SRC-TJG H.C.R. 92 78(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   H.C.R. 92
By: Quintanilla (Madla)
Administration
5/22/2003
Engrossed


DIGEST

The State of Texas has customarily recognized a variety of official state
symbols as tangible representations of the state's historical and cultural
heritage.  Among such icons are the rodeo, the state sport; the guitar,
the state musical instrument; and chili, the state dish.  In keeping with
this custom, the designation of the sopaipilla and strudel as the official
State Pastries of Texas shall provide suitable recognition for these
historic symbols of the state's cultural heritage, for the sopaipilla and
strudel are some of the earliest pastries known to have been made in
Texas.  The primary ingredient of the sopaipilla and strudel is wheat
flour, the use of which in Texas can be traced as far back as 1682 in
Ysleta, the oldest continuously occupied community in the state; located
in present-day El Paso County, Ysleta is the site of a mission established
by Franciscan friars and Tigua Pueblo Indians; the Tigua planted,
harvested, and ground wheat for use in meals that they prepared for the
friars, and by the 1730s they were cultivating wheat for themselves. Like
the grain from which it is made, the wheat flour tortilla, too, can be
traced to the El Paso area; it was produced there several hundred years
ago by the Tigua, using lard from domesticated pigs, yet another item
introduced in Texas by the Spaniards; the Tigua, who originally helped to
raise pigs for the friars, had adopted the animals as a source for their
own meals as early as the second quarter of the 18th century.  Generally
made from a flour dough recipe, the sopaipilla was deep fried in lard in
earlier times and today is fried in healthier oils; it has been known by
the Tigua of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo as "Indian fry bread" for well over
a hundred years and is enjoyed by them on a variety of occasions.  Widely
known throughout the great State of Texas and across the nation, the
sopaipilla and strudel are served in restaurants and cooked at home, both
from family recipes and from store-bought mixes; the sopaipilla may be
topped with honey, cinnamon, or powdered sugar and may even be stuffed
with beans, meat, or ice cream.  The sopaipilla and strudel stand out
among Texas pastries because of their historic origins and universal
appeal; embraced today by Texans of every ethnic background, the
sopaipilla and strudel constitute a much-savored part of Texans' shared
cultural identity. 
 
PURPOSE 

H.C.R. 92 submits the following resolutions:  That the 78th Legislature of
the State of Texas hereby designate the sopaipilla and the strudel as the
official State Pastries of Texas until January 31, 2005.