|
|  Have questions? Ask! |
ABOUT TEX MEX CUISINE
What is Tex-Mex?
[1940s]
"Tex-Mex. A combination of the words "Texan" and "Mexican," first printed in 1945, that refers
to an
adaptation of Mexican dishes by Texas cooks. It is difficult to be precise as to what distinguishes
Tex-Mex
from true Mexican food, except to say that the variety of the latter is wider and more regional,
whereas
throughout the state and, now, throughout the entire United States."
[1950s]
"Mexican restaurants, whos popularity coincided with the arrival of large numbers of Mexican
immigrants after 1950,
have for the most part followed the from and style of what is called "Tex-Mex" food, and
amalgam of Northern Mexican
peasant food with Texas farm and cowboy fare. Chili, which some condsider Texas's state dish,
was unknown in Mexico
and derived from the ample use of beef in Texan cooking. "Refried beans" are a mistranslation of
the Mexican dish
frijoles refritos, which actually means well-fried beans...The combination platter of enchiladas,
tacos, and tortillas
became the unvarying standards of the Tex-Mex menu, while new dishes like chimichangas
(supposedly invented in the
the 1950s at El Charro restaurant in Tucson, Arizona) and nachos (supposedly first served at a
consession at Dallas's
State Fair of Texas in 1964...) were concocted to please the American palate....One Tex-Mex
item that may someday
rival the pizza as an extraordinarily successful ethnic dish is the fajita...introduced at Ninfa's in
Houston on July 13,
1973, as tacos al carbon. No one knows when or where it acquired the name fajita, which means
girdle' or'strip' in
Spanish and refers to the skirt steak originally used in the preparation...Only in the last decade has
refined, regional
Mexican food taken a foot-hold in American cities, reflecting not only the tenets of Tex-Mex
cookery by the cuisines of
Mexico City, the Yucatan, and other regions with long-standing culinary traditions."
[1970s]
Los
Angeles Times Cookbook: Old Time California, Mexican and Spanish Recipes [1905]
History & evolution:
Recommended books:
America's First Cuisines, Sophie D. Coe
The history of bunuelos and churros can be traced to ancient
peoples. fritters were known to many cultures and cuisines; each evolving
according to local tastes and customs. These foods were introduced to Mexico by
Spanish settlers. There are several foods closely related to bunuelos and churros: sopaipillas & fry bread. In other countries, simliar recipes evolved as
doughnuts, funnel cake, and waffles.
About bunuelos
"Most countries have their version of bunuelos, or fritters, either sweet or savory, and they are certainly great favorites throughout
Spain and Latin America. In many parts of Mexico bunuelos are made of a stiffer dough, which is rolled out thin anywhere up to 12
inches in diameter and then fried crisp and staked up ready for use. In Uruapan...they are broken into small pieces and heated\
quickly in a thick syrup of piloncillo, the raw sugar of Mexico. These of Veracruz are very much like the churros of Spain, but
flavored with aniseeds, and served with a syrup."
About churros
"At every Spanish festival or carnival, one is sure to find a huge cauldron of
bubbling oil where Churros are quickly fried, shaped into loops, and threaded into
reeds that are then knotted for easy carrying. They are meant to be purchased
immediately after frying, usually by the dozens, and are munched on by visitors as
they wander about taking tin the sights. Churros are nothing more than fried batter
of flour and water, but they are essential to a Spanish breakfast, dipped either in
sugar or in a cup of coffee or thick hot chocolate...If one is out on an all-night
binge--a juerga, as it is called--it is the custom to end the evening by eating
Churros and hot chocolate at the churreria, or churro store, which opens by dawn."
RECOMMENDED READING:
Like many other popular Mexican-American dishes, burritos combine ancient traditions (filled
tortillas) with contemporary ingredients spiced to suit tastes of the general public.
"The burrito, meaning literally little burro or donkey, became irreversibly linked to the
tortilla-rolled packages. Burrito lovers David Thomsen and Derek Wilson believe that the modern
burrito
originated "in the dusty borderlands between Tucson and Los Angeles." The word burrito first
saw print in America in 1934. It was sold at Los Angeles's famed El Cholo Spanish Cafe during
the 1930s. Burritos entered Mexican-American cuisine in other parts of the Southwest around the
1950s and went nationwide a decade later."
"Burrito. A tortila rolled and cooked on a griddle, then filled with a variety of coniments. Burritos
are a Mexican-American staple. The word, from Spanish for "little donkey," first saw print in
America in 1934. If fried, the burrito becomes a chimichanga."
Recommended reading:
Chile peppers are "New World" foods, so it stands to reason Native Americans (from South/Central
America/American Southwest) ate them before the European Explorers discovered these lands. Hot chile peppers
were sometimes combined with tomatoes to form an early version of salsa. It is important to note that there are many
different kinds of peppers: sweet, bell, Holland. Some of these were introduced later by scientists. Hungarian famous
paprika is derived from this commodity. Wilbur
Scoville invented the famous chile "heat" scale bearing his name.
ABOUT CHILE PEPPERS: quick & general.
ORIGINS
"The fruits of Capsicum species seem to have a magnetic attraction for confusing colloquila nomes. It began with Columbus
discovering them on his first voyage and calling them peppers of the Indies, initiating a mix-up which has lasted to this day...
This fruit with many names brows on plants of the genus Capsicum, members of the Solanacae family like the tomatoes and potatoes...
There were three species, or species groups, of cultivated chiles in ancient America...The white-flowered and white seeded Capsicum
annum, chinense, Capsicum annum was in Mexico to be found, wild, in cultural deposits in the Tehuacan valley dating from
7200 to 5200 B.C..."
"Wild chillies were being gathered and eaten in Mexico c.7000BC, and were cultivated there before 3500 BC."
CHILE PEPPER MIGRATION
"Interestingly...it was not the Spanish who were responsible
for the early diffusion of New World food plants. Rather, it was the Portuguese, aided by local traders following long-used trade
routes, who spread American plants though the Old World with almost unbelievable rapidity...Unfortunately, documentation for the
routes that chilli peppers followed from the Americas is not as plentiful as that for other New World economic plants...
it is highly probable that capsicums accompanied the better-documented Mesoamerican food complex of corn, beans, and squash, as peppers
have been closely associated with these plants throughout history...The fiery new spice was readily accepted by the
natives of Africa and India...From India, chilli peppers traveled...not only along the Portuguese route back around Africa to Europe but also over ancient trade routes that led
either to Europe via the Middle East or to monsoon Asia...In the latter cakes, if the Portuguese had not carried chilli peppers
to Southeast Asia and Japan, the new spice would have been spread by Arabic, Gujurati, Chinese, Malaysian, Vietnamese, and Javanese
traders...In the Szechuan and Hunan provinces in China, where many New World foods were established within the lifetime of the
Spanish conquistadors, there were no read leading from the coast. Nonetheless, American foods were known there by the middle of the
sixteenth century, having reached these regions via caravan routes from the Ganges River through Burma and across western
China..."
ABOUT PEPPERS IN EUROPE
"Despite a European 'discovery' of the Americas, chilli peppers diffused throughout Europe in circuitous fashion. Following the
fall of Granada in 1492, the Spaniards established dominance over the western Mediterranean while the Ottoman Turks succeeded
power in northern Africa...the Mediterranean became...two separate seas divided by Italy, Malta, Sicily, with little or no trade or
contact between the eastern and western sections. Venice was the center of the spice and Oriental trade of central Europe, and Venice
depended on the Ottoman Turks...From central Europe the trade went to Antwerp and the rest of Europe, although Antwerp also received
Far Eastern goods from the Portuguese via India, Africa, and Lisbon. It was along these avenues that chili peppers traveled into much
of Europe. They were in Italy by 1535...Germany by 1542...England before 1538...the Balkans before 1569...and Moravia by 1585...But
except in the Balkans and Turkey, Europeans did not make much use of chilli peppers until the Napoleonic blockade cut off their supply
of spices and they turned to Balkan paprika as a substitute. Prior to that, Europeans had mainly grown capsicums in containers
as ornamentals."
"We know that Columbus was the first European to see Native Americans consuming capsicum peppers, and our word for them reveals that
he was really searching for black pepper and called these 'pimiento' with as much enthusiasm as he called the natives 'Indians.'
But the very fact that they could also be found far away as China within a few years has led some scholars to suggest that they
may have reached Asia even before they did Europe. It is certain though that the Portuguese brought peppers to their colonies in
Asia. Peppers were first described in Europe in the German herbal of Leonard Fuchs in 1542, but he thought they came from India.
Like several other New World imports though, it appears that poor people were the only ones willing to eat them; they are not even mentioned
in cookbooks which naturally catered to a literate and elite audience."
"Chile is historically associated with the voyage of Columbus (Heiser 1976). Columbus is given credit for introducing chile to Europe, and subsequently to Africa
and to Asia. On his first voyage, he encountered a plant whose fruit mimicked the pungency of the black pepper, Piper nigrum L. Columbus called it red pepper
because the pods were red. The plant was not the black pepper, but a heretofore unknown plant that was later classified as Capsicum. Capsicum is not related to
the Piper genus. In 1493, Peter Martyr (Anghiera 1493) wrote that Columbus brought home "pepper more pungent than that from the Caucasus." Chile spread
rapidly across Europe into India, China, and Japan. The new spice, unlike most of the solanums from the Western Hemisphere, was incorporated into the cuisines
instantaneously. Probably for the first time, pepper was no longer a luxury spice only the rich could afford. Since its discovery by Columbus, chile has been
incorporated into most of the world's cuisines. It has been commercially grown in the United States since at least 1600, when Spanish colonists planted seeds and
grew chile using irrigation from the Rio Chama in northern New Mexico (DeWitt and Gerlach 1990)."---
SOURCE
ABOUT PEPPERS IN BRITAIN
"A few new spices reached Britain after the end of the Middle Ages. The Spaniards brought back from Central America several
members of the capsicum family, which were naturalized in southern Europe. The larger fruits were imported thence into England
under the name of Guinea pepper. The smallest, reddest and hottest of the American capsicums, when dried and powdered,
produced cayenne pepper, the 'chyan' of English eighteenth century recipe books."
"The use of the term pepper for fruits of the capsicum family dates from the eighteenth century, an allusion to the similar
pungency of taste. In particular it refers to the Capsicum annuum, a native of tropical America, which is generally called more fully
the sweet pepper (an alternative name in American English is bell pepper)."
"The word "cayenne" seems to come from kian, the name of the pepper among the Tupi Indians of northeastern South America. The pod type
probably originated in what is now French Guiana and was named after either the Cayenne River of the capital of the country,
cayenne. It owes its spread to Portugal, whose traders carried it to Europe, Africa, India, and Asia. Although it probably
was introduced into Spain before 1500, its circuitous route caused it to be transferred to Britain from India in 1548...In 1597, the
botanist John Gerard referred to cayenne as "ginnie or Indian pepper" in his herbal, and in his influential herbal of 1652, Nicholas
Culpepper wrote that cayenne was "this violent fruit" that was of considerable service to "help digestion, provoke urine,
relieve toothache, preserve the teeth from rottenness, comfort a cold stomach, expel the stone from the kidney, and take away
dimness of sight." Cayenne appeared in Miller's The Gardener's and Botanist's Dictionary in 1768, proving it was being cultivated
in England--at least in home gardens."
"The melegueta pepper enjoyed great popularity during the Elizabethan Age in England, primarily through trade with
Portugal."
