A Dictionary of American Cuisines: SouthWest (In Progress)

SOUTHWEST: Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Southern California

Influences: General Southern, Spanish, Native American, Mexican, Swiss-Italian (California), Asian (California)

Native American Tribes: Apache, Bidai, Coahuilteco, Carrizo, Caddo, Comanche, Jumano, Suma, Piro, Karankawa, Kiowa, Kitsai, Tawakoni, Tonkawa, Wichita, Plains Apache, Arapaho, Osage, Jocome, Jano, Pueblo, Navajo, Ute, Zuni, Pima, Cocopah, Halchidhoma, Havasupai, Yavapai, Hualapai, Hopi, Maricopa, Mohave, Southern Paiute, Papago, Yuma

Traditional Ingredients: dairy (sour cream, monterey jack cheese, longhorn chedddar, asadero cheese), fruit (apples, apricots, avocados, bananas, casaba melon, cherries, citrons, figs, dates (black sphinx (endangered heirloom)), limes, meyer lemon, mission olives, nectarines, oranges, grapes (mission, pinot, cabernet, zinfandel), peaches, pears, plums, prickly pear, sonoran white pomegranate (endangered heirloom), quince), grains (cornmeal, hominy, ny'pa seeds (palmer's saltgrass seeds; traditionally used by native americans; endangered), Amaranth (komo/red dye varety which is used by native americans), wheat), lake/stream food (colorado pike minnow), legumes/nuts (almonds, pine nuts, devils claw seeds, walnuts), meats (beef, chicken, goat, hares, rattlesnakes, armadillos, masked bobwhite quail (nearly extinct), sonoran pronghorn antelope (endangered), turkey), seafood (grunion (relative of the smelt), totoaba), seasonings (anise, black pepper, cayenne, chile pepper (El Guique New Mexican, Chimayo), chili powder, chives, cilantro, coriander, cumin, garlic, juniper berries, marjorum, mint (especially in New Mexico), olive oil, oregano, safflower blossoms (used to used as a substitute for saffron), saffron, salt, yerba buena), vegetables (artichokes, Aunt Molly's ground cherry (heirloom)), carrots, chayote squash, chickpeas, chili bean, celery, corn, lentils, onions, pinquito bean, pinto bean, prickly pear cactus pads, red mexican bean, spring onions, tomatoes, tomatillo (cape gooseberry (heirloom), zucchini)

