SEPTEMBER 2019 83
Then & Now
Here are a few ways to satisfy your
appetite while getting in touch with
your inner pioneer:For a modern version of pemmican,
Brockhouse Jerky in Seagoville
offers hickory-smoked jerky,
including the spicy “Hell’s
Fire” flavor. 469-333-5265;
brockhousejerky.comThe classic pioneer pairing of pork
and corn can be sampled at Mik-
ki’s Café in Houston, where corn-
bread dressing is served alongside
smothered pork chops on Fridays
and Sundays. 281-568-5115;
mikkiscafe.comSip German-style lagers and ales
at Faust Brewing Company in
New Braunfels, which has been in
operation since 1998. The brewery
also creates uniquely Texan mash-
ups like the JalaPolka Pils, a pilsner
aged with fresh jalapeños.
830-625-7791; faustbrewing.comLearn Dutch-oven cooking from
outdoor cooking masters at Te x a s
Parks and Wildlife. Classes are
featured in parks across the state.
tpwd.texas.gov/calendar/cookingFor authentic South Texas cui-
sine, chef and food writer Adán
Medrano recommends trying the
carne guisada at Rita’s Fiesta
Café in San Antonio. Or try cook-
ing in your own cocina using one of
Medrano’s recipes from his book,
Truly Texas Mexican: A Native
Culinary Heritage in Recipes.^cuisine uniquely suited to range cul-
ture—the culinary art of the chuck-
wagon. Rancher Charles Goodnight
is credited with the mobile cowboy
kitchens we’re familiar with today.
He modified an army-surplus wagon
by adding a box on the back for pro-
visions, a hinged folding lid for a
cooking surface, a large water bar-
rel in the wagon bed, and a canvas
sling underneath for storing fire-
wood. Chuckwagon food featured a
spartan menu of beef, beans, coffee,
salted pork, and sourdough biscuits.
But on occasion the cook, known
as a “coosie,” would prepare a des-
sert, usually a fruit cobbler com-
posed of sweetened, buttery dough
layered with dried apples, peaches, or
apricots and baked among coals in a
Dutch oven.
Perhaps nowhere in the state saw
as much a mix of cultures—native,
Mexican, and European—as South
Texas. These days, it’s mostly recog-
nized as the birthplace of Tex-Mex.
This pervasive American treatment
of Mexican cooking, known for lots
of frying and yellow cheese, has be-
come beloved throughout the coun-
try. But historically, “true South Texas
cuisine is the home cooking, comida
casera, of Texas Mexicans,” says
Adán Medrano, Texas chef and au-
thor of the upcoming cookbook Don’t
Count the Tortillas: The Art of Texas
Mexican Cooking. According to Me-
drano, authentic South Texas cuisine
is “clearly descended from early tra-
ditions, vibrant and strong in their
flavor profiles, using the same cook-
ing techniques that were tradition-
ally employed.” One of the holdover
dishes from centuries’ past is carne
guisada, a beef stew made thick with
roux. Luckily, it’s still available at
many Mexican restaurants around
the state.
With a clear blueprint of where it’s
been, Texas’ cuisine marches into the
future—and continues to be shaped
by the state’s unique ethnic mix and
the natural bounty of its land.