Texas State Pastries

Sopaipilla and Strudel

Adopted on June 22, 2003

Expired  January 31, 2005

Both sopaipilla and strudel were designated official pastries of the State of Texas when Governor Rick Perry signed House Concurrent Resolution No. 92 on June 22, 2003.

When House Concurrent Resolution No. 92 was introduced on March 23, 2003, it proposed that sopaipilla be named the official pastry of the State of Texas.

The first amendment, proposed by Representative David Hilderbran, added the wording that would expire this designation on January 31, 2005. In other words, sopaipilla would only retain the title of official state pastry for 1 1/2 years.

The second amendment, proposed by Representative Carter Casteel, added strudal as an official pastry.

Texas State Pastrie: Sopaipilla and Strudel

The State of Texas has customarily recognized a variety of official state symbols as tangible representations of the state's historical and cultural heritage.

The sopaipilla and strudel are some of the earliest pastries known to have been made in Texas.

Though we still see articles referring to Texas' state sopaipilla and strudel, officially Texas is now without an official pastry.

House Concurrent Resolution No. 72

House Concurrent Resolution No. 92, 78th Legislature, Regular Session (2003)

H.C.R. No. 92

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The State of Texas has customarily recognized a
variety of official state symbols as tangible representations of
the state's historical and cultural heritage; and
WHEREAS, Among such icons are the rodeo, the state sport; the
guitar, the state musical instrument; and chili, the state dish;
and

WHEREAS, 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; and

WHEREAS, 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; and

WHEREAS, 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; and

WHEREAS, 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; and

WHEREAS, 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; and

WHEREAS, 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; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, 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.

Quintanilla
Haggerty