The Texas Cowboy Cookbook: A History in Recipes and Photos

By Robb Walsh

Book Overview

Texas cowboys are the stuff of legend -- immortalized in ruggedly picturesque images from Madison Avenue to Hollywood. Cowboy cooking has the same romanticized mythology, with the same oversimplified reputation (think campfire coffee, cowboy steaks, and ranch dressing). In reality, the food of the Texas cattle raisers came from a wide variety of ethnicities and spans four centuries. Robb Walsh digs deep into the culinary culture of the Texas cowpunchers, beginning with the Mexican vaqueros and their chile-based cuisine. Walsh gives overdue credit to the largely unsung black cowboys (one in four cowboys was black, and many of those were cooks). Cowgirls also played a role, and there is even a chapter on Urban Cowboys and an interview with the owner of Gilley's, setting for the John Travolta--Debra Winger film. Here are a mouthwatering variety of recipes that include campfire and chuckwagon favorites as well as the sophisticated creations of the New Cowboy Cuisine: * Meats and poultry: sirloin guisada, cinnamon chicken, coffee-rubbed tenderloin * Stews and one-pot meals: chili, gumbo, fideo con carne * Sides: scalloped potatoes, onion rings, pole beans, field peas * Desserts and breads: peach cobbler, sourdough biscuits, old-fashioned preserves Through over a hundred evocative photos and a hundred recipes, historical sources, and the words of the cowboys (and cowgirls) themselves, the food lore of the Lone Star cowboy is brought vividly to life.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0767921496
• ISBN13: 9780767921497
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.4" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

lovely

I thought the book was excellently written. It had recipes from many ethnic groups around Texas. The chapter on African-american Texans was especially interesting. The author took great strides in making the book personally touch all readers who would pick it up to read. It even had great references to historical events. I would seriously consider this author on any future purchases.

Boy howdy good time!

Even if you don't like to cook, this is a fun book full of Texas cowboy tales and good eats! Just leafing through the many photos and stories is a delicacy.

The Texas Cowboy cookbook

This cookbook is such fun. I had checked out a copy at the local library and liked it so much I purchased it. The history and cowboy myths were enlightining. I shared it with a neighbor who also purchased it. I made sourdough bread after reading this book and our family is planning a "chuckwagon cookout". Fun to read.

cowboys know good food!!

this is a great cookbook;it has many informative articles and wonderful pictures. i highly recommend the dr. pepper marinade for tri tip to filet roasts.

The Texas Cowboy Cookbook: A History in Recipes and Photos

If you have any interest in the history of cowboys, chuck wagons, the state of Texas or just delicious range-life cooking, this is the book for you. This well-written and informative cookbook goes beyond the recipes and provides a detailed history of cowboys in Texas, and how each regional and ethnic group contributed to the category of cowboy cuisine. From sourdough biscuits to "son of a bitch," Walsh walks you through all aspects of preparation, and shows you how you can acclimate the recipes for the home kitchen. This beautifully designed book is also generously illustrated with historical photos and whimsical illustrations. And sprinkled throughout the text are oral histories on cooking from cowboys both old and new, placing the recipes in a delciious context. While the recipes are not fancy (this is, after all, cowboy cuisine, food originally designed to be eaten outdoors on the range), they are meticulous, authentic and tasty. And I challenge anyone to say instruction on how to cook a cow's head is mundane!