Gerard's Herbal 1633:
CHILE PEPPERS IN COLONIAL AMERICA
"Peppers of the annuum species were transferred into what is now the American Southwest--first
by birds and then by humankind. Botanists believe that the wild annum variety known as
chiltepins spread northward from Mexico through dissemination by birds long before Native
Americans domesticated peppers and made them part of their trade goods. These chiltepins still
grow wild today in Arizona and in South Texas, where they are known as chilipiquins. According
to most accounts, chile peppers were introduced the second time into what is now known the
United States by Calitan General Juan de Onate, who founded Sante Fe in 1609. However, they
may have been introduced to the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico by the Antonio Espejo
expedition of 1582-83. According to one of the members of the expedition..."They have no chile,
but the native were given some seed to plant." But by 1601, chiles were not on the list of Indian
crops, according to colonist Francisco de Valverde..But soon chiles were being grown by Spanish
and Indians alike.. We do know that soon after the Spanish arrived, the cultivation of peppers in
New Mexico spread rapidly and the pods were grow both in Spanish settlements and native
pueblos...During the 1700s, peppers were popping up in other parts of the country. In 1768,
according to legend, Minorcan settlers in St. Augustine, Florida, introduced the datil pepper, a
land race of the Chinese species...Other introductions were also occuring during the eighteenth
century. In 1785, George Washington planted two rows of "bird peppers" and one row of cayenne
at Mount Vernon, but it is not known how he acquired the seed. Another influential American,
Thomas Jefferson, was also growing peppers from seed imported from Mexico. By the early
1800s, commercial seed varieties became available to the American public. In 1806 a botanist
named McMahon listed four varieties for sale, and in 1826, another botanist named Thornburn
listed "Long' (cayenne), "Tomato-Shaped' (squash), 'Bell' (oxheart), 'Cherry' and 'Bird' (West
Indian) peppers as available for gardeners. Two years later, squash peppers were cultivated in
North American gardens and that same year (1828), the 'California Wonder Bell' pepper was first
named and grown commercially."
Food historian Karen Hess observed:
RECOMMENDED READING:
Chili, a new world recipe, originally meant beans served in a spicy tomato sauce. This
nutritionally balanced combination was known to ancient Aztec and Mayan cooks. Food
historians generally agree chili con carne is an American recipe with Mexican roots.
"Con carne" means with meat (Carne is the Spanish word for meat).
Today in the United States, chile con carne is usually a combination of beans, sauce
and ground beef. It can be made at home, selected from restaurant menus or
purchased (ready-made or in kits) from food stores. Dedicated southwestern chili
afficionados concentrate on spices, not the meat. Unless? Of course, they live in
Texas.
"Chili con carne...a dish of well-seasoned and well-cooked beef with chile peppers. Chili con
carne is one of the most famous dishes of Texas, although wide variations are known throughout
the United States...According to Dave DeWitt and Nancy Gerlach in The Whole Chilie Pepper
Book (1990), a dish that sounded identical to what came to be called chili was described by J.C.
Clopper, who visited San Antonio in 1828, and commented on how poor people would cut the
little meat they could afford "into a kind of hash with nearly as many peppers as there are pieces
of meat--this is all stewed together." The first mention of the word "chile" was in a book by S.
Compton Smith entitled Chile Con Carne, or The Camp and the Field (1857), and there was a
"San Antonio Chili Stand" at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair."
"Chili con carne sounds authentically Spanish, which it could hardly be, for the Spaniards had
never seen a chili before they reached America; it was an element of Indian, not of Spanish,
cooking. The Spanish name could have been explained by a Mexican origin, but the only persons
who deny that provenance more vehemently than the Texans, who claim credit for it, are the
Mexicans, who deny paternity with something like indignation...This dish is believed to have been
invented in the city of San Antonio some time after the Civil War; it grew in favor after the
developement of chili powder in New Braunfels in 1902."
"Instinctively, one knows that chili originated in the Southwest, was of Mexican inspiration, and
that it moved eastward to the southern states in the early part of the century. Although American
Indians used for one dish or another such chilies as could be found in various parts of America,
chili con carne was not an Indian invention. Carolyn Niethammer, in her book American Indian
Food and Lore, states that the tiny round chili called chillipiquin was known in New Mexico
and Arizona, but the Indians did not know the large, domesticated chilies such as those used in
chili con carne "until the Spaniards brought them [here] after passing through Mexico." The late
Frank X. Tolbert, perhaps the nation's leading historian on the subject of chili, indicates in his
book, A Bowl of Red, his assurance that chili originated in San Antonio, Texas."
"Chili con carne is a stew that consists of meat, hot chile peppers, a liquid such as water or broth, and spices. It may or may
not contain such ingredients as onions, tomatoes, or beans. Everything about chili con carne generates some sort of controversy-
the spelling of the name, the origin of the dish, the proper ingredients for a great recipe...Although archaeological
evidence indicates that chile peppers evolved in Mexico and South America, most writers on the subject state flatly that
chili did not orginate in Mexico. Even Mexico disclaims chili; one Mexican dictionary defines it as: "A detestable dish
sold from Texas to New York City and errouneously described as Mexican." Despite such protestations, the combiantion of meat and
chile peppers in stew-like concoctions is not uncommon in Mexican cooking...Mexican caldillos (thick soups or stews), moles
(meaning "mixture"), and adobos (thick sauces) often resemble chili con carne in both appearance and taste because they all
sometimes use similar ingredients: various types of chiles combined with meat (usually beef), onions, garlic, cumin, and
occasionally tomatoes. But chili con carne fanatics tell strange tales about the possible origin of chili. The story of the
"lady in blue" tells of Sister Mary of Agreda, a Spanish nun in the early 1600s who never left her convent in Spain but
nonetheless had out-of-body experiences during which her spirit would be transported across the Atlantic to preach
Christianity to the Indians. After one of the return trips, her spirit wrote down the first recipe for chili con carne, which the
Indians gage her: chile peppers, venison, onions, and tomatoes. An only slightly less fanciful account suggests that Canary
Islanders, transplanted to San Antonio as early as 1723, used local peppers nad wild onions combined with various meats to create
early chili combinations. E. De Grolyer...believed that Texas chili con carne had its origins as the "pemmican of the
Southwest" in the late 1840s...The most liekly explanation for the origin of chili con carne in Texas comes from the heritage
of Mexican food combined with the rigors of life on the Texas frontier. Most historians agree that the earliest written
description of chili came from J.C. Clopper, who lived near Houston. Hew worte of visiting San Antonio in 1828: "When they [poor fmailies
of San Antonio] hve to lay for their meat in the market, a very little is made to suffice for the
family; it is generally cut into a kind of hash with nearly as many peppers as there are pices of meat--this is all stewed
together." Except for this one quite, which dcoes not mention the dish by name, historians of heat can find no documented
evidence of chili in Texas before 1880. Around that time in San Antonio, a municipal market--El Mercado--was operating in
Military Plaza. Historian Charles Ramsdell noted that "the first rickety chili stands" were set up in this marketplace, with bols
o'red sold by women who were called "chili queens."...A bowl o'red cost visitors like O. Henry and William Jennings Bryan a mere
dime and was served with bread and a glass of water...The fame of chili con carne began to spread and the dish soon became
a major tourist attraction...At the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893, a bowl o'red was availabe at the "San Antonio Chili
Stand."
The popular theory behind the "invention" of the chimichangas (as we know them today) is that a
cook either accidentally or purposely dropped a burrito into a deep fat fryer. Most stories place
the invention of this food in Arizona (the Tucson area) just after World War II. Is this fact? Or
fiction?
Two keys points regarding the history chimichangas: Filled tortillas/fried grain products are
thousands of years old and Tex-Mex food went mainstream in America in the 1950s. It is
interesting to note that toasted ravioli (popularly attributed to St. Louis, 1947) has a very similar
story. After World War II, American tastes expanded and ethnic restauranteurs willing to adapt
traditional dishes to accomodate pervading American expectations (fried foods, meats, & sweets)
flourished. So did deep fat fryers.
This is what a respected American food historian has to say about chimichangas...
Notes on the history of
Tex-Mex foods.
It is interesting to note that El Charro resturant, Tucson, AZ, (one of several places that is
credited for inventing the chimichanga) doesn't take credit for inventing the item in their history of the restaurant.
If you need more information, ask your librarian to help you find these articles:
"Enchilada...A Tortilla stuffed with various filling of meat, cheese, chili sauce, chiorzo sausage,
and other ingredients. It is a Spanish-American term meaning "filled with chili" and was first
printed in America in 1885. An article in American Speech [magazine] in 1949 asserted
that anenchilada was "a Mexican dish prepared more for turista [tourists] than for local
consumption."
The dish has become a staple of Mexican-American restaurants."
"Those foods which derived directly from Mexican traditions were...enchiladas...Enchiladas were
identified as "corn fritters allowed to simmer for a moment in chili sauce, and then served hot with
a sprinkling of grated cheese and onion."[31] In 1921 Louise Lloyd Lowber described the first
process for making enchiladas: first a tortilla was placed in the center of a plate, "then a flood of
rich, red chilee sauce from a near-by kettle, a layer of grated cheese, another tortilla, more chile
and more cheese, sprinkled between in layer-cake fashion, and the whole topped with a high
crown of chopped onions in which nestles an egg, which has been broken a minute into the hot
lard. An artistic and cooling garnish of lettuce and behold an enchilada."[32]"
Our research confirms 1971 as first print date for "fajitas," as we know them today. Below please find the Oxford English
Dictionary and full text of the original source, courtesy of Barry Popick. We did not find earlier dates in ProQuest
Newspapers, Newspaper Archives, or Diana Kennedy's books. Elena Zeyelata is referenced below. This angle might be worth
pursuing. According to current food historians, Ninfa's menu item was titled Tacos al Carbon (1973). This was also the
title of a popular movie in 1972. Coincidence?
Excellent overview here:
ABOUT FAJITAS
[1970]
[1971]
Barry Popik shares the excerpt referenced above:
Tex-Mex Cookbook
by Sam Huddleston, part owner of Texas
(self-published),1971 Pg. 29:
[1982]
[1984]
[1985]
ABOUT AVOCADOS
Food historians generally agree this New World food originated in Central America. There is
much debate regarding the exact origin and subsequent dispersion of this fruit. Notes here:
"The avocado (Persia americana) apparently originated in Central America, where it was
cultivated as many as 7,000 years ago. It was grown some 5,000 years ago in Mexico and, but the
time of Christopher Columbus, had become a food as far south as Peru, where it is called palta.
Legend has it that Hernando Cortes found avocados flourishing around what is now Mexico City
in 1519. The English word "avocado" is derived from the Aztec ahuacatl, which the Spaniards
passed along transliterated as aguacate."
"The avocado tree, a member of the laurel family, is native to subtropical America, where it has
been cultivated for over 7,000 years, as archaeological remains demonstrate. There are three
original races of species. The Mexican type, which was called by the Aztecs ahuacatl...The
Guatemalan type...and the West Indian type."
"We are also told that the avocado is a native of Peru...this is an error...caused because it was in
Peru that the Spaniards found it first. But Pizarro entered Peru only in 1527, while th avocado had
already been described in 1519 in the Suma de geografia of Margin Fernandex de Encisco,
who discivered it near what is now Santa Marta, Colombia. We are told too that avocados were
first cultivated in Peru during what is called the 'Formative Period' of Peruvian agriculture, which
runs from 650AD to the beginning of our era...however, Garcilaco di la Vega...wrote more
plausible that it was brought from Ecuador into the warm valleys near Cuzco by the Inca Tupac
Yupanqui, who reigned in the fifteenth century AD..."
Foods America Gave the World, (A Hyatt Verrill, page 168) concludes "We have the
ancient
pre-Incan races of Peru, the Mayas of Yucatan and Guatemala and the Aztecs of Mexico to thank
for having given us this splendid fruit...Whether the pre-Incans, the Mayas or Aztecs were the first
to see the possibilities in the development of the aguacate [avocado] will probably never be
known, for the fruits are depicted on pottery and sculptures of all these immeasurably ancient
races."
