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). A number of casual dining and fast food restaurants specializing in Southwestern cuisine have become popular in the United States.
New Mexican cuisine is the most popular in the states of New Mexico, Colorado, Northern Arizona, Southern Nevada and Utah. It is known for its dedication to the New Mexico chile, the majority of the crop is grown in Hatch, New Mexico. 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. Beyond just chile it also includes flavors such as piñon, and dishes such as breakfast burritos, biscochitos, and sopapillas.
Texan cuisine has a Southwestern cuisine called Tex-Mex, 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 New Spain and the Republic of Mexico, regional ingredients were more limited, with few imports supplementing locally grown food. This gave New Mexican cuisine its unique palate.
All cooking was done at home by women who toasted whole spices and ground corn by hand using metates. Hunters made "jerky", in the style of New Mexican carne seca, 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 New Spain—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. Native Americans and Hispanos developed the earliest forms of New Mexico chile to supplement this taste.
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
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.