heavier on the chilies. Okay. So it’s more like it kind of makes it feel like, I guess a little more. Okay. You know. Yeah, yeah. And so and it’s like. And then, and then we use a lot of, the crazy thing because I’m from El Paso, originally, we use Munster cheese. Is that.

Nadia Chaudhury Interesting? Yeah.

Mando Rayo Yeah yeah. That’s a it’s a thing in El Paso.

Nadia Chaudhury I didn’t know that. Okay. What does I’m like turning this interview on you now. What does monster cheese add to the like. How does it influence the texture of it?

Mando Rayo You know, it’s a super easy light, melty cheese.

Nadia Chaudhury Okay. Because, I mean, it’s a good grilled cheese. Cheese, too. Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking of, right?

Mando Rayo So. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. So they tell, you know, without going into the. Yeah, the history of Munster cheese. For some reason, we, we put it on enchiladas. We put it in burritos. Even when you do have some crispy tacos.

Nadia Chaudhury Yeah, with the tortilla.

Mando Rayo And and so it just everywhere. It just it melts well, and it melts well. And, you know, I don’t know if you can argue with that. I don’t know if it was like this German influence.

Nadia Chaudhury I mean, that makes sense with access, though, because I mean German. Again, I was telling you earlier how I’m doing, like a little, article about, like, the history of Texas food. And so, I mean, with the German influence. Yeah. I mean, that makes that makes it. Yeah. Right. Texas is so.

Mando Rayo Fascinating. Right.

Nadia Chaudhury That makes perfect sense, actually.

Mando Rayo Yeah. And then even, like, if you go down to some of the markets in, in, south of, what is. Okay. Do you have Mennonite communities and you sell cheese? So I think that’s how part of that, you know. It’s, it’s interesting. Anyway, so yeah, we we went on a tangent, so we have so much there.

Nadia Chaudhury Okay. That’s your that’s your that’s your queso,

Mando Rayo Yeah. And then, and we used to just do it in a pot, you know, and then just on the.

Nadia Chaudhury Stove, kind.

Mando Rayo Of get in the stove, add some milk. Okay. Yeah. You know, the.

Nadia Chaudhury Creaminess.

Mando Rayo Kind of. Yeah, yeah. And then, definitely salt and, salt and pepper and garlic. And, that was okay. You know, and so, so it’s funny because when I came to Austin, I started working at Tres Amigos, you know, and I was, you know, it was introduced to, I was a waiter and I was introduced to, like, I guess, you know, the Central Texas, Tex-Mex. Yeah. Because for me, like, you know, growing up on the border, it was all Mexican food. Really? Right.

Nadia Chaudhury And it’s different.

Mando Rayo It’s different that.

Nadia Chaudhury Tex-Mex is different.

Mando Rayo They do call it some dishes. They call them Tex-Mex.

Nadia Chaudhury It’s the palatable. It’s like it’s making it understandable. Yeah. I that’s it’s terminology is very like. That’s what I’ve come to understand.

Mando Rayo Yeah. Yeah.

Nadia Chaudhury It’s not there’s no room for nuance.

Mando Rayo Right. Yeah. Yeah. So when I started working at this restaurant, which, you know, definitely the caters to the 70 and above crowd. Okay, I got to do there early for dinner at 4:00. The early bird, because Luby’s is closed now. And so, so you have, like, your plate of rice and beans and, like, I guess a lightly fried, corn tortilla. And all they would do is like, layer, queso onto that and now onto the tortilla. Yeah. And that was a plate. That was a plate. I was like, what? I’m like, this is a plate. People pay $8 for this. Wow.

Nadia Chaudhury That’s fascinating man.

Mando Rayo Yeah. That was back in the day though Back in the day. I want to know. That was like one of my first year. Like wait what interesting queso like. And then, you know, obviously I made it at home and then going out to the different restaurant. Yeah. And then like this idea of, like, there’s, restaurants that are hardcore. They’re like, no, we’re Mexican restaurants where we’re not going to do queso. Yeah. And then there’s some that do no. Right. Yeah. So what what do you why you know, you you mentioned earlier people also have opinions. Yeah. So why do you think that is. Especially here in Austin I.

Nadia Chaudhury Think I mean it’s a point of pride or like it’s a point of I mean, I hate using this word too, but like authenticity, it’s, you know, a restaurant is ultimately an expression of the owner and chefs selves, you know, like, and if queso is not part of their, their genetics, their DNA, they’re not just they know won’t necessarily like cater to that. Like sort of brought up every you know, the kitchen sink approach is what I think about a lot of restaurants nowadays open with this kitchen sink approach. But if they have their at those, their like their eat, it’s their beliefs. They’re like, no, this is what and especially you know like especially growing up like the El Paso and like the border you know, border foods are very different than Tex-Mex foods than interior Mexican or like Mexican in New York or California. Baja is different than, you know, it’s it’s the point of pride is that we do not like this is me. Yeah. You know, if queso is not me, then I’m not going to put it on my on my menu. Yeah that’s fair. Honestly, I think personally be true to.