"The small, nearly spherical seeds of wild avocados are found in archaeolgical sites in Oazaca and
the Tehucan valley of Mexico at dates of 8000 to 7000 B.C. They are seeds of the cold and
drought-toleratant upland avocado...tree...By 6000 to 5000 B.C. they were being cultivated in
Tehuacan, as shown by the increasing size of the fruit and the change in seed shape from the
round wild type to egg-shaped. The two other races are the Guatemalan...and the misnamed West
Indian race, which was not found in the West Indies until after the arrival of the Europeans."
Notes regarding regional dispersion are chronicled here:
"One of the first Europeans to taste the avocado was Fernando de Oviedo, who noticed its
external resemblance to a dessert pear, so ate it with cheese; but other Spaniards preferred to add
sugar, or salt and pepper...The same applies to the first mention in English, in 1672, by W.
Hughes, a royal physician, after a visit to Jamaica...However, despite such favourable comments,
the avocado was slow to spread from its native region. For Europeans, it remained for a long time
no more than a tropical curiosity; and commercial cultivation in N. America only began in
California in the 1870s and in Florida from about 1900."
"The Spaniards ate avocados with sugar, salt, or both, and introduced them into other parts of the
Americas as well as other tropical parts of the world. But until the end of World War II, avocados
were virtually unknown in Europe."
"The avocado, which originated in Mexico, Guatemala, or South America...its cultivation spread
slowly from the New World to the Old, but in recent times it has been grown in nearly all
countries where the climate was suitable. Among these may be mentioned India, where it has been
cultivated cince 1860, the South Sea Islands, and the countries bordering the Mediterranean
Sea."
There is also some controversy as to where (in the United States) avocados were first grown for
commercial purposes. Waverly Root states "I have no reason for doubting the report that a
horticulturist named Henry Perrine first planted avocados in Florida in 1833, but avocado culture
did not get un way on a commercial scale in the United States until about 1900, when Florida fruit
growers became interested in its possibilities."(Food, page 18). Eating in America: A
History,
(Waverly Root & Richard de Rochemont, page 297) adds: The first person known to have taken
it [avocado] seriously was a horticulturist named George B. Cellon, who, circa 1900, learned by
experimentation that grafted trees could be induced to perpetuate superior strains of this fruit in
Florida...The tree grew well on the slightly sandy soils of Florida, and an avocado industry was
launched in that state, an example followed shortly afterwards by California."
This claim is disputed by the California Avocado Commission, which dates their industry
beginning in the 1870s. Davidson also cites this information, "Commercial cultivation on N.
America only began in California in the 1870s and in Florida form about 1900." (Oxford,
page 43). "This fruit was introduced into California at Santa Barbara in 1870, and since that time
many orchards of from five to ten acres have been planted," confirms Food Products from
Afar, Bailey & Bailey (p. 215).
The History of the Avocado,
California Avocado Commission
ABOUT GUACAMOLE
"There is good reason for the popularity of the avocado. The diet of
pre-Columbian America was what we would consider low fat. The avocado is one of three fruits
that
contain large amounts of oil in their flesh...In addition to fat, avocados also contain two or three
times as much protein as other fruits, and many vitamins as well. We know little about how
avocados, or paltas, as they are called in Peru, were eaten in pre-Columbian America. The one
recipe that we may be sure of is the Aztec ahuaca-hulli, or avocado sauce, familiar to all of us
today as guacamole. This combination of mashed avocados, with or without a few chopped
tomatoes and onions, because the Aztecs used New World onions, and with perhaps some
coriander leaves to replace New World coriander...is the pre-Columbian dish most easily
accessible to us...If few pre-Columbian recipes for the avocado survive, the European writers
more than make upfor the lack. The Europeans fell into three camps. There were those who ate
their avocados with salt, those who ate them with sugar, and those who liked them both ways."
---America's First Cuisines, Sophie D. Coe [University of Texas Press:Austin] 1994 (p.
44-45)
[NOTE: This book has more information than can be paraphrased here. Ask your librarian to help
you find a copy.]
ABOUT MAIZE
"It is usually accepted that maize was growing in Meosamerica by betweent 8000 and 5000 B.C. Reliable archaeolgical evidence of
domesticated maize dates froma s long ago as 3600 B.C. in what is now central Mexico, and it is thought that domestication of the
crop first took place--doubtless at a much earlier date--in this general area. To the south, a separate domestication of maize may
have been accomplished at about the same time by South American Indians in the central Andes, or the crop may simply have traveled
to that area from its point of origin. To the north, however, there seems to be no doubt that domesticated maize arrived much later, with
locally adapted varieties appearing in the Eastern Woodlands of North America around A.D. and in the central portion of the
continent by about A.D. 600. Indigenous American societies intensively cultivated maize, and it became a principal staple of the
Aztecs, the Inca, the Maya, and many groups of North American Indians--especially those in what is now the southeastern United
States--for several centuries before the arrival of Europeans. All parts of the plant were used for food and other purposes; the
Inca even made maize "beers," known collectively as chica...Chritopher Columbus carried maize to Spain, where by 1500 or so
it was under cultivation. Before many years had passed, maize was being grown throughout the Iberian and Italian peninsula and had
appeared as a garden vegetable in England and central Europe...By the seventeenth cnetury, maize had become an important European
field crop and staple food, especially in those areas that now comprise northern Italy, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia, and Bulgaria, in
addition to Spain...As the new crop spread across Europe, its New World origins were largely forgotten, but in each locality
people at least knew that it came from somwhere else..."Corn" was a generic word meaning simply "grain" in a number of European
languages, so that its many aliases acutally identified maize as "foreign grain," and the American usage of "corn" for maize
grows out of such terminology--in this case, "corn" is the shortened version of the English term "Indian corn," by which the colonists
meant, of course, "Indian grain," or maize. During the sixteenth century, Portuguese traders carried the plant to East
Africa and Asia, whereas Arab merchants were probably responsible for its introduction to North Africa...The crop spread rapidly
throughout the African continent...In Asia, maize spread along trade routes from the Indian subcontinent, reaching points in
China and Southeast Asia by the mid-sixteenth century, and during the eighteenth it was much expanded as a crop in China. From there,
it spread to Korea and Japan."
Maya & maize
"The Maya creation legend in the Popul Vuh, describes how man was made from corn. Corn is the most important ingredient in any of the agricultural offerings to the
deities and plays a crucial part in the daily diet of the village Maya. The average adult consumes at least to kils of corn each day--more than four pounds. Every part of the
plant is put to use. The husk is utilized as the wrappings for tamales and cigarettes. It also serves as a dish or pot scourer and is used to remove stains from laundry.
Husks may serve a s afilling for stuffing pillows or other soft objects and even provide a medicinal tea. The stigmas from the maize plant serve as a diuretic. Bakal, the
cob, is used as fuel for fires, bottle stoppers and toilet paper. Ground and mixed with honey dregs, the cob becomes forage for the animals. The leaves, green stalks and
roots serve as fertilizer. A few Maya still remember how to use their maize kernels to divine the future. This method of foretelling the future is called xixte and means 'to
separate the good from the bad.' Xixte was at one time a principal method used by the xmen to determine the outcome of an illness. To ascertain a prognosis, a portion of
grains is singled out from a container and arranged in piles of four. A favourable outcome for the problem at hand can be predicted if the piles of four are even in number
and the remaining pile of kernels is also even. If both of the piles are split, one even and one uneven, then the outcome of the event is difficult to ascertain. There is
another method of using maize to predict the course of an illness. When corn kernels are dropped into a bowl of atole or Saka, floating kernels indicate a favorable
prognosis. When corn sinks to the bottom of the bowl, the outcome of the situation appears grim. Ix K'anle'ox, the goddess of corn and mother of all the gods, is
associated with the color yellow and the cardinal direction, South."
"Maize gods native to Central and South America were far more ancient than Christian saints...For these Maya descendents, the association of maize with blood is as old
as the oldest Maya memory, as old as the first planted seed. As their culture evolved, ancient Maya feritlized seeds of corn with the sacrificed blood of their enemies and
the blood of their own kings. For the Maya a single kernel of corn is symbolic of what Christians smubolize as the holy cross-the tragic and monstrous truth that the seed
of life is death. Today, in the Maya ruins of Palenque in the Yucatan jungle, the Temple of the Foliated Cross reveals in its carvings what Christians call the Tree of Life.
For the Maya, it is the World Tree in the shape of a cross, where the crosspiece or branches are formed by leaves and silk-topped ears of corn, each ear a human head.
The corn sprouts from a trunk of blood rooted in the head of the Water-Lily Monster that floats on the primal waters of the Underworld. Here out of the monster's mouth a
god is born--God K, the Young Lord, the Maize God...So subtle and complex is the ancient Maya language of corn, carved in stone, painted on walls and pottery and
screen-folds made of beaten bark, that only in recent years have its mysteries begun to be decoded. We now see that the Maya maize God, like the medieval Christian
God, stands at the center of a cluster of images and symbols that evolved slowly but took primary shape in the third to ninth centuries after Christ, a period rich in
Christian saints and Maya maize gods. Rich also in Maya script which recorded the history and destiny of a people...Maya hieroglyphs, once we can read them, may help
us learn what 'discovery,' 'growth' and 'begining' meant to a civilization built on the symbolic as well as the physical potency of maize...The life cycle of maize was the
great metaphor of Maya life, the root of its language, its rituals and its calendar. We now see that the many configurations of the Maize God evolved from the seed of life
embodied in the Kan sign. Kan is only one of the twenty named days of the Maya calendar, but wherever the kan sign appears in conjunction with a god, it refers to crops
and the powers for good and evil that affect them. Kan is also the syllable wah, which denotes bread, tortilla, tamale. Bowls holding Kan sins may represent offerings of
maize, and therefore blood offerings and other precious things..."
Recommended reading
Mexican casserole
16th century Spanish settlers tell us they witnessed wealthy Ancient Aztec diners consuming
casseroles. Then, as today, ingredients varied. Father Bernadino Sahagan
listed several casseroles consumed by Aztecs in Montezuma's court.
When reading these early accounts, we must remember European chroniclers used words from their native language to
describe "foreign" dishes. They also do not share how these dishes were crafted, method (time/temperature) or final presentation.
"The lords also ate many kinds of casseroles;...one kind of casserole of fowl made in their fashion, with red chile and with tomatoes, and ground squash seeds, a
dish which is now called pipian; they ate another casserole of fowl made with yellow chile. They ate many kinds of casseroles, and they ate roast birds...They also
ate fish in casseroles: one of white fish made with yellow chile and tomatoes, and with ground squash seeds which is very good to eat. They eat another kind of
casserole made of frogs and green chile; another kind of casserole of those fish which they call axolotl with yellow chile; they also ate another kind of tadpoles with
chiltexpitl. They also ate another casserole of large-winged ants with chiltexpitl. Also another casserole of locusts, and it is very tasty food; they also ate maguey
works, with chiltextpitl molli [sauce]; also another casserole of shrimps made with chiltecpitl and tomatoes, and some ground squash seeds. Also another casserole
of the kind of fish which they call topotli, made with chiltecpitl as the above said. Another casserole they ate was of large fish, made as above...they ate another
casserole made of unripe plums [Spondias spp.], with some little white fish, yellow chile, and tomatoes. (Sahagun 1982: 463-463)."
"Casseroles. There is an assortment of Mexican budines (puddings), sopas secas ('dry soups' or pastas), taquitos al horno (baked tacos), and chilaquiles, which
have one thing in common--they are all cooked the same way. All are tortilla dishes--tortillas filled and rolled, cut into strips, fried, and baked in layers with sauces,
cheese, and meat or vegetable fillings. They are all rather concentrated, some of them rather rich. Some could be served with just a salad, a meal in themselves,
while others would make a good accompaniment to plainly cooked meats, poultry or fish."
