How Deep Is The Ocean?
The online portfolio & blog of Eric Ogburn

I accepted the position of Electronic Publishing Specialist in the University of Texas’ Registrar’s Office yesterday. I will be in charge of publishing the massive University Catalogs in both print and web versions. I’ll be working in the Tower on campus which will be nice since Beth starts graduate school at UT in a few weeks. I get to sink my teeth into typesetting hundred of pages of text, which probably sounds rather droll to most people, but then again I’m not most people.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, mostly because we’ve been busy moving from New Orleans to Austin, and everything that goes with that. I’m certainly behind on the new Madeleine pictures which I get reminded of quite often.

So what is Austin like? I won’t bore you with details about it being a clean city, with a positive, forward-looking outlook toward urban planning, transportation, etc, or its abundance of live music. I will talk about it’s Mexican food, which has left the largest impression on me so far. I’m not talking about high-brow Mexican food. I’m talking about simple enchiladas with a nice red chile sauce, smothered in cheese. Or a soft corn taco with roasted pork and green chiles. Most Mexican restaurants in America serve the same menu as the ones we’ve tried in Austin, but here, the dishes seem pure, as though all the other plates in America are poor reflections of the Original. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not proclaiming that Austin is the birthplace of Mexican food. What I am proclaiming is that there is a long-standing culture here of quality Mexican food that becomes a self-policing standard that raises the bar above most cities.

Most cities are known for a dish; in New Orleans it’s gumbo, in New York it’s their slice. I’ve heard that in El Paso the migas are unsurpassed. In Austin, the dish is the enchilada. So far (and this is very short list) the best we’ve sampled is at Polvo’s. We can’t wait to go back because you can try their enchiladas with your choice of 15 different salsa, ranching from their spicy Ranchero to mole to pipian. Beth and I have sampled only four so far.

There are over 200 Mexican restaurants in Austin. We’ve been here for a month and tried five (six if you count the day we went to Oaxacan Tamaleo’s twice). Here’s to good eating.