27 National Culinary Awards

"Great Enchiladas!" - Linda in Corpus Christi

The golden chile award. Recognized as the highest award in the industry. (That's debatable, I put just as much clout in the "scovie" award!) Although we usually don’t think of chili as a texmex food- probably because it’s not listed next to the mas grande numero uno plate- it could actually be considered the very first example of texmex. It’s history can be traced back to the late 1600’s and I would say that predates enchiladas and tamales by a couple of centuries anyway. It’s speculated the chili we know today evolved from a dish called “pemmican,” which was ( and still is ) a combination of fat and dried meat pounded together to create a compact, nonperishable trail food perfect for cattle drives. Combined with wild piquin/tepin chiles that grows abundantly in the southwest, it is considered by most to be the first “chili” produced.