"The word chilaquiles comes from chil-a-quiltitl, meaning 'herbs or greens in chili broth'--colloquially, 'a broken-up old sombrero.' It is, in fact, one of the many
recipes devised to use up stale tortillas. The purists say that the tortillas must be torn up into large pieces, but the dish is easier to serve and eat if smaller. Like so
many other recipes in Mexico, every cook has her own way of preparing them."
Our survey of USA sources confirms a wide variety of interpretations titled "Mexican Casserole." Dishes range from traditionally inspired to quickie Americanized
creations featuring Mexican staples chilies and tortillas.
[1944]
[1958]
[1966]
ABOUT MOLE
"The sauce dishes or casseroles contained a wide sample of the animal kingdom, as well as some
purely vegetarian mixtures. The lords also ate many kinds of casseroles;...one kind of casserole of
fowl made in their fashion, with red chile and with tomatoes, and ground squash seeds, a dish
which is now called pipian; they ate another casserole of fowl made with yellow chile...They ate
many kinds of chile stews...one kind was made of yellow chile, another kind of chimolli (sauce
with chile) was made of chiltecpitl (a kind of chile) and tomatoes; another kind of chilmolli was
made of yellow chile and tomatoes'."
"Mole. The most famous Mexican sauce, takes its name from moli, a Nahuatl word meaning
mixture or
concoction; and it is indeed a mixture of many ingredients. The constant factor among the
numerous
different versions is the starring role played by chili peppers and the fact that the mixture is always
cooked."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p.
511)
Mole poblano
"The idea of using chocolate as a flavoring in cook food would have been horrifying to the Aztecs--just as Christians could not conceive of using communion wine to
make, say, coq au vin. In all of the pages of Sahagun that deal with Aztec cuisine and with chocolate, there is not a hint that it ever entered into an Aztec dish.
Yet
today many food writers and gourmets consider one particular dish, the famous pavo or mole poblano, which contains chocolate , to represent the pinnacle of
Mexican cooking tradition...[mole poblano] has no Aztec foundations...regardless of what food writers may say. Its true, creolized and Hispanicized nature is given
away by...the list of ingredients from an authentic recipe...Ten of the 19 ingredients are Old World."
"Mole poblano de guajolote...or Pabo in mole poblano...is a dish of some antiquity and has
achieved some
fame for the inclusion of bitter chocolate in the sauce, although the quantity is small and the effect
not
separably discernable. Some have thought that the dish was made, with chocolate already added,
in
pre-Columbian times, but the lack of evidence for pre-Columbian use of chocolate as an
ingredient in any
food dish tells against this conclusively; and indeed the attitude of the Aztecs to chocolate was
such that
they would have been no more likely to use it in cooking than Spaniards would have been to cook
with
communion wine. Quite apart from this particular question, it is doubtful whether mole poblano
dates as far
back as the 17th century, as has been generally believed."
"The wild turkey or guajalote is indigenious to Mexico and the New World. For centuries before
the
Spaniards arrived, the nobility ate roasted turkey, quail, and casseroles of turkey prepared with
chilies,
tomatoes and ground pumpkin seeds. The turkey is still one of the most important foods in
Yucatan....No
special festival is compelte without mole poblano de guajolote. It is prepared with loving care,
and even
today, more often than not, it is the one dish that brinds out the metate: chilies, spices, nuts,
seeds, and
tortillas are all ground on it...It would be impossible to say just how many versions there are;
every cook
from the smallest hamlet to the grandest city home has her own specials touch--a vew more
mulatos here,
less anchos, or a touch of chipotle cooke with the turkey; some insist on onion, others won't
tolerate it. Many
cooks in Puebla itself insist on toasting the chilies, often mulatos only, over an open fire and
grinding them
dry...The world mole comes from the Nahuatl word molli, meaning "concoction." The majority of
people
respond, when mole is mentioned, with "Oh yes, I know-that chocolate sauce. I wouldn't like it."
Well, it isn't
a chocolate sauce. One little piece of chocolate (and in Mexico we used to grind toasted cacao
beans for
the mole) goes into a large casserole full of rich dark-brown and russett chiles...
There are many stories attached to its beginnings but they all agree that the mole was born in one
of the
convents in the city of Puebla de los Angeles. The most repeated version...it that Sr Andrea, sister
superior
of the Santa Rosa Convent, wished to honor the Archbishop for having a convent especially
constructed for
her order; trying to blend the ingredients of the New World with those of the old, she created
mole poblano.
Yet another story goes that the Viceroy, Don Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, was visiting Puebla.
This time it
was Fray Pascual who was preparing the banquet at the convent where he was going to eat.
Turkeys were
cooking in cazuelas on the fire; as Fray Pascual, scolding his assistants for their untidiness,
gathered up all
the spices they had been using, and putting them together onto a tray, a sudden gust of wind
swept across
the kitchen and they spilled over the cazauelas."
Recommended reading: Que vivan los tamales!/Jeffrey M. Pilcher...best source for tracing the role
of Mole Poblano within the context Mexican (social/political/culinary) culture.
The origins of traditional foods such as quesadillas cannot usually be traced to a particular year
or person. They are foods that evolved because the ingredients and technology needed to cook
them were readily available. The history of quesadillas begins with the story of corn and the
cooking of tortillas:
"Tortilla...a round, thin unleavened bread made from ground maize, a basic food of Mesoamerica.
It is not known how many millennia this has been a staple; but when the conquistadores arrived in
the New World in the late 15th century, they discovered that the inhabitants made flat corn
breads. The native Nahuatl name for these was tlaxcalli and the Spanish gave them the name
tortilla...The art of tortilla-making was highly developed by the native Mesoamericans; 17th
century Spanish observed, Francisco Hernandez, remarked on the fine, almost transparent tortillas
prepared for important people....Fresh tortillas are eaten as bread, used as plate and spoon, or
filled to make composite dishes such as tacos and enchiladas....A quesadilla is a 'turnover' made by
folding a fresh tortilla in half around a simple filling such as cheese, epazote (a pungent herb), and
pepper, or potatoes and chorizo, and deep frying it..."
"Queso...the Spanish word for 'cheese', forms part of some names of cheese of Spain and Latin
America."
"Quesadillas are one of the Mexicans' favorite simple snacks. They are, in fact, uncooked tortillas
stuffed with one of various fillings and folded over to make a "turnover." They are then toasted
on a hot griddle or fried until golden. In many parts of Mexico they are filled with strips of
Chihuahua cheese, which melts and "strings" nicely--a Mexican requirement...the farther south
one goes the more complicated they become. For instance, in central Mexico the simplest ones are
filled with some of the braided Oaxaca cheese, a few fresh leaves of epazote and strips of peeled
chile poblano. Potato and chorizo filling--that used for tacos...--is also a favorite version, while
the most highly esteemed of all are those of sauteed squash blossoms (flor de calabaza) or the
ambrosial fungus that grows on the corn blossoms (huitlachoche), both of which are at their best
during the rainy months of summer and early fall."
As such, quesadillas are a blend of Old World tradition and New World foods. Recipes for
turnover-type foods (aka portable filled pastries, both sweet and savory) were popular fare in
Medieval Spain. About portable pies. Chicken (chicken quesadillas) is also an Old World food,
introduced to Mexico by the Spanish settlers in the 16th century. New World fowl included
turkey, strikingly similar in flavor and composition. The turkey, however, was not used for simple
snacks. It was saved for special holidays. Cheese (queso/quesa) is also an Old World food.
Although food historians generally agree that new world beans played an important culinary role
dating back to ancient times, the history behind refried beans seems to be a modern matter of
semantic confusion.
"Refried beans. A Mexican-American dish of mashed cooked pinto beans, usually served as a side
dish or as a filling for various
preparations. The term "refried" is actually a mistranslation
from the Mexican "frijoles refritos," which means "well-fried beans," a distinction first mentioned
in Erna Fergusson's Mexican Cookbook (1934), but "refried" has remained in common parlance
with regard to this dish."
"Refried beans is the misleading translation of a term very familiar in Spanish-speaking countries
of Central and South America; frijoles refritos. This refers to beans which have first been cooked
in water and are subsequenty fried. There is no question of their being fried twice, i.e. literally
refried. Diana Kennedy (1986) has explained the matter: "Several people have asked me why,
when the beans are fried, they are called refried. Nobody I asked in Mexico seemed to know until
quite suddenly it dawned on me. The Mexicans have a habit a qualifying a word to emphasize the
meaning by adding the prefix re-. They will get the oil very hot (requemar), or something will be
very good (retebien). Thus refrito beans are well fried, which they certainly are, since they are
fried until they are almost dry.""
"During all my years of living in Mexico and teaching Mexican cooking in New York, I (like
everyone else) have thought of frijoles refritos as refried beans. Several people have asked me
why, when the beans are fried, they are called refried. Nobody I asked in Mexico seemed to know
until quite suddenly it dawned on me. The Mexicans have a habit of qualifying a word to
emphasize the meaning by adding the prefix re-. They will get the oil very hot (requemar), or
something will be very good (retebien). Thus refrito means well fried, which they certainly are,
since they are fried until they are almost dry. I am glad to day that Santamaria in his Diccionario
de Mexicanismos bears this out, but I am embarrassed that it has taken me so long for the light to
dawn."
Compare these recipes
[19th century]
[1982]
The origins of salsa (combination of
chilies, tomatoes
and other spices) can be traced to the Ancient Aztecs, Mayans and Incas. Salsa recipes
evolved according to place and taste.
Salsa origins
European encounter
USA introduction
USA commercial production
What is the oldest known recipe for salsa in existence?
Our survey of early "salsa" recipes in USA cookbooks and newspapers reveals these interesting points:
Also worth exploring? The multicultural/cuisine connection of salsa-type recipes served by different cultures. Cajun/Creole,
Indian, and Chinese cooks offer interesting twists in this tasty theme.
[1934]
Recipes for sopaipilla/fry-bread foods were known to ancient old world cooks. Deep fried
doughs with flavored with honey, nuts and spices were enjoyed by peoples of Greece, Rome and
Egypt. In many places they were called fritters. The Spanish word
"sopaipa" (from which sopaipilla is derived) means honey cake.
History of the word sopaipilla
ABOUT NAVAJO FRY BREAD
One of the foods many people today connect with the Navajo people is fry bread. If you visit
Navajo country you will find dozens of "traditional" fry bread stands. Many of these stands are
run by families working out of modified Rvs. Most gift shops in the area sell souvenier bags of
"Traditional Indian Fry Bread Mix, " "Ancient Anasazi Beans," "Blue corn tortilla mix," and a
host of other Native American "traditional" (prepackaged) foodstuffs. These inexpensive items
are very popular with the tourists.
True, Native Americans in most areas traditionally ground corn/maize into flour for tortillas and
other breadstuffs. Navajos included. These items were baked, dried, fried and cooked on griddles.
These cooks used leavening agents (wood ash, lime, lye, sourdough). They also used nut oils &
animal fat to cook some of these corn-based foods. Check out The Story of Corn, Betty
Fussell, (pps. 167-248) for details.
The problem with current recipe for "traditional" Navajo Fry Bread (or Indian Fry Bread, Squaw
Bread) is that the ingredients (wheat flour & baking powder [1850]) and cooking utensils (frying
pans, iron cauldrons) were not traditionally used by Native Americans. They were introduced to
this continent by European explorers & pioneer families. European and American cookbooks
from all time periods abound with recipes for fried breadstuffs.
Why wheat & baking powder? Food historians tell us some Native Americans embraced wheat
flour and modern leaveners for practical reasons. They could easily obtain the finished products
through trade and they adapted well to traditional recipes. To boot? These wheat-based products
proved appealing to European/American travelers/tourists.The current recipe for Navajo fry bread
is very tasty and sells well.