Mando Rayo Yourself.

Nadia Chaudhury Is what I feel. And that comes up there like that makes, you know, be strong in your beliefs. Yeah. That’s it. I think, you.

Mando Rayo Know, I love like I love that.

Nadia Chaudhury It’s like my personal. Thing of like. Indian food is not. It’s not like South. It’s a South Asian food. There’s multiple nationalities and regionality is within South Asian food. Not everything is Indian food, right? Like there’s Bangladeshi and Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Nepali like that. It’s sort of similar. Like that’s how I think about it though. So like what you said from Bangladesh and Dhaka versus like Chittagong are different. It’s the same thing. The same thing I feel like. Right.

Mando Rayo Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally. And I think it’s kind of it’s that extension of like the regions, of here in Texas of what you can get and what’s available, but as well as like, you know, Mexico and you know, the, the different ingredients to and, you know, apparently in the 50s there was a lot of, access to processed cheese.

Nadia Chaudhury But that makes sense, right? Like, and it’s the easy accessibility makes all the difference again. You did monster because that was available. Yeah. That’s like that’s what it is.

Mando Rayo You’re right, you’re right. I didn’t think about that. So, so what are your, you know, put you on the spot? Yeah. If you wanted to recommend, places to try queso. Could be old school, new school, whatever you like. Yeah. You know, what are your, like, top three recommendations?

Nadia Chaudhury Go to Yellow Ranger to try it. That’s ridiculous. Amazing. Better half is one of my go to is Torchy’s is my real answer. I like Torchy’s is my. It’s easy. You can get it to go. Whatever it’s. It’s good. Easy. Yeah. Exactly. What you.

Mando Rayo Want it? Nice.

Nadia Chaudhury But. Yeah.

Mando Rayo Okay. And what’s your favorite add on?

Nadia Chaudhury Oh, okay. Good. Walk me through the add ons.

Mando Rayo Oh. That’s funny.

Nadia Chaudhury Yeah.

Mando Rayo All right, all right, so we have our add ons. Add ons make our audio engineer sad. Oh it’s like the fro your add ons. Right. Or Amy’s ice cream. Did you mix it like mix ins? What makes sense? Make it an art. Yeah. Yeah, man. Table sidequeso Why haven’t the.

Nadia Chaudhury Table side queso.

Mando Rayo And but you know, sometimes those, those table side approaches are very like.

Nadia Chaudhury It’s all about the show event. Yeah. Yeah. But also people would like that.

Mando Rayo People would.

Nadia Chaudhury Like. That’s an idea for y’all.

Mando Rayo Go like like, let’s go Austin do everything. I haven’t seen like this queso. Like crazy. Yeah, yeah. In front of you. Yeah. So like, okay, add ons, like, okay, I’ll give you my I got gigabyte yas for me. Definitely check this off. I’m a big cherese of. Yeah, I like, the salsas. Yeah. The macha is.

Nadia Chaudhury I mean, that’s like, I want to try.

Mando Rayo That bad and shout out to, what’s what’s the taco shop in Senada?

Nadia Chaudhury oh. It’s another Senada fantastic.

Mando Rayo Yeah, they’re they’re selling, their salsa macha in in a jar.

Nadia Chaudhury There’s also macha works so beautifully for their seafood tacos.

Mando Rayo Yes. Oh, my goodness. It’s just great on.

Nadia Chaudhury And it’s everything. But yes. Also macha.

Mando Rayo That’s a good one. Yeah. Yeah, I like heat.

Nadia Chaudhury I know I said, I do like better house pastrami, but I feel like generally speaking, though, I do prefer no meat. MK. So, I like the pure cheesiness, and I like a lot of peppers. I like it like I want it to be spicy.

Mando Rayo Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Nadia Chaudhury Like that’s my, like, a lot of spice. Yeah, I want to I want to be able to taste the bits of papayas and stuff like that. That’s how that’s that. I keep it simple.

Mando Rayo Keep it simple. I don’t want.

Nadia Chaudhury I don’t necessarily like, walk in my queso. I feel like it just takes it away. Like, I’d rather have.

Mando Rayo To chew on its.

