Yes, we share staples-chiles, posole, tortillas, and beans, for instance-but our only-in-New-Mexico spin is a centuries-old distillation of Native foraging and cultivation, Spanish colonial imports, and a long period of geographic isolation, before the railways began offloading edibles from elsewhere. The confusion is understandable to a point. NOTHING BURNS OUR BURRITOS like hearing people-including otherwise knowledgeable foodies-refer to New Mexico’s cuisine as “Tex-Mex” or “Mexican.”