"Fry bread, the important of the foods of the pan-Indian movement and the symbol of intertribal
unity, does not represent precontact indigenous foods ro cooking style. The origins of this dish
are apparently in the nineteenth century and reflect the ongoing cultural change that happens
everywhere. Fry bread usually is made with a dough of wheat flour and milk or water. The dough
is leavened with yeast or baking powder, kneaded, flattened into individual patties of farying sizes,
and then deep fried. Fry bread is served with a variety of accompaniments, such as honey, maple
syrup, and sugar, and sometimes wrapped around hot dogs or other filling in place of a bun or
tortilla. The Lakota today sometimes eat fry bread topped with pureed and sweetened fruit
pudding. In a variation, popovers (stuffed fry bread) are made by piling raw bread dough with a
mixture of cooked beef, chili,onion, tomato sauce, and taco seasoning and then folding and deep
frying the result. This dish sometimes is likened to tacos. Whatver the combinations, fry bread has
a central role at powwows. Some historians believe that ggru bread originated as a result to
Navajo incarceration at Fort Sumner, where the Indians had access only to flour and lard. Other
see a connection to Spanish deep-fried churros and sopaipillas, which are flat, lard-fried, breadlike
treats often served with sugar. Accroding to another theory, the Plains Indians were among the
first to make fry bread, having been influenced in the early nineteenth century by the French, who
were particuarly noted for their fine yeast-leavened breads and who, more importantly, maintained
influence and contact with tribes throughout the Mississippi area from Canada to Louisiana. Still
another claim is that fry bread resulted from the creative efforts of inventive reservation women
with government rations."
"In frontier America, as in colonial America, any form of bread made with corn instead of wheat
was the sad paste of despair," writes Ms. Fussell (p. 220). "Native corn eaters on the Southwest,
whose caste status did not depend upon wheat, nonetheless incorporated wheat into their
cornmeal pastes as the incorporated the Madonna into their Corn Mothers. A recipe for
contemporary Navaho cake, in Traditional Navajo Foods and Cooking [1983], is a true
child of the hybrid cuisine engendered when wheat met corn. (p. 225).
The earliest recipe we have for modern fry bread dates to the early 1930s:
The origins of traditional foods such as tacos cannot usually be traced to a particular year or
person. They are foods that evolved because the ingredients and technology needed to cook them
were readily available. The history of tacos begins with the story of corn and the cooking of
tortillas.
"To most people in the United States, a taco is a tortilla bent in half to form a deep U shape, then
fried crisp and stuffed to overflowing with ground beef, shredded iceberg lettuce, sliced tomato,
and grated cheese. Throughout Mexico, however the simple taco consumed by millions of people
daily is a fresh, hot tortilla rolled around some shredded meat or mashed beans and liberally
doused with any one of the endless variety of sauces for which Mexico is justly famed, but which
are sadly misrepresented this side of the border...Tacos are usually eaten as a snack between
meals, in the evening with a bowl of soup for supper, or as an appetizer before the main meal of
the day."
When did tacos become popular in the United States?
"1931--The Los Angeles restaurant El Cholo opens at 1121 South Western Avenue in a courtyard
with a mission-style fountain. Proprietress Rosa Borquez serves enchiladas, chiles rellenos,
Sonoran-style chimichangas, burritos, tacos and green-corn and cheddar tamales..."
According to El Cholo this restaurant opened in 1927.
The history portion of the site does not mention tacos.
"Taco...in Mexico this refers to a stuffed and folded tortilla, but in the United States a taco' is
more commonly a crisp fried tortilla shaped into a U and filled with various stuffings. The word
was first printed in English in 1930....The word is Mexican-Spanish, meaning a "wad" or "plug,"
but colloquially refers to a light meal or snack...A National chain of taco stands under the name of
"Taco Bell" was begun in 1962 by Glen Bell in Downey, California. It is now owned by Pepsico,
Inc...."
"Taco salad...This salad arrived with the Tex-Mex fast-food franchises, which began to pepper the
country in the 60s...The first recipe I could find for Taco Salad appeared in the May 1968 issue
of Sunset [magazine]...The reader who submitted the Taco Salad was a Californian from
Alhambra..."
"Tamales are made for an occasion, and an occasion is made of making them. Men, women,
children, and servants all join in with good humor, shredding, chopping, stirring, and cleaning the
husks, until all is prepared. Then everyone converges to form a real assembly line, some daubing
the husks with masa while others add the filling, fold, and stack into the steamer...Tamales are
fiesta food, the Sunday night special in many restaurants, the ceremonial food prepared in honor
of the dead on All Saints' Day--and they were eaten by the Mexican rulers long before the
Spaniards came to the New World. Those early inhabitants of Mexico also had tamales of corn
tassels mixed with aramanth seeds and the meat of ground cherries. And them made them of
tender corn, like the uchepos of Michoiacan today. And what an enormous variety there is today,
from the smallest norteno to the three-foot sacahuil from the Huastec countury...Probably the
most surprising members of the tamal family are the shrimp ones form Escuinapa in Sinaloa. Small
unskinned shrimps are used...In Sinaloa, too, they make large tamales like elongated bonbons.
They are filled with the usual pork and tomato sauce, but added to it are all sorts of vegetables cut
into little strips--zucchini, potatoes, green beans, plantains, and chiles serranos. Chiapas seems to
have more than its share of varieties. On the coast there are those of iguana meat and eggs, and
inland around Tuxtla Gutierrez the Indians make countless varieites...Tamales colados in
Campeche and Merida...are cooked in banana leaves, with a wonderfully savory filling seasoned
with achiote and epazote. The tamal itself is made of uncooked tortilla dough that has been
diluted in water, strained, and thickened over the fire...Michoaca...is famed for its tamales: the
fresh corn uchepos and the corundas--the bread of the Tarascan Indians--made of maize dough
leavened with wood ash and wrapped cunningly into rhomboid shapes with the long leaf from the
corn stalk...Throughout Mexico there are tamales filled with fish, pumpkin, pineapple, and
peanuts, and those made of black and purple corn and rice. Wherever you go you will find
something different...The tamales from central Mexico have a white, spongy dough that bears no
resemblance to the rather soggy, grayish dough of most commercial tamales available here [in the
United States]. Today the Mexican housewife has a choice of many first-class flour prepared
especially for tamales."
Food historian Sophie Coe noted "Paintings of Classic Maya vases show us plates of round objects with dark spirals on their
upper surfaces, exactly the patter one would expect on the cut top of a tamale filled in this fashion...Today tamales are always
werved with their wrappers, but this may be because postconquest additions like lard and broth make them too sloppy to be served
conveniently without them." America's First Cuisines, [University of Texas Press:Austin] 1994 (p. 148)
What kinds of tamales did the Aztecs eat?
"It is said that tamales saved Hernando Cortes and his men from starvation in Mexico. When the
Aztecs realized that the Spanish soldiers were not (as had been thought because of their "pure"
white skin) high priests from Quetzalcoatl, the god of plenty, they stopped giving the invaders
food. Cortes, howeever, had won the loved of a woman named Malinche and told her he would
have to leave if his men could not obtain food. Malinche told Cortes to storm the gates of the city
on a certain evening. He did, and Malinche led a group of friends who bombard the Spaniards
with tamales."
"Tamales...are an important feature of Mexican food and date back to pre-Columbian
times. A specially prepared cornmeal dough, usually stuffed with something but
sometimes cooked blind, is steamed inside little...packages of carefully trimmed corn
husks or similar wrappings such as banana leaf. The dough is...made from a particular
kind of ground nixtamalized corn kernals, and pure lard (which was not used...in pre-Columbian
times). It produces what could be described as an aromatic bun with the
consistency of firm polenta. Size and fillings vary widely...Sweet tamales are made as
well as savoury ones...Tamales are almost invariably eaten with atole, corn gruel. They
remain, as in the past, an important festival food...However, tamales have become
much more than just a festival food, being available at all seasons; they can be bought
from street vendors for breakfast."
"Tamale. A term describing a wide range of dishes based on a cornmeal-flour dough
that is placed inside cornhusks (sometimes a banana leaf) and then steamed. Tamales
are of Mexican origin and were enjoyed by the Aztecs (the word comes from the
Nahuatl tamalli) in several versions, from appetizer to sweet dessert. In Mexico they are
traditionally served in restaurants on Sunday nights and as a ceremonial food on All
Saints' Day. As early as 1612 Englishman Captain John Smith mentioned a kind of
tamale made by the Indians of Virginia, and by 1691 note was made by others of a
bean-filled tamale of the Southwest...Tamale pie. A Dish of cornmeal mush milled with
chopped meat and a hot chili sauce. The term first appeared in 1911."
Tamales online, GourmetSleuth
(good for history, customs & pictures)
About Tamale Pie
"Origin of Tamale Pie. In The Dictionary of American Food and Drink (revised edition, 1994), John Mariani writes that the
term "tamale pie" first appeared in print in 1911. It may be so, but my own research has turned up nothing that predates
World War I. Then, as during World War II, women were urged to save meat. Conservation Recipes (1918), a booklet
compiled by the Mobliized Women's Organization of Berkeley and published by the Berkeley Unit, Council of Defence Women's Committee,
offers five recipes for Tamale Pie, each from a different woman. All are completely meatless and all contain corn, cornmeal,
and tomatoes in some form (puree, sauce, canned tomates., etc.). Some enrich the mix with ripe olives or cheese, and some
don't. Tamale pie also appears in Everyday Foods in Wartime (1918) by Mary Swartz Rose, assistant professor, Department
of Nutrition, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York...The Tamale Loaf in Good Housekeeping's Book of Menus, Recipes,
and Household Discoveries (1922) also adds ground beef, only here it's cooked, then ground...The July 1941 issue of
Sunset published a tamale pie in its popular "Kitchen Cabinet" column and called it a version of "a long-time Western
favorite." A Chicken Tamale Pie (with canned corn) makes the 1943 edition of Joy of Cooking and another chicken
variation, the 1948 Boston Cooking-School Cook Book. Tamale pie surged in popularity after World War II, when, according to
Gerry Schremp (Kitchen Culture: Fifty Years of Food Fads, 1991), it became the darling of potluck suppers."
Tamale Pie, recipe circa 1905
RECOMMENDED READING
First, there was maize. Then, there were tortillas:
"Tortilla...a round, thin unleavened bread made from ground maize, a basic food of Mesoamerica.
It is not known how many millennia this has been a staple; but when the conquistadores arrived in
the New World in the late 15th century, they discovered that the inhabitants made flat corn
breads. The native Nahuatl name for these was tlaxcalli and the Spanish gave them the name
tortilla...The art of tortilla-making was highly developed by the native Mesoamericans; 17th
century Spanish observed, Francisco Hernandez, remarked on the fine, almost transparent tortillas
prepared for important people....Fresh tortillas are eaten as bread, used as plate and spoon, or
filled to make composite dishes such as tacos and enchiladas."
"The most common and popular antojito (appetizer) of all is the everyday taco. You just take a
warm tortilla, put some cooked and shredded meat across it, couse the meat with a sauce, and roll
up the tortilla. In true Mexican style, which you tip one end of it toward your mouth you should
curl the other up with your little finger so that none of the sauce is lost. Not quite so common is
the fried taco...Of course, there are exceptions to this...for in parts of Jalisco and Sinaloa they
make thin tortillas especially for crisp tacos, and in Yucatan the cotzito is a taco, tightly rolled
around some shredded meat and fried crisp. In Chihuahua and Baja California they just double the
tortilla over and fry it--but it is practically never fried crisp."
