Western Culinary Heritage

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The Western Region: A Goldmine of Culinary Heritage There is something about the stunning views of the Rocky Mountains and Spanish-Indian cowboy cuisine that make the West much more than just “where the deer and the antelope play” (Higley). Sky and land coupled with more sky and even more land characterize this incredible region. But more than the spectacular sites, the West has captured the heart of many Americans who also cannot escape their appetites for wild west cuisine. Western tables boast of more than just beans, beans and more beans; each state in the West supplies a wide variety of additions to the menu. Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado all make up this peaceful region known as the “Rocky Mountain States” (American Regional …show more content…

Elk, wildcat, wild duck, beaver, and jack rabbit are a sampling entrées that are found on Westerners’ tables and in their restaurants (The Food of a Younger Land). Due to the combination of Native Americans, miners, settlers, fishermen, cowboys and Spanish peoples that have inhabited the area over the years, the food selection in the West ranges everywhere from corn, beans, squash and other agricultural crop to trout, bison, beef and even crab (American Regional Cuisine 340). Native American who first lived in the West considered corn, beans and squash to be the “three sister foods” and shared this knowledge with the settlers that came through (American Regional Cuisine 340). This sort of trading was key to the incorporation of many cooking implements into the West. For example, Dutch traders introduced the Dutch oven when bartering with Native American and early settlers. These pots proved to be one of the most versatile being able to “sit on top of a fire or hot coals or even be buried to simulate an oven” (Big Sky Cooking 114). The lids can also be “inverted and used as a skillet to fry” on while placing a cup of water in the bottom of the pot can make for an excellent roasting pan (Big Sky Cooking …show more content…

Miners, cowboys, and frontier families in search of gold, land, and opportunity traveled this land in prospect of new beginnings. Gold Rush voyagers in route to California, traveled two routes; the northern route, the Oregon Trail, began in Missouri, crossed through the Rocky Mountains in Utah, and cut north through Idaho before ending in Oregon while the southern trail, the Santa Fe Trail, ran from Missouri to New Mexico and opened when Mexico finalized its independence from Spain in the 1820s (American Regional Cuisine 339). The Homestead Act brought a shocking 600,000 families to the West with the offer of 160 acres of free land to any head of household citizen or intended citizen (American Regional Cuisine 339). (A Taste of Wyoming 56) (American Regional

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