While today’s fajitas((Stock photo of cow courtesy of Marijin van Braak. Stock photo of boot courtesy of Natalie Jones. Both obtained from http://sxc.hu.)) may feature anything from shrimp to chicken to pork, traditional fajitas are made only with a particular cut of beef known as skirt steak. Mexican ranch workers in the 1930s and 40s were given this relatively tough cut as part of their wages ((Stradley, L. (2004). Fajitas History. Retrieved from http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/FajitaHistory.htm.)), and grilled it up to serve their families. However, years passed before any dishes associated with it would be seen as anything but a recycling of “throwaway” meat.

In 1969, however, “fajitas appear to have made the quantum leap from campfire and backyard grill obscurity to commercial sales” ((Wood, V. (2005). Fajita History. The Austin Chronicle, March, 2005. )). Sonny Falcon, an Austin meat market manager, operated the first commercial fajita taco concession stand at an outdoor event in a small town in Texas.

Ninfa Rodriguez Laurenzo, owner of a Mexican restaurant in Texas, further popularized fajitas after a customer returning from Mexico City asked her to make him an “upscale taco” ((See footnote 2.)), with steak instead of the usual ground beef. Ninfa realizes that the item could become a big hit on the menu, and it did.

Today, even as the concept of fajitas has been expanded, the original fajitas can still be traced back to roots that are truly “Tex-Mex”, in the most basic sense of the term.