If you grew up in the West, you didn’t exist only on your mother’s food.
Maybe mom did the cooking, but she was influenced by all the cooks who came before her: vaqueros of Mexico, freed African-American slaves of the South, hardy European homesteaders.
Beverly Cox and Martin Jacobs chronicle this massive culinary melting pot in the new book “Spirit of the West: Cooking from Ranch House and Range” (Artisan, $35).
Cox, a fourth-generation rancher in the high plains of Colorado, knows whereof she writes. The great-granddaughter of an 1870 homesteader, she’s familiar with the food of the ranch, with the trail drives that channeled the products of those ranches, and with the cowboys from Mexico and the already settled states who added their cultures to the mix.
Cox explores the cooking and contributions of a nation on the move. These were people with a meager supply of staples (flour, dried meat, coffee on a good day) and often difficult circumstances (no refrigeration, no available produce).
But this is not a book about hardship. It’s a book of making something out of little to nothing and giving it a place in an emerging culture.
“This food is nostalgic now,” Cox says. “It’s our comfort food.”
It’s also food that is as all over the map as the states it covers.
“Not all western cooking was the same. Of course, people in California and Oregon had all sorts of fresh food available to them,” Cox says. “But then, there were people surviving in near-drought conditions,” and people living for the good part of the year on potatoes and cabbage from their root cellars.
On the flip side were established ranches that often lured cowboys with the reputation of their cooking. They served meals when the cowboys were in the bunkhouse and packed a mean chuck wagon when drives demanded.
Those cowboys, the originals being the Spanish-trained vaqueros of Mexico, also brought along their influences: chilies, tortillas, the versatility of beans.
Another influence, on the drives and in the kitchens, came from the slaves emancipated with the Civil War. Black cowboys rode the trails, and black cooks sprinkled the cooking with Southern influences, such as biscuits and corn bread.
“That food made its way all the way up to Canada,” Cox says, “and some of the food native to this area, like sourdough, made its way down too. I’ve seen sourdough corn bread served in Texas. I’ve talked to ranchers with Russian and German backgrounds who remember that they ate sauerkraut at every meal.”
Cox offers the last as an example of how homesteaders turned to their ethnic cuisine to find a food that would fit the hardships of long gaps between harvests.
“Canned goods became available during the Civil War, and they were a big luxury for the chuck-wagon cooks,” Cox says. “Tomatoes and canned peaches were popular. I remember from when I was growing up that my father’s uncles, who were old cowboys, loved canned peaches.”
Canned evaporated milk was another boon to traveling cooks.
“Cowboys don’t milk cows,” says Cox, laughing, “and if you’re talking about milking longhorns, you’d have to be very brave or very stupid. So evaporated milk, Borden’s, was a staple.”
EGGS BAKED IN RED CHILI SAUCE
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
Cooking time: 10 minutes
1/3 to 1/2 cup lard or vegetable oil, for frying
6 (8-inch) corn tortillas
3 cups mission-style red chili sauce, see recipe
12 large eggs
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese, or mixture of both
3/4 cup pitted, sliced California black olives, well-drained
Fresh oregano sprigs, for garnish, optional
1. Melt lard in deep 8- to 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat; heat until almost smoking. Turn down heat. Using tongs, carefully dip each tortilla into hot lard to soften; place on layer of newspaper covered with paper towels to drain. Place another layer of paper towels over tortillas and press gently to absorb any fat. (A cleaner, easier alternative is to spray tortillas with non-stick cooking spray, wrap in towel and heat in microwave, 30 to 40 seconds.)
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Warm chili sauce over medium heat in deep 8- to 10-inch skillet. Pour half of the sauce in small bowl and set aside. Dip softened tortillas into remaining sauce, using tongs, in skillet. Arrange in slightly overlapping layer in lightly oiled large shallow baking dish, gratin dish or 6 individual gratin dishes. Pour reserved sauce over tortillas. Break eggs over sauce. Place dish in oven and bake until eggs are set, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven; sprinkle with cheese and olives. Serve garnished with sprigs of fresh oregano, if desired.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories …. 494 Fat ………… 36 g Cholesterol .. 444 mg
Sodium … 516 mg Carbohydrates .. 23 g Protein …….. 21 g
MISSION-STYLE RED CHILI SAUCE
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Yield: About 3 cups
Cooking time: 20 minutes
15 dried mild New Mexican chilies
2 garlic cloves, peeled
Boiling water
2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano or 3/4 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 bay leaf, preferably fresh
1. Heat oven to 275 degrees. Rinse chilies. Place on baking sheet and toast lightly, about 5 minutes, being careful not to scorch. Remove chilies from oven; allow to cool. Remove and discard stems, veins and seeds. Place chilies in saucepan and add boiling water to cover. Cover pan with lid; set aside to soften, 20 minutes. Drain chilies, reserving soaking water.
2. Scrape chili pulp from skin using edge of spoon or small knife. Put pulp, 1 1/2 cups of soaking water, garlic and oregano in food processor fitted with metal blade or blender. Pulse on and off until mixture is pureed.
3. Heat olive oil in large, heavy skillet over medium-low heat. Stir in chili mixture, vinegar, sugar and salt. Add bay leaf and simmer sauce, stirring frequently, until thickened enough to coat a spoon, about 20 minutes. If a thinner sauce is desired, add a little more of reserved soaking liquid.