Dishes: Beverages: Angelica Wine (made from mission grapes which are uniquely North American), Atole (cornmeal, pinole, or ny'pa mixed with water, sugar, and spices such as cinnamon and vanilla and sometimes with chocolate or fruit added; traditional among the native popluations), Lager Beer, Mission Wine Punch (cinnamon sticks, cloves, sour orange (daidai) pulp and zest, Angelica Wine, and sugar; old  recipe from the 1890's), Orange Julius (orange juice, crushed ice, powdered milk, and egg whites), Whiskey, Breads/Pastries: Batarete de los Yaquis (a porridge of pinole (parched ground corn), and brown sugar with grated asadero cheese on top), traditional among the Yoemem or Yaqui people of Mexico and Arizona), Sour-dough biscuits, Tortillas (a flatbread made from corn, wheat, or sometimes ny'pa), Breakfast: Atole Porridge (like the beverage but thicker), Barbacoa (Zavala County, Texas; Traditionally a whole beef's head (Beef Brisket is now often used as well) is cooked in a sealed pit from early evening until breakfast time.  It's wrapped in foil, then in saturated hemp sacks, set into the mesquite-wood fire at the bottom of a hole dug in the ground; a sheet of tin is put over the beef's head, and the pit is refilled with dirt to prevent the escape of steam.  Brains and slices of toungue and head meat are served with a sauce of jalapeno peppers, and on the side refried beans and highly spiced avocado; this is traced back to Spanish soldiers), Huevos Rancheros (corn tortillas fried lightly, fried eggs with a tomato chili sauce, refried beans, slices of avocado, fried potatoes, and extra chili peppers), Chili/Stews/Soups: Chili, Chilled Avocado Soup (California), Green Chile Stew (small chunks of pork stewed with onions, potatoes, garlic and green chiles), Red Chile Stew (dried red chiles, soaked in hot water, pureed with spices and aromatics like onions and garlic), Menudo (celebratory fare; served on Sunday mornings when the night before has been a long one; hominy and tripe soup), Son-of-a-Bitch Stew (innards of beef, salt pork, beans, jerky, flour), Texas Strip Dumplings (like chicken and dumplings sans the chicken), Condiments: Gravy (white), Guacamole (of Aztec origin; avocados, lime juice, tomatoes, and salt), K'Ola K'Yalk'Osenne (Roasted Tomatillo Salsa), Mission Grape Marmalade (mission grapes, sugar, and the juice of an orange; an old recipe from the 1890's), Poppy Seed Dressing, Salsa roja (sauce of cooked tomatoes, chili peppers, onions, garlic, and cilantro), Salsa Verde (made with tomatillos), Pico de Gallo (fresh tomatoes, lime juice, chili peppers, onions, cilantro), Entrees: Barbequed Beef Ribs, Bean Bake, Beef Barbeque, Beef Brisket, Boudin Sausage (Eastern Texas), Braised Round Steak (popular around Santa Fe; simmers with onions, tomatoes, and Napa Valley pinot noir wine), Breaded Pork Chops (which is sometimes flavored with mint), Burrito, California-Style Pizza (combines New York and Italian style thin crust with a variety of toppings), Chorizo Piqante (a type of sausage), California Roll (Sushi), Carne Adovada (pork marinated in a red chili sauce with onion, garlic, coriander, Mexican oregano and vinegar), Chalupa, Chicken Barbeque, Chicken Fried Steak, Chicken Mole, Chicken Pot Pie, Chili con carne, Chili Con Queso, Chiles rellenos, Chimichanga, Colorado burrito, Conejo Casserole (California; rabbit marinated in an herb-wine mixture, then slow cooked with sliced mushrooms and sliced ripe olives; One recipe calls for the rabbit to be marinated in white wine and white wine vinegar seasoned with oregano and rosemary.  The rabbit pieces are then sauteed and baked in the marinade with dried apricots for about an hour.), East Texas Onion Pudding, Enchiladas, Fajitas, Flautas, Garlicky Grilled Chicken (California), Green Chilied Pork, Grilled Beef Skirt Steak, Kush (popular during pioneer days; cornbread is crumbled up, and add chopped onions, some black pepper, a pinch of salt, a little lard or butter, and then is put in a pan, boiling water poured over it, and baked.  Eggs are sometimes added.), Lamb (seasoned with juniper berries), Lomo (pork marinated with mild peppers), Pit-Roasted Plains Pronghorn, Puchero (boiled dinner), Posole (hominy, red chilli pulp), Pupusas, Rattlesnake fillet, Roast Duckling with Hot Peppery Jelly, Roast Pork (California; infused with oregano and garlic and is covered with a thick brown sauce containing sliced ripe native olives, raisins, cuminseed, chopped green pepper, and tomatoes), King ranch chicken, Tamales, Tamale Pie, Taquitos, Tacos, Texas Short Ribs, Texas Chicken, Texas Gumbo, Menudo, Santa Maria Barbeque (tri-tip steak grilled over red oak wood, seasoned with garlic, salt, and pepper, then slathered with salsa; dates back to the nineteenth century ranchero days in California), Sopapillas, Turkey Mole, Veal Rolls (California; stuffed, flavored with onion, green pepper, and fresh herbs and topped with a sauce dominated by sliced black olives), Pies/Cobblers: Texas Style Peach Cobbler, Seafood: Boiled Crawdad's (Eastern Texas), Fish Tacos (California), Fried grunion (traditionally eaten once a year at a grunion fry; fried in deep fat on the ocean beach soon after they are caught; not sure if it's done as much anymore), Totoaba Frita (a Serie recipe for fried totoaba), Vegetable Dishes: Baked Beans, Baked Hominy, Barbequed Beans, Caesar Salad (created by Caesar Cardini, an Italian immigrant who had a restaurant in Tijuana; The original recipe calls for romaine lettuce (brought to America by gardeners from the Mediterranean), anchovies, and parmesan cheese; shortcut recipes often include worcestershire in place of the anchovies; The dressing should be made with olive oil in which a crushed clove of garlic has rested overnight.  It also needs two cups of croutons, made from stale sourdough French loaves and cooked in a little of the garlic oil, and two eggs cooked one minute only.  Six to eight romaine leaves are placed in a bowl and seasoned with salt and black pepper, add the oil, then the leaves are carefully turned to coat them evenly.  The eggs are broken and added along with a bit of lemon juice, and then add the anchovy fillets snipped into smaller pieces.  Parmesan cheese and croutons are added at the end.)), Calabacitas (corn and squash simmered with chiles), Cauliflower with Pumpkin Seeds (New Mexico; boiled cauliflower florets are added to a mixture of ground pumpkin seeds, almonds, cumin seed, tabasco peppers, garlic, and parsley which has been added to chicken stock and heated.  Topped with monterey jack cheese.), Chayote Stuffing (California; chayote pulp mixed with garlic-flavored spinach ro with green pepper and tomatoes; some crumble chorizo's to mix in the stuffing), Cobb Salad, Fried Okra, Gazpacho, Grapefruit Salad, Goat Cheese Salad (California; mesclun and chevre rounds coated in bread crumbs and baked, relatively new), Huatle en Chile Verde (pueblo red dye amaranth with green chiles; traditionally served during a native american summer ritual celebrating Venus), Refried Beans, Rice and beans, Nachos, Santa Maria Style Pinquito Beans (garlic infused smoky flavor), Santa Maria Pinquito Bean Salad (pinquito beans, scallions, red onion, bell or jalapeno pepper, olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, cilantro, garlic, salt and pepper), Taco salad

