Patti Jinich Makes a Run for the Border

Two-part culinary travel series La Frontera airs on PBS

By Roberto Leal

I never miss an episode of Patti’s Mexican Table on PBS. Don’t know which I enjoy more, watching Patti Jinich prepare delicious Mexican cuisine or listening to Patti speak in that delicious Mexican accent. And I always, to the ever-loving irritation of my Anglo wife, sing along to her opening theme song.  So, I was very pleased to see Patti got a primetime, two-part culinary travel series on PBS titled La Frontera with Patti Jinich: Miles from Nowhere.

I was especially pleased to see the show takes Patti to El Paso, Ciudad Juárez, Laredo, Nuevo Laredo, McAllen and Brownsville porque mis raíces, mi familia, mi corazón y mi alma están en La Frontera, so I’m a little miffed about the subtitle: Miles from Nowhere. Miles from nowhere? I live in San Antonio now but have spent considerable time in El Paso, Laredo, Brownsville and lived in McAllen. Those cities are not miles from nowhere and I don’t consider myself a Nowhere Man. Some pendejo gringo copywriter at the PBS headquarters in Arlington County, Virginia who goes to Taco Bell for “authentic” Mexican food must have come up with that line. Miles from nowhere? My grandfather, Fernando Leal was born in Brownsville and so was Kris Kristofferson for Krist Sake!

La Frontera along the Tex-Mex borders is like San Marino in Italy; an independent, sovereign country within a larger nation-state. Patti will be exploring the different culinary traditions within this wonderful, culturally rich, diverse, unique and most misunderstood part of  America that author and social critic Gore Vidal called The Occupied Territories. As my home state of Texas begins to morph from purple to a beautiful, bright azul, La Frontera will play an increasingly important role in Texas and national politics.

Note to the pendejo gringo copywriter at PBS headquarters: La Frontera is only miles from nowhere in the vast empty regions of your mind. We’re right here, vato!¡Viva La Frontera! Come for the fiesta, comida, musica, cerveza, tequila y la gente encantadora y amigable. Stay for the menudo.

La Frontera with Patti Jinich: Miles from Nowhere airs on PBS. Check local listings for times.

Featured Photo: La Frontera with Patti Jinich: Miles from Nowhere (Credit: Courtesy)