I heard it on the radio: “Today is Chicken Fried Steak Day.” It was October 26th and I was hungry, but I never did enjoy the dish that day. My taste buds remembered their loss and I set out to correct my gastronomic mistake.

Chicken Fried Steak is not chicken. That’s one thing we have to get straight at the outset. Chicken Fried Steak is a flat steak that is cooked like fried chicken. In the Cowboy Days in West Texas, it was not the tenderest cut of beef that was used. All the easy-chewing steak had already been eaten up. So, the Chef of the Chuck Wagon took the tougher cuts, gave them a good pounding with a heavy mallet, breaded the flattened and tenderized results, and fried up those steaks for the hunger cowpokes waiting around the campfire with their forks and knives in the air. They loved those breaded steaks: “More over here, Cookie,” they’d yell, “and pass the salt and pepper. Mmmmmmm, good.” Chicken Fried Steak was born that day on the Staked Planes, the Llano Estacado, of the Texas Panhandle.

No one knows the date of that original campfire meal, probably in the 1800s. We do know that in 1911, Jimmy Don Perkins was working as a short-order cook in a cafe in Lamesa, Texas. Lamesa is just south of Lubbock in the Llano Estacado. Well, it’s said that Jimmy Don confused two separate orders, one for chicken and one for fried steak, and created chicken fried steak. It might be, but what may not be remembered is that Jimmy Don could also have been a part-time wrangler who had already experienced a good chuck-wagon chicken fried steak. Now, maybe, he just saw those two orders and cooked what he knew was best for the customers. (One forgets that in Texas, what other’s might view as apocrypha is often seen as history.) In any event, those customers took a bite of that chicken fried steak, with the white gravy and mashed potatoes, and they just loved it and they kept coming back for more.

It wasn’t long after that Lamesa became known as the home of chicken fried steak. Still, something was lacking. In Texas we take our steaks seriously and something needed to be done to set the record straight. This was remedied in 2011 when the Texas Legislature in Austin issued an official Resolution, which states in part:

“WHEREAS, This signature dish occupies a special place in the culinary culture of the Lone Star State, and Texas Chicken Fried Steak Day provides a welcome opportunity to pay homage to that shared legacy; therefore, be it

“RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas Legislature hereby recognize October 26, 2011, as Texas Chicken Fried Steak Day and extends sincere best wishes to all who are taking part in this unique occasion.”

Since then, October 26 has been celebrated as Texas Chicken Fried Steak Day, and Lamesa hosts an annual celebration to remember the origins of the dish and to partake in, as the Texas Legislature has affirmed,

“that exceptional dish that elevates the hearty flavor of beef to new heights by coating it in batter and breading and frying it until the ingredients are melted into a blissful union.”

Well said and will met. I have now met together with my good friend at four local Dallas restaurants to sample this unique Texas dish: “Republic — Texas Tavern,” “Babes Chicken Dinner House,” “Cindi’s New York Delicatessen, Restaurant and Bakery,” and “Street’s Fine Chicken.” These are all outstanding establishments and each prepares a commendable version of the signature Texas dish. Each is slightly different and all are delightfully delicious.

The list of local kitchens goes on and on. Perhaps, I will even make the trip to Lamesa and sample the fare at the adopted home of this Cowboy original. Maybe, I’ll pass by the in-town storefronts and drive out, with my good friend at my side, over the long Staked Plains, the sky painted in the bright and fading colors of the setting sun, search out the lonely outline of a single chuck wagon, stop and ask if they might have an extra plate or two to share with some happy travelers.

Folks are friendly in Texas. I’m sure they won’t mind. If you’re out that way, stop by and join us. Could there be anything better than chicken fried steak around an open Texas campfire.

“More over here, Cookie. Some extra gravy, too, please. It’s so, so good.”

And, it is

Grandpa Jim