which was
formerly part of FM 1093.
RM 2222, the source of your puz-
zlement, is, for various stretches,
known as Northland Drive, Allan-
dale Road, and Koenig Lane, and was
never an FM road. It’s been an RM
since it was so dubbed by TxDOT,
back in 1954. Or at least it was until
1995, when TxDOT began reclassi-
fying portions of FMs and RMs that
had suddenly found themselves run-
ning through cities as URs, or “ur-
ban roads.” That appellation, though,
proved an unpopular successor to
the familiar and more Texas-y Farm
and Ranch road designations and last
November TxDOT wisely reversed
course and rescinded the order that
brought about the change. Farm-to-
market and ranch-to-market roads:
long may they wind.
Q: When visiting my in-laws in Ar-
kansas, should I speak up when they
offer me “cheese dip” and/or “avoca-
do dip”? Oh, the humanity! It’s queso!
It’s guacamole! As a Texan in a room
full of proud Arkansans, this is a del-
icate situation.
JONATHAN HABASHY, DALLAS
A: Thanks for the letter. Alas, the real
problem here is much bigger than the
fairly simple matter of regional culi-
nary nomenclature. Your mission is
actually a bit more complicated than
you might have thought. See, when
Arkansans refer to queso as cheese
dip, what they’re actually thinking is
“Arkansas cheese dip.” And by doing
so they are, most outrageously, laying
claim to the dish’s invention.
Arkansans, strangely enough, are
under the impression that queso is
an Arkansas thing. They practically
recognize it as an unofficial state dish,
right alongside chocolate gravy and
biscuits, proudly claiming that this
warm, oozy, and comforting cheesy
foodstuff was invented in the thirties
at the Little Rock restaurant Mexico
Chiquito.
But the flaws in this scandalous
assertion are so glaring that the Tex-
anist is reluctant to legitimize it with
a response, preferring to let the his-
torical record do the talking for him.
In her book Queso! Regional Recipes
for the World’s Favorite Chile-Cheese
Dip, Lisa Fain, a.k.a. the Homesick
Texan, points out that the founders
of Mexico Chiquito, W.F. “Blackie”
and Margaret Donnelly, were both
Texans, and before opening the Mex-
ico Chiquito in Little Rock in 1938,
they had opened a Mexico Chiquito in
Kilgore in 1936. It turns out, though,
that while the Donnellys were like-
ly responsible for introducing the
term “cheese dip” to Arkansas, they
weren’t responsible for introducing
queso to the world. Fain’s deep dive
into this bowl of melted cheese re-
veals an origin story that—surprise,
surprise—stars Mexico rather than
Arkansas.
But you didn’t come here for a les-
son in interstate food feuds or the
litigation thereof. You came here for
help with a problem having to do with
how to handle your Arkie in-laws.
So, should you say something?
Well, somebody has to say some-
thing. And since it’s going to be you
rather than the Texanist sitting
there in your wife’s family’s den
sheepishly wolfing down all that de-
licious “cheese dip,” it falls on you to
set the record straight. Simply (and
as delicately as possible) explain to
them, between scoops, that so-called
Arkansas cheese dip is in fact que-
so and that it is Mexican and Tex-
Mexican in origin and not Arkansan
or Ark-Mexican. It won’t be easy, and
the Texanist can’t guarantee that it
will go smoothly, but you have no
choice. The veracity of the historical
record and the honor of chile con
queso are at stake here. Good luck.
Oh, as for the “avocado dip,” the
Texanist suspects that you’re prob-
ably just the victim of some good
old-fashioned Arkansas trolling, or
“goat gettin’,” as they call it up there
in the Natural State. Don’t give them
the pleasure of even responding to
that one. A good son-in-law knows
how to pick his fights. TCONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 8
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