"Tortillas are small flat maize-flour cakes served hot with a variety of fillings of toppings. They
are of
Mexican origin, and have become more widely known in the late twentieth century owing to the
increasing
popularity of Tex-Mex cuisine. Etymologically, the word means virtually 'little tart'. It is an
American Spanish
diminutive of the Spanish torta, 'round cake', which in turn goes back to late Latin torta (probably
source of
English tart). It was first mentioned in an English text as long ago as the end of the seventeenth
century
(Tartilloes are small Cakes made of the Flower of Indian Corn,' William Dampier, New Voyage
Round
World, 1699), but it did not really become established until the mid-ninetheenth century."
"Tortilla...The world comes from the Spanish-American diminutive for the Spanish torta, "round
cake." (In
Spain, the tortilla espanola is more like an omelet.)"
"A Spanish tortilla has nothing in common with its Mexican counterpart except its Latin
root--torte, meaning
a round cake...a Spanish tortilla is simply a potato omelet.."
RECOMMENDED READING
Old world counterparts? Pita, naan, lavash, lefse.
About culinary research & about copyright.
Food historians tell us TexMex cuisine originated hundreds of years ago when Spanish/Mexican
recipes
combined with Anglo fare. TexMex, as we Americans know it today, is a twentieth century
phenomenon.
Dictionaries and food history sources confirm the first print evidence of the term "Tex Mex"
occured in the
1940s. Linguists remind us words are often used for several years before they appear in print.
TexMex
restaurants first surfaced ouside the southwest region in cities with large Mexican populations.
The gourmet
Tex Mex "fad" began in the 1970s. Diana Kennedy, noted Mexican culinary expert, is credited for
elevating
this common food to trendy fare. These foods appealed to the younger generation.
"Tex-Mex food might be described as native foreign food, contradictory through that term may
seem, It is native, for it does not exist elsewhere; it was born on this soil. But it is foreign in that
its inspiration came from an alien cuisine; that it has never merged into the mainstream of
American cooking and remains alive almost solely in the region where it originated..."
---Eating in America, Waverly Root & Richard de Rochemont [William Morrow:New
York] 1976 (p. 281)
---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New
York] 1999 (p.
325)
---America Eats Out, John Mariani [William Morrow:New York] 1991 (p. 80-1)
"In the good old days, Texans went to "Mexican restaurants" and ate "Mexican food." Then in
1972, The Cuisines of
Mexico, an influential cookbook by food authority Diana Kennedy, drew the line between
authentic interior Mexican
food and the "mixed plates" we ate at "so-called Mexican restaurants" in the United States.
Kennedy and her friends in
the food community began referring to Americanized Mexican food as "Tex-Mex," a term
previously used to describe
anything that was half-Texan and half-Mexican. Texas-Mexican restaurant owners considered it
an insult. By a strange
twist of fate, the insult launched a success. For the rest of the world, "Tex-Mex" had an exciting
ring. It evoked images of
cantinas, cowboys and the Wild West. Dozens of Tex-Mex restaurants sprang up in Paris, and the
trend spread across
Europe and on to Bangkok, Buenos Aires and Abu Dhabi. Tortilla chips, margaritas and chili con
carne are now well-known around the world."
--- Houston Post, 6 part
series, all online:
American Food: The Gastronomic Story, Evan Jones [chapter III "Padres and
Conquistadores"]
Cuisines of Mexico, Diana Kennedy
Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [separate entries for specific
foods--fajita, tamale, chalupa...]
Food Culture in Mexico, Long-Solis& Vargas
The History of Food, Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat, "The History of Cereals, Maize
in the West" (pages 164-176)
New Mexico Cooking: Southwestern Flavors of the Past and Present, Clyde Casey
Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Mexico]
Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, Andrew J. Smith [Mexican American
Food]
Pre-Hispanic Cooking, Ana M. Benitez
Que Vivan Los Tamales! Food and the Making of Mexican Identity/Jeffrey M. Pilcher
The Story of Corn, Betty Fussell
You Eat What You Are, Thelma-Barer-Stein ("Mexico"
Bunuelos & churros
---The Cuisines of Mexico, Diana Kennedy [Harper Row:New York] 1972 (p. 329-330)
---The Foods and Wines of Spain, Penelope Casas [New York:Knopf] 1982 (p.
342)
[NOTE: this book has a recipe for churros, we can send you a copy if you like]
The Foods and Wines of Spain/Penelope Casas
---recipes for several different kinds of bunuelos; pages introducing desserts (p.
340-1) sum up the ingredients used and holiday connections.
Burritos
[NOTE: this page has been delinked from Oregon State University. You can still find the full-text
by
searching Google and pulling it from the cached copy.]
---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink," John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New York]
1999 (p. 48)
Burritos-A Search for Beginnings, Peter Fox, Washington Post, November 4, 1998 (p.
E-20)
Chile peppers
---America's First Cuisines, Sophie D. Coe [University of Texas Press:Austin TX] 1994 (p. 60-61)
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2nd edition, 2007 (p. 171)
---Cambridge World History of Food, Kenneth F. Kiple & Kriemhild Conee Ornelas [Cambridge University Press:Cambridge], Volume One, 2000 (p. 282)
---Cambridge World History of Food (p. 282)
---Food in Early Modern Europe, Ken Albala [Greenwood Press:Westport CT] 2003 (p. 32)
---Food & Drink in Britain From the Stone Age to the 19th Century, C. Anne Wilson [Academy Chicago:Chicago] 1991 (p. 293)
---An A to Z of Food & Drink, John Ayto [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2002 (p. 251)
---The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia, Dave DeWitt [William Morrow:New York] 1999 (p. 68-69)
---ibid (p. 23)
"Peppers - pages 364-366.
"Capsicum. Ginnie or Indian Pepper.
...Ginnie pepper hath the taste of pepper, but not the power or vertue, notwithstanding in Spaine and sundrie parts of the Indies they
do vse to dresse their meate therewith, as we doe with Calecute pepper: but (saith my Authour) it hath in it a malicious qualitie,
whereby it is an enemy to the liuer and other of the entrails... It is said to die or colour like Saffron; and being receiued in such sort
as Saffron is usually taken, it warmeth the stomacke, and helpeth greatly the digestion of meates."
This passage best sums up the introduction of chile peppers to the United States:
---The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia, Dave DeWitt [William Morrow:New York] 1999 (p. 13-4)
[NOTE: This book contains far more information than can be paraphrased here. Your librarian
will be happy to help you obtain a copy.]
"Bell pepper is a large, flesh mild green pepper, turning into red or gold when fully ripe.
Sturtevant cites Lionel Wafer in 1699, who mentions Bell-pepper and Bird-pepper as growing in
the Ithsmus of America, and Edward Long in 1774, who lists nine varieties of Capsicum as being
under cultivation in Jamaica; of these, "the Bell is esteemed most proper for pickling," Sturtevant
repeats. Among numerous references to Capsicum by Jefferson, one unmistakably refers to bell
pepper, seeds of which were sent from Mexico in 1824: 'Large Pepper, a good salad the seeds
being removed." Plantings of Piperoni in 1774 and Capsicum Major in 1812, among others,
would seem to refer to bell pepper as well. Cayenne pepper (Capsicum frutenscens L. var.
longum Bailey) was planted by Jefferson as early as 1767. The presence of hot peppers in the
West Indies had been chronicled since 1494, according to Sturtevant. Long pepper was a popular
name for the elongated cayenne, but it had been appropriated from the eastern Piper longum, the
fruit spikelet of which had fallen into disuse by the time of the voyages of discovery. The use of
capsicum peppers seems to have come to Virginia by way of the West Indies (see Pepper Pot an
Gumbo, for instance). The choice of pepper for Pepper Vinegar is not altogether clear. I opt for
cayenne because of the implied heat in comparing the flavor to that of black pepper; also
Jefferson correspondence in 1813 (Garden Book) refers to vinegar in which cayenne is steeped
brine used as seasoning. (This must have been the basis for later southern barbecue mixtures.)
However, some argue for the use of mild pepper in this recipe, but I think that Mrs. Randolph
would have so specified. In any event, the use of hot peppers in traditional Virginia cookery
was highly skilled and discreet, just enough to brighten the taste, not to set it afire."
---The Virginia Housewife, Mary Randolph, with historical notes and commentaries by Karen
Hess, facsimile 1824 edition [University of South Carolina Press:Columbia] 1984 (p. 282-3)
[NOTE: This book contains several additional notes and selected recipes for Capsicum, Bell and
Cayenne peppers. Your librarian will be happy to help you obtain a copy.]
Chili con carne
---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New
York] 1999 (p. 76)
---Eating in America: A History, Waverly Root and Richard De Rochemont [William
Morrow:New York] 1976 (p. 277-8)
---Craig Claiborne's The New York Times Food Encyclopedia, compiled by Joan
Whitman [Times Books:New York] 1985 (p. 88)
---The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia, Dave DeWitt [William Morrow:New York] 1999(p. 76-8)
Chimichangas
"A deep-fried wheat tortilla stuffed with minced beef, potatoes, and seasonings. The term was
long considrerd a nonsense word-a Mexican version of "whatchamacallit" or
"thingamajig"--reputedly coined in the 1950s in Tucson, Arizona, although Diana Kennedy, in her
Cuisines of
Mexico (1972) reports that fried burritos in Mexico are called by the similar name
chimichangas. But in The Food Lovers Handbook to the Southwest, Dave DeWitt and
Mary Jane Wilan noted that Tucson writer Janet Mitchell found that chang'a means female
monkey in Spanish and a chimney of the hearth. When put together this becomes,
according to Jim Griffith of the Arizona Southwest Folklore Center, a polite version of
"unmentionable Mexican expletive that mentions a monkey." According to DeWitt and Wilan ,
Investigator Mitchell heard tales about the first chimichanga being created when a burro was
accidentally knocked into a deep-fat fryer, and the cook exclaimed "Chimichanga!" She had also
heard that a baked burro cooked in a bar in Nogales [Arizona] in the 1940s had been called a
toasted monkey. The logical conclusion, then, was that the idiom chimichanga means toasted
monkey and is an allusion to the golden-brown color of a deep-fried burro'."
---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New
York] 1999 (p. 78)
Enchiladas
---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New
York] 1999 (p. 123)
[Your librarian can help you track down the original article if you would like to pursue it.]
---Andrew F. Smith
http://food.oregonstate.edu/ref/culture/mexico_smith.html
Fajitas
"Fajita. A Tex-Mex dish made from marinated, grilled skirt steak...served in a wheat tortilla. The
word derives from the Spanish faja, for "girdle" or "strip" and describes the cut of meat itself.
There has been much conjecture as to the fajita's origins, though none has been documented.
Grilling skirt steak over mesquite coals would be characteristic of Texas cooking since the days
when beef became a dominant meat in the American diet. But the word "fajita" did not appear in
print until 1975. In 1984 Homero Recio, a lecturer on animal science at Texas A & M University,
obtained a fellowship to study the origins of the item, coming to the conclusion two years later
that, ironically, it was his grandfather, a butcher from Premont, Texas, who may have been the
first to use the term "fajita" to describe the pieces of skirt steak cooked directly on mesquite coals
for family dinners as far back as the 1930s. Recio also hypothesized that the first restaurant to
serve fajitas--though under the name "botanzas" (appetizers)--was the Roundup in McAllen,
Texas. But Sonny "Fajita King" Falcon claimed to have opened the first "fajita stand" in Kyle,
Texas, and in 1978 a "Fajita King" stand in Austin...The popularity of the dish certainly grew after
Ninfa Laurenza introduced it on her menu at Ninfa's Restaurant in Houson Texas, on July 13,
1973, but that was under the name "tacos al carbon," and increased still further as a "fajita" after
the item was featured at the Austin Hyatt Regency Hotel, which by 1982 was selling thirteen
thousand orders per month."
