I'm from the area around Eagle Pass, Texas and have lived in San
Antonio & Austin. I now live in Richmond, VA and am wondering about a
rather insipid pre-dinner "cheese dip" that accompanies the bowl of
salsa at the table in local Mexican restaurants.

I've never seen this before I came to Virginia. It's more like a
bland, creamy white salad dressing and is a number of points down the
scale from the velveeta/Rotel glop that passes for chile con queso in
many places. Where did this come from? It sure ain't like any thing
I've run across in my eating of Mexican food in places as diverse as
Centralia, WA, Salem, OR, Arizona, New Mexico, many place in Texas,
Idaho, Colorado, Illinois, Kennett Sq, PA, and Westchester County, NY
(there's an area there with suprisingly good comida there; a lot of
Long Island landscaping crews live in the area). I won't even consider
this to be interior of Mexico food. At least I hope it isn't.

Any ideas about how this dismal dish got started? Several of the
original Mexican restaurants in town are actually run by Lebanese from
Zacatecas & Durango. I've never seen anything like this in Lebanese
food either. It sure ain't made with yoghurt or labneh.

Ted