Overview
In 15,000-year-old archaeologicalsites throughout Texas and Northeastern Mexico, records left by Coahuiltecan, Karankawa, Apache, and other Indigenous communities tell stories about theirfood practices, the roots of Texas Mexican cuisine. Author and chef AdánMedrano, a Coahuiltecan descendant, has made it his life's work to documentthese food practices and the stories they narrate. In The Texas MexicanPlant-Based Cookbook, he honors the plant-based cooking history, traditions, and knowledge that make up the comida casera (home cooking) of today's TexasMexican community. Each of the 90 kitchen-testedrecipes includes detailed cooking instructions intended for contemporary homecooks. Headnotes for each recipe describe how the dish entered the region'sculinary traditions and became integral to the culinary act of meaning-makingin the community. The book provides explanations of the origins of iconicingredients like squash, cactus, mesquite, and sunflowers, as well as morerecent, post-Conquest ingredients like watermelon, rice, and cauliflower. Texasancestors ate pecans and black walnuts, along with acorns, grapes, berries, seeds, and tubers. Mesquite and cactus were central to celebrations.Home cooks of alllevels can discover and reclaim ancient ingredients and simple techniques inthis volume and come away with a deeper knowledge of the agricultural systemsthat belie our current foodways.
- | Author: Adán Medrano
- | Publisher: Texas Tech University Press
- | Publication Date: Aug 26, 2025
- | Number of Pages: 224 pages
- | Binding: Hardback or Cased Book
- | ISBN-10: 1682832732
- | ISBN-13: 9781682832738
