Cuisine of the Southwestern United States facts for kids

A pot of chili con carne with beans and tomatoes

The cuisine of the Southwestern United States is food styled after the rustic cooking of the Southwestern United States. It comprises a fusion of recipes for things that might have been eaten by Spanish colonial settlers, cowboys, Native Americans, and Mexicans throughout the post-Columbian era; there is, however, a great diversity in this kind of cuisine throughout the Southwestern states.

Southwestern cuisine is similar to Mexican cuisine but often involves larger cuts of meat, namely pork and beef, and less use of tripe, brain, and other parts not considered as desirable in the United States.

As with Mexican cuisine, Southwestern cuisine is also largely known for its use of spices (particularly the chile, or chili pepper). Recently, several chains of casual dining restaurants specializing in Southwestern cuisine have become popular in the United States.

New Mexican cuisine is known for its dedication to the chile (the official "state question" is "Red or green?" which refers to the preferred color of chiles), most notably the Hatch chile, named for the city in New Mexico where they are grown.

Part of New Mexican cuisine is smothering each dish with either red chile, green chile or both (mixing of both is referred to as "Christmas"), and usage of pork or beef.

New Mexican Cuisine is most popular in the states of New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. Texas has a version, Tex-Mex cuisine, while Arizona's style of Southwestern cuisine is often called Sonoran, since the Sonoran Desert covers a third of the state.

History

When New Mexico was still part of the Republic of Mexico, regional ingredients were more limited, with few imports supplementing locally grown food.

All cooking was done at home by women who toasted whole spices and ground corn by hand using metates. Hunters made "jerky" with game meats, fish and wild birds. Fruits and vegetables were sun-dried in preparation for the winter.

Food was slow-cooked in iron or copper pots over open fires, and the only imported items were non-perishables from Mexico—coffee, sugar and spices.

The expansion of the railway system allowed the importation of milled flour and corn meal, sugar, lemons, oranges and other ingredients from "the States".

Traditional ways of cooking were eventually replaced by iron stoves. The basic chile, beans and corn dishes from Mexican cuisine evolved over time and in modern form often substitute extremely hot peppers and condiments for the subtle, balanced spicing of authentic Mexican cuisine.

By the early 20th-century tostadas, "chile joints" and home-cooked "chile suppers" and tamale vendors had become part of the cultural landscape.

Characteristics

The staple ingredients of Southwestern cuisine are corn, squash and beans. Called the "three sisters", they have been staples of North-American agriculture since ancient times. Beans are served whole or refried, and both styles can be used as filling for tostadas, tacos, burritos and similar dishes. Many bean varieties are consumed but the pinto bean is the most iconic bean of southwestern cuisine.

Southwestern food is distinguished by the use of chile peppers as the primary seasoning, first brought to Santa Fe with the arrival of the Spanish from Mexico.

Chile peppers are used as a topping for virtually every dish from pizza to bagels, or just fried tempura and eaten whole. Most dishes, from burritos to scrambled eggs, are served with plentiful amounts of chile sauce.

States

Arizona

A Sonoran hot dog topped with pinto beans and tomatoes

The cuisine of Arizona is influenced by its location and proximity to Mexico and reflects a blend of Hispanic, Native-American and pioneer culinary traditions. The O'odham peoples cultivated crops like maize and tepary beans around the Sonoran Desert area located at the base of the Tucson Mountains.

Local dishes include raspado, huevos rancheros and tamales. The Sonoran hot dog is an Arizona specialty served with pinto beans, guacamole, jalapeños, salsa and layered with other southwestern flavors.

Tucson, Arizona became the first American city to receive the designation of "City of Gastronomy" by UNESCO.

Restaurants use local ingredients, many grown with heirloom seeds distributed by non-profit organizations like Native Seeds/SEARCH. Salads and salsas are made with cholla cactus, gathered and dried at the San Xavier Indian Reservation.

Nevada

The cuisine of Nevada is influenced by Basque cuisine, with many Basque restaurants in the area of Las Vegas and a Basque festival in Elko. Originally invented in California, Picon Punch is a signature drink not often found outside Nevada in modern times.

New Mexico

The most prevalent cuisine type of New Mexico is that of the cuisine originating in the historical region of Santa Fe de Nuevo México. The modern New Mexican cuisine is a fusion the cuisine of the Puebloans and Hispanos of New Mexico.

Texas

Tex-Mex cuisine was first created from the early Tejano people in Texas. This type of southwestern cuisine is heavy in cheese, beans, and meat. Dishes include heavy usage of the Chiltepin pepper. Popular dishes include enchiladas, King Ranch casserole, menudo, and chili con carne.

Utah

Fry sauce with french fries at a restaurant in Utah

Potatoes were the first crop planted by the pioneers when they arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847 with seeds from the eastern states. According to William Clayton the first settlers in Utah also planted turnips, oats, corn, buckwheat and beans. Peach pits and apple seeds were planted at the insistence of Brigham Young.

Veterans of the Mexican–American War brought back seeds from California, introducing club wheat and the California pea to the state.

In modern times Utah is not noted for its culinary traditions except its fry sauce, a mix of ketchup and mayonnaise that is served with nearly everything.

Southwestern dishes

Cactus fries with a side of prickly pear sauce

A burrito with red chile, often referred to as a "smothered burrito"

Images for kids

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  Tri-tip on the grill, with a saucepan of beans and loaves of bread.