Here's an article on Arizona's food history. I'd go "Arizona" rather than "late 19th century".

Here is a link that might be useful: Arizona

You could make some cowboy beans and buttermilk biscuits I found under the late 1800's on that timeline. Pinto beans cooked with some pork pieces, served with some chopped raw onion and diced jalapenos were what the cowboys in the west ate - maybe 3 times a day.

I agree with Teresa, beans would be very appropriate and if you don't want to do biscuits, you could make beans and tortillas or some version of that.

It sounds like fun and you'll definitely have a mixture of foods.

Annie

Not much agriculture in Arizona during that timeframe. No water until the canals were built. Their diet was heavily influenced by the Sonora region of Mexico so they ate wheat tortillas rather than corn and their diet in general was not as spicy as the Tex-Mex of New Mexico or Texas. If it were me, I'd make Posole and wheat tortillas - the tortillas alone should be a giveaway as to location.

Have fun!

/tricia

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I borrowed the book through interlibrary loan over 2 years ago, so I don't have it on hand for the specific food references. My son is allergic to peanuts/legumes (except green/wax beans), so I never make anything with nuts in the house because of possible contamination, but I could probably do something with beans (of course he won't be eating it). I don't know what Posole is, but I can look it up when I get home from work. Since I don't cook with beans, if I go that route, is there a thread here somewhere that would have an appropriate recipe? Thanks.

If you decide on making beans, here's a recipe I found in a cookbook with foods from all over the U.S.

I would probably only use 1 tsp. of salt and after I had added all the ingredients and cooked for about a half hour, taste to see if it needed more.

ARIZONA COWPUNCHERS' BEANS

1 lb. dry pinto beans
2 tsp. salt
2 lg. onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (7 oz.) can chopped green chiles
1 (6 oz.) can taco sauce (green chile salsa)
1 (1 lb. 14 oz.) can tomatoes (break up with spoon)
1/2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. chili powder

Soak beans overnight in cold water to cover. Drain and rinse beans; then cover generously with fresh water. Cook over moderate heat for 1 hour, adding more water if needed. Combine salt, onion, garlic, chiles, taco sauce, tomatoes and spices and stir into beans. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours more until beans are tender. Correct seasoning.
Serves 6.

Eileen grew up in Arizona, and so I would ask her personally, but my recommendation would be a nopales salad, or some other nopales recipe. Nothing else says "Arizona" like cactus, and you could also make a dessert from cactus fruit, if you can find it. I have found pitaya (dragon fruit) in the frozen section of Latin markets, and it is a fruit from an epiphyte - I have some growing in my back yard. It's native to Mexico and not Arizona, but other cactus fruit is harder to find.

Lars

This post was edited by publickman on Wed, Apr 10, 13 at 11:40

I grew up in Arizona and a big treat for me was eating fry bread at the Papago Rodeo in Sells. The Native Americans were here first. I'd go for a recipe using nopales (cactus pads), and fry bread and wild honey.

Here is a link to Native American recipes, some are indigenous to Arizona, some not. Here is a wiki list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_Arizona

Eileen

Here is a link that might be useful: Recipes.

You could add the nopales to beans, like Lars said nothing says Arizona like cactus. Fry bread or tortillas would be wonderful together. Patty

Thanks everyone. What a fun link Eileen! The book was mainly about an American family relocating out west (actually the diary of a young woman) however there are native americans in the story. The fry bread recipes look good - they say to serve hot - it would be more room temp by the time I would get there & we would eat it. I'll have to see if our store sells pricky pear - maybe, or I could go to the next town over, which would have a Latin market - I've never had a reason to seek one out before!

I'm from Denver, Colo., and cactus isn't on my radar. I go to a Mexican restaurant here in FL that serves it in a veggie dish and I ask it to be removed. You have to develop a taste to enjoy it.

I would truly endorse the cowboy beans. I make a dish that is very similar called Ranch beans. No green chili or taco sauce, but very tasty and most who have had it like it.

This post was edited by beachlily on Wed, Apr 10, 13 at 18:30

Ok - families would have eaten them too, not just cowboys, right?!

The event was last night. Many thanks to Ruthanna for the recipe. I went with that, and we could leave a hint with the dish so I called them "Arizona beans." Some folks were on the right track & guessed the sequel to the book, which we also read. It was fun & there were interesting offerings - from bread & beer representing "Pillars of the Earth" to a lamb dish representing "The Red Tent" to a beautiful Armenian pudding representing a dish from a book we read about that country. Thanks again folks!

I wish I'd seen this thread a few days ago, as I spent my HS years in Tucson and Casa Grande. I used to make fry bread all the time, as well as enchiladas. My mom taught in a small southern Arizona town, and used to bring home hand-made tortillas and other Mexican dishes for us -- her students' mothers brought them to her as a thank you instead of the traditional teacher coffee cups, pencil cups, and what-nots.

Thanks for the memories ... hmm, I haven't made fry bread in ages! I should make some today!

Donna

Sounds great!

Elba, it sounds like everything went very well and you had a great time.

Donna, I love fry-bread. Being of Native American ancestry in part, I grew up with fry-bread. I liked it best sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, LOL, but it was mostly used to hold other foods, like shredded meats.

I never was much good at making it, though, that was Grandpa's specialty and I don't think anyone if the family has made any since he died 20+ years ago.

Annie

I love fry bread. Make it every once in while with honey butter. You don't find them on the menu up here much any more, but if you order "Scones" you get fry bread. I was in my 40's before I found out, from the boards, that Scones are wayyyyy different than what I grew up thinking they were. LOL

Sounds like a fun time, Elba. I'm glad the dish worked for your book selection.

Yes, and a couple people told me it was very good. Ironically, I couldn't eat anything there, including the beans, as I had decided to start an elimination diet that Monday, so I had already eaten at home. It is helping, so it's worth it.