We stole thier combo plate idea

Recently came across this short interview, in which Gustavo Arellano waxes sociological on the influence of Mexican food on American cuisine, and the ever-evolving, trans-border nature of food culture and identity. When asked whether plates smothered with yellow cheese can be considered truly Mexican:

"It absolutely is Mexican food, with no qualifiers. The great Chicano scholar Américo Paredes coined the term “Greater Mexico” to refer to how, even though Mexican migrants might’ve gone into the United States, that somehow didn’t negate their mexicanidad on virtue of geographic movement; they were still Mexican."

And some more interesting tidbits on regional variations:

"Cal-Mex cuisine has more guacamole, burritos, and tacos, and is really the pocho child of Sonoran cooking (where beef reigns, along with the flour tortilla) and central Mexico, specifically Jalisco (home to menudo, birria, pozole, and flautas, which we know better as taquitos). Then there’s New Mexican food, Colorado Mexican, Fresh Mex…just wait for the book!"

I'm happy about the shout-out to NM food, and I did not know that Cali-Mex was largely pocho Sonoran. Makes sense, though. Although there are probably plenty of immigrants from Mexico's deep south in the state, the political and social continuity between California and Baja/Sonora goes back to the days of Serra and de Anza.