Notable Restaurants: Chez Panisse (Berkely, California; 1971-present; known as the birthplace of contemporary California cuisine)

Quotes: 

Gaspar Perez de Villagra (describing northern New Mexico in 1598)

"[These people of America are] much inclined to cultivate the earth and steward the same.  They harvest beans, corn, and squashes, melons and rich sloes of Castile, and grapes in quantity throughout their landscape...They harvest red wheat and garden fare such as lettuce and cabbage, green beens and peas, cilantro, carrots, turnips, garlic, onions, artichokes, radishes and cucumbers.  They have pleasing herds of turkeys in abundance and fowl of Castile too, in addition to sheep and cattle and goats."

Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America: 

The Spanish introduced many foods to California via Mexico. These included: almonds, apples, apricots, bananas, barley, beans, cherries, chickpeas, chilies, citrons, dates, figs, grapes, lemons, lentils, limes, maize, olives, nectarines, oranges, peaches, pears, plums, pomegranates, quinces, tomateis, walnuts, wheat, chickens, cows, donkeys, goats, horses, sheep and domesticated turkey. "The colonists supplemented their fare with most of the same types of game hunted by the Native Americans. The colonists made corn tortillas, as the wheat varieties that they brought with them were not easily cultivated in California. When wheat became more abundant, it was used to make tortillas on special occasions. The Spanish established the first flour mill in 1786. The role of the missions was to Christianize the California Indians. Many Indians did convert to Christianity and relocated around the Spanish settlements, which resulted in a shift in their diet. They had been accustomed to eating vegetables, fish, and game, but mission agricultures and husbandry brought them a monotonous diet of atole, a gruel made from ground, leached acorns or other nutlike seeds, and pinole, a flour made by grinding seeds." 

