Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
27
6 EATING & DRINKING IN THE SOUTHWEST
FOOD
With its mix of cultures—Anglo, His-
panic, Native American—the Southwest's
culinary scene offers rich diversity. Of
course, you'll find plenty of fast-food res-
taurants as well as restaurants following
the latest trends, but you'll also find
Native American foods little changed in
hundreds of years and an astonishingly
wide variety of Mexican food, from Baja-
style fish tacos to Nuevo Latino prepara-
tions that seem lifted from the pages of
Like Water for Chocolate.
If you have an adventurous palate, be
sure to search out some of the region's
Southwestern restaurants. Although many
of these can be rather expensive, the fla-
vors, which mix the spices of Mexico with
the fruit-and-meat pairings of nouvelle
cuisine, are deliciously distinctive.
Southwestern cuisine combines ele-
ments from various parts of Mexico, such
as sauces from the Yucatán Peninsula, and
fried bananas served with bean dishes,
typical of Costa Rica and other Central
American locales. You'll also find Asian
elements mixed in. Don't worry, for the
most part the cuisine isn't spicy. Expect
pistachio-crusted meats, fruit salsas, cream
sauces made with smoky chipotle peppers,
and the likes of duck tamales and cassoulet
made with indigenous tepary beans.
There is also the simple fare favored by
the Southwest's Native Americans. On
reservations throughout the region, you'll
usually find fry bread on the menu. These
deep-fried disks of dough are similar to
that county-fair staple the elephant ear
(only without the sugar and cinnamon).
Fry bread is eaten as a side or is used to
make fry-bread (or Indian) tacos (called
Navajo tacos on the Navajo reservation).
These tacos are made by piling shred-
ded lettuce, ground beef, pinto beans, and
cheese on top of a circle of fry bread. The
best we've eaten are in Phoenix, at the Fry
Bread House (p. 432), and in Albuquer-
que, at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center.
The biggest are at the Cameron Trading
Post restaurant near the east entrance to
Grand Canyon National Park. One regu-
lar fry-bread taco there is enough for two
people.
Other than fry-bread tacos, authentic
Native American fare is hard to come by in
the Southwest. At the Chihootso Indian
Market, in the Navajo Nation capital of
Window Rock, and at the Gallup Flea
Market (p. 280), you can sample such
traditional dishes as mutton stew and
steam corn (a soup made with whole corn
kernels). Also, if you should happen to see
a roadside sign for kneel-down bread, be
sure to buy some. This traditional Navajo
corn bread is similar to a tamale, only
sweeter. Wherever you sample Navajo
food, ask whether Navajo tea is available.
This is a mild herbal tea made from a
plant that grows in the Four Corners
region.
No discussion of Southwestern cuisine
would be complete without mentioning
Mexican food. Yes, we know that Mexican
food is ubiquitous in the U.S., but Mexi-
can restaurants in the Southwest have far
more to offer than most other places. Even
within the region, the food varies greatly.
Although Mexican restaurants around Ari-
zona serve a variety of regional styles, the
state is best known for its Sonoran-style
food. This is the Mexican food of the des-
ert, and while much of it will be familiar
to fans of Mexican food, there are some
distinctive regional specialties. You might
find a Sonoran hot dog, for instance. These,
available at El Guero Canelo (p. 367), in
Tucson, are hot dogs wrapped in bacon
and slathered with beans and salsa. For
another distinctive Sonoran dish, sample
the carne seca at Tucson's El Charro Café
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