YOUR MEXICAN KITCHEN (1935);NOVISIMO ARTE DE COCINA (1853)

Mon Jul 3 04:07:24 UTC 2000

YOUR MEXICAN KITCHEN (1935)

    This was not "the first" Mexican cookbook in English, but it's one of the
first.  From YOUR MEXICAN KITCHEN: A COMPILATION OF MEXICAN RECIPES
PRACTICABLE IN THE UNITED STATES (G. P. Putnam's Sons, NYC, 1935) by Natalie
V. Scott:

Pg. 5:  QUESADILLAS DE CARNE (OF MEAT)
Pg. 6:  QUESADILLAS DE QUESO (OF CHEESE) (...)
     QUESADILLAS OF SQUASH FLOWERS
Pg. 41:  TRIPE SOUP
     _Menudo_
1/2 lb. of beef tripe and foot
4 qts. of water
2 hot peppers
American wormseed
a little salt
Parboil the tripe.  Then wash it well.  Still better, it should be scraped
with a knife until it is very, very clean.  (Pg. 42--ed.) Put it to cook in
the 4 qts. of water, with salt, several hours, cooking very slowly, until the
water is reduced to 1 1/2 qts.  Grind the hot peppers, and add it and the
American wormseed to the brew, and let it have another hour on the stove,
cooking very slowly.
Pg. 64:  MOLITO EGGS (OED want this "M"?--ed.)
Pg. 76:  TRIPE
     _Mondongo_ (OED want this "M"?)
Pg. 77:  MEXICAN NOODLES (OED want this "M"?)
     _Fideos Mexicanos_
Pg. 82:  MINGUICHES SINALOENSES (OED want this "M"?)
Pg. 117:  MENESTRA (OED want this "M"?)
Pg. 120:  MEXICAN STEW (OED want this "M"?)
Pg. 135:  "ANTS"
     _Mochomos_ (OED want this "M"?)
Pg. 152:  MEXICAN BEANS (OED want this "M"?)
     _Frijoles_
Pg. 176:  MEXICAN RICE (OED wantthis "M"?)
     _Arros a la Mexicana_
Pg. 218:  CHONGOS
Pg. 220:  NATILLAS
Pg. 225:  SKUNK
     _Zorrillo_
Pg. 226:  COYOTAS (a dessert--ed.)
Pg. 243:  CHEESE CRISPS
     _Gorditas de Queso_
Pg. 254:  BUNUELOS
Pg. 255:  FARFULLAS
Pg. 257:  MORRONAS (OED want this "M"?)
Pg. 258:  SIGHS
     _Suspiros_
Pg. 268:  MEXICAN CHOCOLATE (OED want this "M"?)
1 square chocolate
4 tbsps. of boiling water
3/4 cup of milk
sugar (to taste)
Put the boiling water in a saucepan, and add the chocolate.
When the chocolate has melted and begins to thicken, add the milk and sugar.
When this in turn comes to a boil, beat it until it is foamy.
There is an ingenius chocolate beater, often highly decorated, a _molinillo_,
in general use in Mexico, and no Mexican chocolate is acceptable that is not
foamy.
Pg. 270:  MAZAMORA (OED want this "M"?)

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NOVISIMO ARTE DE COCINA (1853)

     I copied the index to the NYPL's copy of NOVISIMO ARTE DE COCINA, O
EXCELENTE COLECCION DE LAS MEJORES RECETAS, PARA QUE AL MENOR COSTO POSIBLE Y
CON LA MAYOR COMODIDAD, PUEDA GUISARSE A LA ESPANOLA, FRANCESA, ITALIANA E
INGLESA, SIN OMITIRSE COSA ALGUNA DE LO HASTA AQUI PUBLICADO PARA SAZONAR AL
ESTILO DE MEXICO (Mexico, 1853):

Pg. 22:  _Menudo a la espanola._
Pg. 23:  _Albondigas reales._  (Mariani has 1923 for English print.--ed.)
Pg. 54:  _Mole caraqueno de carnero._  (OED will have 1871 for "mole"--ed.)
Pg. 56:  _Enchilado._  (Mariani has 1885--ed.)
Pg. 107:  _Quesadillas de regalo._
Pg. 303:  _Masa para cubiletes o empanaditas._ (OED wanted "masa" before
1914.  Tons of "masa" hits here, over 14 pages.  Also, Mariani has "empanada"
in English from 1920--ed.)

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MEXICAN COOKERY FOR AMERICAN HOMES (1923)

     I read through MEXICAN COOKERY FOR AMERICAN HOMES (Gebhardt Chili Powder
Company, San Antonio, TX, 1923) in the Rare Book Room of the LOC last Monday.

Pg. 19:  Mexican baked beans (OED want this "M"?)
Pg. 23:  Mexican salad (OED want this "M"?)
Pg. 28:  Mexican stew (OED want this "M"?)
Pg. 29:  Mexican bean salad (OED want this "M"?)

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FIFTY CHOICE RECIPES OF MEXICAN AND SPANISH DISHES (1905)

    Also, last Monday in the LOC Rare Book Room, I read through FIFTY CHOICE
RECIPES OF MEXICAN AND SPANISH DISHES (self-published?, 1905) by H. S. Loury.
 No page numbers are given.  "Mexican Chili Stew" and "Mexican String Beans"
and "Mexican Meat Balls" are perhaps of interest.

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MISSING COOKBOOKS

     Gone from the NYPL (see http://catnyp.nypl.org for full cite) are:

EL COCINERA MEXICANO (1832).
EL PERFECTO COCINERA (1883).
CALIFORNIA MEXICAN-SPANISH COOKBOOK (1914) by Bertha Haffner Ginger.

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MARGARITA (continued)

    Al Lucero's MARIA'S REAL MARGARITA BOOK (Ten Speed Press, 1994) describes
on page 31 the October 1974 TEXAS MONTHLY article I have here.  From that
article, "THE MAN WHO INVENTED THE MARGARITA" by Brad Cooper, pg. 76, col. 3:

    He (Pancho Morales, who invented the Conga Cooler--ed.) remembers when
the Margarita came to life.
    "Exactly, it was one Fourth of July.  That Fourth of July, everybody came
to Tommy's Place...well, not everybody, but a lot of people.
(This was July 4, 1942, Tommy's Place on Juarez Avenue, Juarez, Mexico.  The
Caesar Salad supposedly was born on July 4, 1924.  Don't Mexicans invent food
& drink on any other day?--ed.)
     "A lady came in and said, 'Let me have a Magnolia.'
     "Well, the bartender, same as cooks and artists...the bartender has a
lot of pride.  We have too much pride to say, 'Well, I'm sorry...I don't know
how to make that drink.'"
     Morales knew, roughly, that a Manolia contained cointreau, some lime,
and booze.  To save face, he faked it and made it with tequila.
     "I gave it to her and she says, 'Oh, this is not a Magnolia, but it is
very good.'  And, I said, 'Oh, oh, I thought you said Margarita.'  You see,
daisy, in Spanish, is maragarita.  The reason I called it the Margarita is
because I was thinking of the flower margarita, like the magnolia.  She liked
it.  That's how it originated."