---Oxford Encylopedia of Food and Drink in America, Andrew F. Smith [Oxford University Press:New York] Volume 1, 2004 (p. 166)

Notes on Oklahoma Pioneer Eating:

"There were no flies in those days and we could kill a beef and cover it with a cloth to keep dirt away and hang it on the north side of house and it would not spoil even in the hottest weather.  When we killed the beef we drew the meat to the top of a 25-ft. pole and the flies wouldn't bother it.  It would keep some time there even if weather was not cold.  We kept butter.  Made into balls and wrapped in clean soft cloths, in kegs of brine: when used, it was soaked in clean water to extract salt."

"In November 3 or 4 families went to the timber to kill hogs, beef, deer.  Salt down best 10 days, then take out and scald in solution of vinegar, brown sugar, black and red pepper and water: hang in dry place and smoke with hickory for 3 days: then pack in box with corn hucks, charcoal and wood ashes.  Meat so treated would keep for a year."

"Dried venison was wrapped in the deer's hide and brought in."

"We had nothing but kaffir corn pancakes for days.  We flailed and winnowed it by hand and had it ground....Mother put the meal in a pitcher, added salt, and filled the pitcher almost full of water.  This set all night.  In the morning, she added soda.  She greased the griddle with salt pork stuck on a fork, then fried the cakes.  In that period, we ate 'em 3 times a day - no butter, no syrup - and at times as a snack between meals."

"The 2nd year we had a good crop of sweet potatoes and sorghum cane.  We children helped strip the can for the sorghum - and such sorghum?  One barrel, 31 gallons, was black strap and when we wanted some we went to the barrel with a big spoon and wound and wound until the sorghum's own weight separated it from the spoon and it fell into our container.  Another barrel went in sugar - for company.  I was nearly grown before I knew pumpkin pie could be sweetened with anything but sorghum."

"A potato pumpkin cut in two and baked in the oven is as good as sweet potato."

"Wild grapes and plums, and a citrus melon called pie melon were plentiful, and I made lots of both sour and sweet pickles out of this wild pie melon."

~ recorded by the Oklahoma WPA

Oklahoma Scrambled Eggs and Wild Onions:

"In the eastern, Indian, section of Oklahoma housekeepers watch eagerly for the appearance, in late February or early March, of Indian wild onion gatherers.  Their neatly tied bundles are chopped, cooked briefly, then mixed in the skillet with enough eggs to make a family feast."

~ WPA

Texas Chuck Wagon:

Except for rare feasts, generally before round-ups, the meals were plain and monotonous - beans, salt pork (usually "side-meat," modernly called bacon), fresh unfattened beef from the range, and sourdough biscuits.  It is generally agreed that good sourdough biscuits would cover a multitude of other sins, for sourdough biscuits were the bread of life of the Texas plains."

~ WPA

Menus: 

Christmas Menu: Lee's Ferry, Grand Canyon, Arizona, 1889:

Soups: Oxtail, Tomato, Chicken

Fish: Colorado River Salmon (Colorado Pike Minnow)

Meats: Roast Turkey, Roast Beef, Ox Heart, Braised Chicken Game Pie

Vegetables: Mashed Potatoes, Stewed Onions, Tomatoes, Rice, Potato Salad, Wheat, Corn and Graham Bread

Dessert: Plum Pudding, hard Sauce, Mince Pie, Apple Pie, Apple and Cherry Sauce, Chocolate Cake, Bents Crackers and Cheese (Utah), Fruit (Arizona Apples, Peaches, Pears, Raisins, Nuts)

Beverages: Tea, Coffee, Chocolate Milk

Havana Cigars, Turkish Cigarettes

Sources: my head, American Food: What We've Cooked, How We've Cooked It, and the Ways We've Eaten in America Through the Centuries, America the Beautiful Cookbook: Authentic Recipes from the United States of America, Renewing America's Food Traditions: Saving and Savoring the Continent's Most Endangered Foods, www.wikipedia.org, www.lifeintheusa.com, http://berksweb.com/pam/, www.foodtimeline.org, www.native-languages.org/states.htm, http://www.kurtsaxon.com/foods011.htm, www.answers.yahoo.com (avomatic, Martha Z, Jenny, Gary)