---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New
York] 1999 (p. 125)
The Wide World of Texas Cooking/Morton G. Clark, makes no references to fajitas, skirt steaks, or any barbecued recipe approximating the modern
fajita.
The Oxford English Dictionary (online) cites this 1971 cookbook for the first print mention of the word "fajita" in the modern culinary
sense: "A grilled strip of marinated steak. Usu. in pl.: a dish originating in Mexico or the southern United States, consisting of strips of such meat served with a variety of garnishes or sauces in a soft flour tortilla. Later also more generally: any dish (esp. of chicken) served in this manner.
1971 S. Huddleston Tex-Mex Cookbk. 29 After fajitas have been marinated they may be grilled. If barbecued, heat should be low so meat doesn't dry out."
Until you visit Leonardo’s Fiesta Restaurant in Brownsville you have led a cloistered life. This likeable caballero’s humor will lay you on the floor. Texas literary dudes like Dick Hitt, Frank Tolbert, Leon Hale and Richard West have yodeled praises about Leonardo’s colorful place. Noriega*, a bon vivant, gourmet and traveler, recommends this restaurant as a good place to ward off malnutrition.
Leonardo’s fajitas are succulent enough to get one spastic with jubilation. Fajitas are the solid lean meat from beef skirts. If you can’t get beef skirts, use a similar type of lean beef. They should be cut into small strips and marinated overnight. Leonardo suggests any good commercial marinate, but warns that one shouldn’t use more than one-fourth of the amount called for in most instructions.
After fajitas have been marinated they may be grilled. If barbecued, heat should be low so meat doesn’t dry out.
Pg. 30:
Tacos al Carbon
This is a do-it-yourself procedure. When fajitas are cooked cut into small slices. Hold a fresh tortilla in hand and fill with meat and Alice Taylor’s Pica de Gallo. Perfect compliments for this divine composition are frijoles and Spanish rice.
This inexpensive dish won’t paralyze your food budget."---
SOURCE.
"[Skirt steaks]were stacked a foot deep in a six-foot wide display. But they don't call them skirt steaks in San Antonio--they call
the fajitas. From what I was able to learn, it seems fajitas are something of a Southern Texas--or Tex-Mex-phenomenon. They have become
popular only in the past few years, but they have become very popular. According to one meat buyer I talked to, "When I put fajitas
in the ad, I'll go through between 100,000 and a quarter of a million pounds in a week...They even have fajita cooking contests
in Southern Texas. I learned that the champion for the past five years was Red Gomez, a butcher from Brownsville, Texas. I called him to
see if he would be willing to share his award-winning recipe with me. He was not."
---"The Butcher: The Skirt Steak is Still in Style," Merle Ellis, Los Angeles Times, November 11, 1982 (p. M23)[NOTE: article includes
recipe.]
"The original fajitas were created out of necessity, not a desire to have something new. Ranchers, who usually butchered their own meat,
kept the steaks and roasts for themselves and gave their hands what they considered the less desirable cuts, including the so-called
skirt steak, which is a section of the diaphragm. The long, narrow, beltlike strip would be marinated overnight in lime juice to tenderize it.
The next day it was grilled over mesquite, a cheap, plentiful wood that itself has become a cooking fad. The meat was then cut into thin
strips, each diner filling a flour tortilla with it and with pico de gallo, a spicy relish of onions, green chilies, tomatoes and
cilantro. Those familiar with Mexican dishes may notice the striking similarity between fajitas and tacos al carbon and carne
asada. But tacos al carbon, a fad that preceded fajitas, are made with a better cut of meat that does not need to be marinated and
they reach the table already rolled in tortillas. As for carne asada, it is grilled meat and vegetables. The view around here is that
fajitas made their way north from the border to Austin about five years ago and began arriving in Dallas two years ago."
---"De Gustibus: Fajitas-In Texas They Love Them," Marian Burros, New York Times, August 4, 1984 (p. 8)
"The hottest dish in town, in more ways than none, is a Texas export called fajitas. For the uninitiated, fajitas...are strips of grilled skirt
steak served with flour tortillas, guacamole and salsa and eaten wrapped in the tortillas, taco style. If they don't come to the table
sizzling from the grill, they are not fit to be called fajitas. In a trend sense, they are even hotter. The Houston Restaurant Assn.
celebrated Cinco de Mayo by staging its First Annual Fajita Meet Sunday. In Pasadena, a restaurant called Manana Mexican Food and Drink of Arroyo
parkway has erected a large sign inquiring 'Have you had your fajitas today?'..'They used to be dirt cheap. They used to almost throw
them away, like junk,' said Bud Smith, a Texan who grew up in Pharr, near the Mexican border...In Los Angeles, the fajitas trend is
so new that the name is virtually unknown outside of restaurants...According to Texan sources, fajitas originated in San Antonio.
However, others day the idea came directly from Mexico. Under a different name, arrechera, skirt steak has a venerable history
in California. The late Elena Zelayeta, who popularized Mexican cooking in California, included a recipe for Arrechera Adobada in her
first cookbook, 'Elena's Famous Mexican and Spanish Recipes,' published in 1944. 'I find skirt steak to be one of the best flavored,
less expensive cuts of meat,' she wrote. In the early version of fajitas, Zelayeta marinated the meat with vinegar, oil, garlic,
oregano, salt and pepper, then added tomato sauce and broiled it. By 1958, when 'Elena's Secrets of Mexican Cooking' was published
she dropped the tomato sauce and cooked the meat over the coals instead of under the broiler...Fajitas have crossed the ocean to
Paris, where they are served in Tex-Mex restaurants along with flour tortillas shipped from Amsterdam. They are also popular in
New York and San Francisco...Beer is a popular accompaniment to fajitas...Welche commented on the meteoric popularity of skirt
steak. 'Five or six years ago, you couldn't find skirt steak in the market. They ground it into hamburger."
---"Fajitas," Barbara Hansen, Los Angeles Times, May 9, 1985, (p. K1)[NOTE: article includes several Fajita recipes, including
1944 & 1958 Zeyaleta. Happy to send if you like.]
Avocados, guacamole & mole
---Cambridge World History of Food, Kenneth F. Kiple & Kriemhild Conee Ornelas
[Cambridge University Press:Cambridge] 2000, Volume Two (p. 1725)
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p.
43)
---Food, Waverly Root, [Smithmark:New York] 1980 (p.17-18)
---America's First Cuisines, Sophie D. Coe [University of Texas Press:Austin] 1994 (p.
44-5)
---Oxford Companion to Food (p. 43)
---Cambridge World History of Food (p. 1725)
---Food Products from Afar, E.H.S. Bailey and Herbert S. Bailey [The Century Co.:New
York] 1922 (p. 213-4)
Avocados, California Rare Fruit
Growers Assn.--note the different cultivar dates for specific
trees!
Avocado source, links to proceedings of the
World Avocado Congress, global production statistics & industry experts
---Cambridge World History of Food, Kenneth F. Kiple & Kriemhild Conee Ornelas [Cambridge University Press:Cambridge] Volume Two, 2000 (p. 1805-6)
---Mayan Cooking: Reciepes from the Sun Kingdoms of Mexico, Cherry Hamman [Hippocrene Books:New York]1998 (p. 340-1)
---The Story of Corn, Betty Fussell [North Point Press:New York] 1992 (p. 30-34)
The dishes we Americans enjoy today as "Mexican Casserole" (aka "Mexican Lasagne") are hybrid culinary creations
featuring Old and New world traditions. Recipes are all over the map. Combinations of native Central
American ingredients baked casserole style were documented in the 16th century. Contemporary USA interpretations resemble
Italian lasagna: substituting tortillas for pasta, salsa for tomato sauce, beans/ground meat/chilies for
protein/flavor/color. Dairy component varies from Spanish to German to TexMex to Southern California to processed
American cheddar.
---America's First Cuisines, Sophie D. Coe [University of Texas Press:Austin] 1994 (p. 115-116)
---The Tortilla Book, Diana Kennedy [Harper & Row:New York] 1975 (p. 72) [NOTE: This book offers recipes for Tortilla Casserole (a 'dry soup' in tomato soup), Tortilla and Vegetable Casserole, Bakes Tacos Lagunera, Torta Moctezuma (aka Moctezuma pie, budin Aztexa, and torta Huateca), Sweet Red Pepper Casserole.]
---The Cuisines of Mexico, Diana Kennedy [Harper & Row:New York] 1972 (p. 67)
[1925]
"Mexican Casserole
1 1/4 pounds lean pork
6 large onions
2 cups noodles
1/3 cup grated American cheese
1 cup tomato sauce
4 tablespoons parsley
4 tablespoons pimento
1/4 cup bacon fat
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup green pepper
Cut meat into cubes. Place bacon fat in frying pan and cook meat until golden brown. Mince vegetables. Add meat, noodles, and cheese and mix well. Place in a
casserole, pour tomato sauce over it and bake 1 1/2 hour s in a moderate oven."
---"Pot Pie Proves Excellent Single Dish for Hot Day," San Antonio Light [TX], June 5, 1925 (p. 27)
8 tortillas
1/2 cup oil
4 chorizos (Mexican sausages)
Grated cheese
1 pound Monterey cream cheese
6 hard-cooked eggs
Fry whole tortillas lightly in oil. As each is fried, set aside. Skin and crumble chorizos and fry; set aside. Cube Monterey cheese and slice hard-cooked eggs.
When this is done, make sauce as follows:
1 medium-sized onion, minced
1/4 cup oil
3 cups tomato puree
3 green chilies (optional)
1 teaspoon oregano
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
Fry onion in oil.; add tomato puree (solid-pack canned tomatoes which have been well mashed). Season with oregano, bay leaf, salt and pepper. If chiles are being
used, chop and add at this time. Cook, covered, for 30 minutes. When sauce is done, place 1 tortilla in casserole and on it spread chorizo, grated cheese,
Monterey cheese, 2 or 3 tablespoons of the sauce and rings of hard-cooked eggs. Repeat this procedure until all tortillas have been put into casserole; sprinkle
remaining chorizos and Monterey cheese over all, and pour on remaining sauce. Bake in moderate oven (350 degrees F.) 30 to 45 minutes. To serve, cut as you
would a cake. Serve with refried beans."
---Elena's Famous Mexican and Spanish Recipes, Elena Zelayeta [Dettners Printing House:San Francisco] 1944 (p. 38)
"Chilaquiles de Jocoqui (Sour Cream and Tortilla Casserole)
This is another versatile dish. I sometimes vary it by adding fried chorizo, another time, ripe olives. And once in awhile I make it with enchilada sauce instead of this
one.
12 tortillas, cut in eighths
Oil for frying
Sauce:
2 tablespoons oil
1 medium-sized onion, chopped
1 (No. 2 1/2) can solid-pack tomatoes, chopped Salda Jalapena, or chile powder, to taste
1 teaspoon oregano, rubbed between palms of hands
Salt
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1/2 pound Monterey Jack or American cheese, cubed
1 point sour cream
Coarsely-grated American cheese
Fry tortillas lightly and drain on absorbent paper. For the sauce, wilt onion in hot oil; add tomatoes, salsa Japalena, oregano, and salt. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes.
Set aside. Butter a 2-quart casserole and place alternately layers of tortillas, sauce, Parmesan or Romano cheese, Monterey cheese, and sour cream. Repeat until
all ingredients have been used, ending with a layer of sour cream. Bake at 325 degrees F. for 30 to 40 minutes. During the last ten minutes of baking, sprinkle with
grated American cheese. Serves 6 to 8."
---Elena's Secrets of Mexican Cooking, Elena Zelayeta [Prentice-Hall:Englewood Cliffs NJ] 1958 (p. 142-143)
"A Mexican Casserole Costs Little. 'This casserole is an American concept of a Mexican-type dish,' writes Marcia B. Stover. 'It's ideal for the budget-minded
homemaker.'