Nadia Chaudhury On it’s own because Guacamole . Especially avocados are all about their texture, and I feel like mixing it with the queso. It just, it just cancel each.

Mando Rayo Other out personally. But. Yeah. Well, I’m with you on the spice. Yeah. And but also like, I need some protein. Okay. And then that’s fair right. Yeah. Yeah.

Nadia Chaudhury And a good chip. A good. Oh yeah. Chip. Like that’s again going back to that, I think that’s really important because there are also not great chips.

Mando Rayo That’s true, that’s true. I like the ones that are super crispy and bubbly that that that really kind of goes in.

Nadia Chaudhury Well I like the ones that have like I mean, you know, when you have like your plate of chips, do I like the ones that have a little curve.

Mando Rayo Oh yeah. Little. Yeah. Yeah a little bucket. Yeah yeah yeah.

Nadia Chaudhury So I like I like I put a lot of queso on my chips. Oh that’s that’s it. Yeah. Yeah yeah yeah I like a spoon. It’s a spoon.

Mando Rayo Have the portion

Nadia Chaudhury In my one track. Yeah, yeah, that’s how I. It’s a spoon of essentially like.

Mando Rayo All right. Yeah. Nice. Yeah. But but yeah, the chips matter, you know, and I think, you know, starboard chips, there’s different versions of those. But the when the restaurant makes I mean, it makes such a difference. Makes such a difference. So I got a pro tip for you. Housemade chips. While you can fry them up, you know, you know, some light oil and whatnot. What I do is I soak the tortilla and water hmhm with salt. Right? It’s kind of like, a brine. Okay. Yes. Fascinating, I know. Right. And then then I just kind of, like, let them sit for a little bit, let them dry for a little bit. And then I do a flash fry and super high heat, and they come out super crispy.

Nadia Chaudhury Is it the salt like drying out the inherent moisture?

Mando Rayo I don’t know, I just like.

Nadia Chaudhury I’d be curious to know what the.

Mando Rayo Size of that. Yeah.

Nadia Chaudhury Because that’s my guess. And that way it makes it more crispy. Yeah. You let it dry too. Yeah. Interesting.

Mando Rayo Yeah. So so so I’ve done it both ways. And every time I take the time to do that, it definitely, makes it fresh a stronger chip.

Nadia Chaudhury Is, is there a saltiness to the tortilla at all.

Mando Rayo A little bit a little bit. Not overwhelming to a little. Yeah. Okay. Are you still a little. Do a little like a nice little seasoning. Yeah. Yeah. Totally totally. You could, you could salt Bay, you know, the yeah. Well, Nadia has been so much fun to catch catching up with you. Talking about queso. Like, you know, cheese is great. All the cheese. We’re here for the cheese. Yeah. So thank you so much.

Nadia Chaudhury Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.

Mando Rayo All right.

Nadia Chaudhury Thanks.

Mando Rayo Well, there you have it, folks. We talked about it. We lathered ourselves with that Tex-Mex queso. And, you know, one thing that I’m walking away with is I just need some more cats with my life. You know, and, and it’s, you know, whether you love the old school, 1950s version of queso to, like, your own version, you know, that you grew up with, or you go to your favorite restaurant. I think it’s just a fun way to share, a quick appetizer or maybe even a meal if you’re into that. That’s all you. I’m not judging. So I just want to shout out and thank Nadia Choudhary from Eater Austin for being on the show. And shout out to a couple of these places that I love their castle. And so, you might like it too. Matt’s El Rancho in Austin, Texas. The Alan Jay Cafe in El Paso, Texas. And shout out to my mom for making the spiciest queso I’ve ever eaten. Stay cheesy, my friends. This has been the Tacos of Texas podcast developed and produced by Identity Productions. If you enjoyed today’s episode and are craving more taco content, go to our website at www.identity.productions or follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube at Identity Productions and United Tacos of America. If you like the podcast, don’t forget to leave a five star review. Every review helps us keep the podcast going. This is your host, Mando and taco journalist Rayo. Vamos a Los tacos. And the next proximo tacos of Texas. How Rico Torres went from chef to historian, from Italy to historian and community builder. Let’s find out how chef Rico Torres digs into history and culture through cookbooks and recipes. Pueblo Magicos and El Paso family meal pop ups.

Speaker 4 The Tacos of Texas podcast is presented by Identity Productions in partnership with KUT & KUTX Studios. Our host and producer is Mando Rayo. Our audio is mixed by Nicholas Worden. Our story producer is me, Luisa Vanessa, and our creative producer is Dennis Burnett. Music was created by Pallet Grocer in Austin, Texas and King Benny Productions, located in the Quinto barrio of Houston.

This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.


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