Today is Texas Chicken Fried Steak Day. Texas Chicken Fried Steak Day. This was a holiday created by the state legislature in 2011 and recognized by the City of Dallas because Dallas-based Norma’s Cafe led the push to establish a separate holiday.

Norma’s launched a bus tour to celebrate.

I attended today and talked with Ed Murph, the owner of Norma’s. Ever since I became a CFS connoisseur, my impression had been that the dish originated when Austrian immigrants showed up here and had to figure out how to make Schnitzel with the ingredients available in America.

Murph, though, set me straight: CFS is a dish originated by cowboys along the Chisholm Trail who lit a campfire and started frying up the cattle they were driving up to Kansas.

Murph would then point to Burton Gilliam sitting at a nearby table and say, “We’ve got a guy sittin’ over there who can tell you about sittin’ around a campfire. He knows a lot about campfires.”

That’s a real quote.

Burton and I dined on CFS at last year’s event. Today, I asked him how he manages to keep his Blazing Saddles garb in good condition even with all the appearances. I didn’t know if he washed it every night or had an entire closet filled with the essentials. He explained that he had several costumes that he would hand off to his wife on laundry day.

This year, the bus tour didn’t even go to other Norma’s locations. It was a road trip to Canton, Forney and Terrell.

“Touring the countryside and enjoying their Chicken Fried Steak,” Murph explained.

And I looked thoughtfully off into the distance. “I wonder if that’s what the Lord meant for Eden.”

For those of you thinking, “Texas Chicken Fried Steak Day has become too commercial. It’s not really about the Chicken Fried Steak anymore!” I would point out that Norma’s raised $11,000 for the North Texas Food Bank last year.

Think of all the CFS that’ll buy the less fortunate!

The food bank takes donations year round, people. The less fortunate need cream gravy, too, just like you and me.