Marcia's Tortilla Casserole
1 pt. cottage cheese
1 pt. dairy sour cream
2 8-oz. cans tomato sauce
2 7-oz cans whole green chiles
12 corn tortillas
1 lb. mild Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 lb. mozzarella cheese, shredded
Blend cottage cheese, sour cream and tomato sauce in a shallow dish. Cut chiles into 1/4-in. strips. Place tortillas on a cooky sheet and heat in 500-deg. oven just
long enough so they will fold easily, about 3 to 5 min. Working quickly, dip hot tortillas into tomato mixture, place two strips of chiles on each, and fold as you
would an enchilada. Place a layer of tortillas in 7 X 11-in. baking pan. Sprinkle generously with shredded Cheddar and mozzarella cheese and top with some of the
tomato mixture. Repeat with tortillas, making two layers in pan, using remaining cheese and sauce for top. Cover pan and bake at 350 deg. 1 hour. Makes 4 to 6
servings."
---"My Best Recipe," Marcia B. Stover, Los Angeles Times, June 23, 1966 (p. F18)
Traditional mole is a complicated concoction composed with "New World" ingredients. It added flavor, texture, and color to several
casserole-type dishes.
---America's First Cuisines, [University of Texas Press:Austin] 1994 (p. 115)
[NOTE: this book has much more information than can be paraphrased. If you need additional
details about early American foods ask your librarian to help you find a copy.]
Mole is a tasty component of many Central American dishes. While this food is ancient and traditional,
some variations are not. Mole poblano de
guajolote(turkey in mole poblano), combining chocolate with chili, is a classic example. Despite the rumors, this is not
an ancient Aztec dish. The
Aztecs used chocolate for religious ceremonies and medicinal purposes. They did not
cook with it. Mole poblano is now traditionally associated with Mexican Christmas traditions, thanks to the Spanish.
---True History of Chocolate, Sophie D. Coe & Michael D. Coe [Thames & Hudson:London] 2nd edition 2007 (p. 214-215)
[NOTE: this book offers much more information than can be paraphrased here. Your librarian can help you obtain a copy.]
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p.
511)
---The Cuisines of Mexico, Diana Kennedy, [Harper & Row:New York] 1972 (p.
199-200)
[NOTE: this book contains recipes for other moles with history notes.]
Quesadillas
---The Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson (p. 803)
---The Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson (p. 644)
--The Tortilla Book, Diana Kennedy [Harper & Row:New York] 1975 -(p. 106)
Refried beans
---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman] 1999
(p. 268)
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p.
657)
---The Cuisines of Mexico, Dinana Kennedy [Harper Row:New York] 1972 (p. 282)
"Para frijoles refritos (Refried beans)
These are stewed with more lard and good broth. Add sliced or grated cheese when served."
---Encarnacion's Kidtchen: Mexican Recipes from Nineteenth-Century California,
Encarnacion Pinedo, edited and translated by Dan Strehl [University of California Press:Berkeley
CA] 2003 (p. 132)
"Frijoles Refritos (Refried beans)
Left over beans lose their flavor unless fat is added when reheated. If left over beans have not
been mashed, mash them; melt enough fat (1 T. For every cup) and fry beans in it. A little grated
cheese added will give them a special flavor."
---The Good Life: New Mexico Traditions and Food, Fabiola Cabeza de Baca Gilbert, 2nd
edition [Museum of New Mexico Press:Santa Fe NM] 1982 (p. 63)
[NOTE: This book notes the pinto (spotted) bean and the bolita (round light brown bean) are the
varieties widely used in New Mexico.]
Salsa
"...the Indians, tens of centuries ago, cultivated the tomato and the pepper plants and improved
and developed them until the tiny hot and pungent berries of the latter had been transformed into
a number of varieties of peppery fruits, and the little red sourish berries of the other had become
big luscious scarlet tomatoes....Long centuries before Columbus landed on the shores of the New
World, the tomato and the peppers had spread from the land of the Incas to Central America and
Mexico where they were cultivated by the Mayas and the Aztecs who called the tomato "tomatl,"
which the Spaniards under Cortez corrupted to the name by which the fruit is know to us
today...Very probably they [chilies] are of real value and aid in warding off fevers and other
maladies, as the natives claim, for they stimulate the digestive organs, especially the liver."
---Foods America Gave the World, A Hyatt Verrill (p. 34-5; 37)
"The Spanish first encountered the tomato after their conquest of Mexico in 1519-1521, yet few
references to tomatoes have been located in Spanish colonial documents...Sahagun was the first
European to make written note of "tomates." According to Sahagun, Aztec lords combined them
with chile peppers and ground squash seeds and consumed them mainly as a condiment served on
turkey, venison, lobster, and fish. This combination was subsequently called "salsa" by Alonso de
Molina in 1571."
---Souper Tomatoes: The Story of America's Favorite Food, Andrew F.Smith (p. 26-7)
"Salsa is the Spanish word for sauce--an indication of this condiment's origin in Spanish-speaking countries of the
Western Hemisphere, particularly Mexico and the countries of Central America. In these countries, the word "salsa" encompasses
a wide range of culinary concoctions, from sauces that are smooth, cooked, and served warm or hot, to condiments that are
chunky, raw, and served at room temperature. In the United States, the consumptino of condiment salsas began to expand beyond the
local Hispanic communities during the 1940s, initially in those parts of the American Southwest wehre Mexican food was
traditionally eaten. The msot common type of salsa was--and still is--a version of Mexican salsa cruda (raw sauce), also known
as salsa fresca (fresh sauce) or salsa Mexicana (Mexican sauce), made with chopped tomatoes, onions, and fresh green jalapeno or
serrano peppers...Salsa's popularity nationwide is generally attributed to Americans' increasing consumption of hot-and-spicy foods
during the second half of the twentieth century...Salsa are also perceived as healthy foods, because many of them are low
in calories, high in fiber, and full of vitamins."
---Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, Andrew F. Smith editor [Oxford University Press:New York] 2004, Volume 2 (p. 389)
"In Texas, salsa manufacturing began in 1947. dave and Margaret Pace operated a small food-packing operation in the back of their...
store in San Antonio. They were manufacturing syrups, salad dressings, and jellies and sold their products door-to-door. Dave, by
trial and error, began to make picante sauce and test it on his friends...By 1992, the top eight salsa manufacturers were Pace, Old
El Paso, Frito-Lay, Chi-Chi's, La Victoria, Ortego Herdez, and Newman's Own..."
---The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia, Dave DeWitt [William Morrow:New York] 1999 (p. 259-60)
Excellent question with no simple answer. Food historians generally agree New World style salsas (spicy mashed chili/tomato combinations) originated in Aztec
Central
America. Accurate/authentic evidence & early recipes is sketchy because this cuisine was first recorded in print by
Spanish scholars (missionaries, mostly). Father Sahagun recorded a salsa-type food (no recipe) in 1529.
First mention of salsa in recipe in USA print is even more challenging.
(1) The term "salsa" in USA print has been used over the years to denote several items, including Italian-style tomato sauce.
(2) Some early Mexican-style "salsa" recipes were given "Americanized" names, as in "Sauce for Tostatas."
(3) Salsa (Mexican style) crossed the USA print border in the early 20th century, starting with bordering states (Texas, California).
(4) 1930s/1940s mainstream print happens. The concept is regional & exotic. Think: Elena Zelayeta
(5) 1950s TexMex launches mainstream USA marketing campaigns.
(6) 1970s TexMex ragingly popular. Raw salsa & chips become standard bar fare & supermarkets snacks. Think: Diana Kennedy
[19th century California]
"Salsa picante de chile colorado
(Spicy red-Chile sauce)
Remove the crowns, then flatten and devein ten or twelve chiles; toast them in a warm oven, and when they are quite toasted, take them
out and put them in cold water, then hot. Wipe them off and put in a casserole. Bathe the chilies in boiling water; let them soak for
one or two hours, or let them simmer. Then take them out of the water in which they have been soaking; add a small amount of fresh
water so the sauce will have a uniform consistency. After grinding the chilies well in a mortar, pass the sauce through a heavy
strainer."
---Encarnacion's Kitchen: Mexican Recipes form Nineteenth-Century California, Encarnacion Pinedo, edited and translated by
Dan Strehl [University of California Press:Berkeley] 2003 (p. 156)
[NOTE: This is one of several recipes included in the chapter
titled "Salsas."]
"Chili Salsa
1 pound dry red chilies
1 onion
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon vinegar
1/2 teaspoon oregano (Marjoram)
3/4 cup oil
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon water
Sprig parsley
Remove stems, seeds and veins from peppers--wash well, cover with hot water and bring to boil. Mash with masher and let cool. When
cool, run through colander to remove pulp from skin, mash thoroughly until skins are almost dry. Chop onion, garlic and parsley
fine. Fry in oil. When delicately brown, add four and salt. Then brown the flour, pour chili pulp into mixture, add vinegar, sugar and
oregano. This salsa is used in many Spanish dishes."
---"Delicacies From Mexico," Los Angeles Times, October 12, 1934 (p. B18)
Sopaipillas & fry bread
---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New
York] 1999 (p. 303)
---Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, Andrew F. Smith editor [Oxford
University Press:New York] 2004, Volume 2 (p. 169)
"Squaw bread..2 tablespoons Royal baking powder, 1 quart like warm water, 1 teaspoon salt, 1
tablespoon compound, flour enough to make about like biscuit dough. Roll and cut any shape
desired. Fry in kettle of boiling compound. Recipe from Nancy Rogers Ware (Cherokee)"
Compare with this modern
one
---Indian Cook Book, The Indian Women's Club of Tulsa, Oklahoma [1932-33] (p. 7)
Tacos
---The Tortilla Book, Diana Kennedy [Harper & Row:New York] 1975 (p. 53-4)
The Food Chronology, James L. Trager [Henry Hot:New York] 1995 (p. 467)
---The Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New
York] 1999 (p. 321)
---American Century Cookbook, Jean Anderson [Clarkson Potter:New York] 1997 (p.
305), includes recipe for taco salad.
Tamales & tamale pie
---The Cuisines of Mexico, Diana Kennedy [Harper & Row:New York] 1972 (p. 84-88)
[NOTE: This book contains several tamale recipes.]
---American Heritage Cookbook: and Illustrated History of American Eating and Drinking,
Menus and Recipes, [American Heritage Publishing CO.:New York] 1964 (p. 398)
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p.
780)
---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New
York] 1999 (p. 322)
---The American Century Cookbook: The Most Popular Recipes of the 20th Century, Jean Anderson [Clarkson Potter:New York] 1997 (p. 148)
America's First Cuisines/Sophie D. Coe
The Story of Corn/Betty Fussell
Tortillas
---The Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford]
1999 (p. 803)
---The Cuisines of Mexico, Diana Kennedy [Harper & Row:New York] 1972 (p. 116-7)
---An A-Z of Food & Drink, John Ayto [Oxford Univeristy Press:Oxford] 2002 (p. 347)
---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariana [Lebhar-Friedman:New
York] 1999
(p. 330)
---The Foods and Wines of Spain, Penelope Casas [Alfred A. Knopf:New York] 1982 (p.
163)
1. America's First Cuisines, Sophie D. Coe
2. The Story of Corn, Betty Fussell
About these notes: Food history can be a complicated topic. These notes are not meant
to be a
comprehensive treatment of the subject, but a summary of salient points supported with culinary
evidence. If you
need more information we suggest you start by asking your librarian to help you find the books
and articles cited in these notes. Article databases are good for locating current recipes, consumer
trends, and new products.
Have questions? Ask!
Research conducted by Lynne
Olver, editor The Food
Timeline. About this site.