A Culinary Tour of Mexico
Map of Mexico, with UTSA's culinary tour destinations highlighted: Nuevo Leon, Sonora, Colima,Quintana Roo, Puebla, and Oaxaca
During the 2011-2012 schoolyear, UTSA Libraries, UTSA Rec Center, and student organization La Despedida have been collaborating to host a culinary tour of Mexico. Each event includes a brief introduction to special collections and UTSA’s Mexican Cookbook Collection, an overview of La Despedida’s activities, and a hands-on cooking demonstration featuring recipes from CONACULTA’s La Cocina Familiar in el estado de… series.
The recipes in these cookbooks were originally originally gathered in the 1980s by Banco Nacional de Credito Rural and published in state-themed cookbooks with titles in the form Comida familiar en el estado de… In the early 2000s, the series was re-issued by El Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (Conaculta) and the publisher Océano. Because the recipes were gathered directly from individuals and families in the various states, these books have something of the flavor of community cookbooks, including a mix of traditional, updated, and idiosyncratic recipes.
During the fall semester, we kicked off with appetizers from across Mexico, followed by flautas de pollo from Nuevo Leon, caldo de ejotes con calabacitas from Sonora. So far this spring, we’ve prepared Camarones a la Diabla from Colima and Enfrijoladas from Quintana Roo.
Prepararing Camarones a la Diabla and Pomegranate Guacamole from Colima (January Demo). Photos courtesy of Stephanie Sanchez, Communications Specialist.
Attendees have expressed appreciation for the chance to try recipes that are outside their everyday experience. Nadya Meza noted that she has enjoyed “all the recipes I get to try that I never imagined would go so well, like the avocado and pomegranate guacamole,” and Ernesto Olivarez mentioned that the dishes are “very unique” and that he’d like to see more of them.
La Despedida student Ana Navarro, who has been instrumental in organizing the series describes her experience of the series like this: “From the early stages of the planning for “A Culinary Tour of Mexico” I knew it would be exciting to expose UTSA students to the traditional foods Mexico offers. During the first cooking demo, students in attendance were so engaged and interested about learning not only about cooking, but culture. I feel like projects such as these tie education and recreation in a perfectly-tasty way.”
Preparing Enfrijoladas de Crema from Quintana Roo (February Demo).
Photos courtesy of Nayda Meza.
And more tasty education is coming up! On March 7th, we’ll be journeying to Oaxaca with a hands-on demonstration of Estofado de miltomate. This tomatillo-based chicken stew is richly flavored with capers, olives, almonds, and spices. Join us from 5:30-6:30pm in the UTSA Rec Center Demonstration Kitchen.
The complete schedule of Culinary Tour Demo Kitchen events can be found at http://lacocinahistorica.wordpress.com/culinary-tour-of-mexico. These events are open to all UTSA students, faculty and staff. No RSVP required … just show up hungry and ready to cook!
La Cocina familiar en el estado de Oaxaca (2000)
German-American Accounts of Texas Online
Front page of Verbands-Bote
From 1850 to 1900, German-Americans made up about 5% of the total Texas population, making them the third most populous ethnic group in Texas during the nineteenth century. Because German immigrants gravitated towards enclaves in eastern and south-central Texas, their economic and cultural influence were greater than numbers alone might suggest.
Immigration to Texas began to be publicized in Germany in the late 1830s, and as the process gathered steam throughout the 1840s, an increasing number of travel accounts, guides, and fictionalized memoirs were published for readers both in Texas and Germany. Through interupted by the Civil War, immigration resumed in the latter decades of the century and new German colonies continued to be established in Texas until the 1920s.
UTSA’s small but selective assemblage of German-American travel accounts, novels, and newspapers provides a valuable window into the motivations, challenges, and historical impact of German settlers in Texas. Through a Texas Cultures Online grant from the University of North Texas, several of these items have been digitized and are now available through The Portal to Texas History. These images will also be harvested and indexed by UTSA’s Library Quicksearch.
Travel Accounts
Cover of Amerikanische jagd-und reiseabenteuer... (1858)
Roemer, Ferdinand. Texas : mit besonderer rücksicht auf deutsche auswanderung und die physischen verhätnisse des landes nach eigener beobachtung geschildert : mit einem naturwissenschaftlichen anhange und einer topographisch-geognostischen karte von Texas. Bonn : Adolph Marcus, 1849. [Special Collections John Peace F391 .R71 1849].
Strubberg, Friedrich A. Amerikanische jagd-und reiseabenteuer aus meinem leben in den Westlichen Indianergebieten. Mit 24 vom verfasser nach der natur entworfenen skizzen von armand. Stuttgart und Augsburg: Cotta’scher, 1858. [Special Collections PT2532.S3 Z462 1858 ]
Note: An English translation of this title is available in Special Collections: The backwoodsman : or, Life on the Indian frontier, edited by Sir C.F. Lascelles Wraxall [PT2532.S3 Z462 1864]
Menzel, Gottfried. Die vereinigten staaten von nordamerika mit besonderer aucthlichtaus deutsche auswanderung dahin nach eigner unschauung bescrhieben.Berlin, Reimer, 1853.[Special Collections E166 .M55 1853]
German Fiction set in Texas
Title Page from Part I of Die Auswanderer nach Texas (1841)
Belani, H.E.R. (Häberlin, Karl Ludwig). Die Auswanderer nach Texas. Historisch-romantisches gemälde aus der neuesten Zeit. Leipzig : C. L. Fritzsche, 1841.[John Peace F390 .H3] Part I, Part II, Part III
Sealsfield, Charles. (Karl Postl). Das Cajütenbuch : oder nationale Charakteristiken. Stuttgart : Verlag der J.B. Metzler’schen Buchhandlung, 1846. [John Peace PT2516 .S4C35 1846].
Sealsfield, Charles and Ch. Fr. Mersch. The cabin book : or, Sketches of life in Texas. New York : J. Winchester, 1844. [John Peace PT2516 .S4C3513].Note: This is an English translation of the preceding title.
Hormann, P. Alto. Die Tochter Tehuan’s, oder, Texas im vorigen Jahrhundert. Cincinnati, O. : Benziger Brothers, 1866. [PZ3.H672 T63 1866]
Texas Newspaper (primarily German; includes some English content)
Verbands-Bote. Jahrg. 1-3 (Januar [1920]-Juli/August 1923) = Nr. 1-17. San Antonio, Tex. : Katholischer Staats-Verband von Texas, [1920]-. [BX1415 .T4 V47]. v. : ill. ; 27 cm. 423 pp. Issues 1-17 (January 1920-July/August 1923).
Valentine’s Day in San Antonio
San Antonio is known for its celebrations. Much has been written about the pageantry and parades connected with the various civic and religious festivals held throughout the year. Other than a few newspaper articles and advertisements, there is little to tell us how Valentine’s Day was observed in the past.
These photographs from UTSA Special Collections provide glimpses of Valentine’s Day at various times in the 20th century. They show examples of both community and private ways that San Antonio residents chose to express their affection for each other.
MS 362: 085-0079: Valentine’s Day party at the home of Dr. and Mrs. John W. Kenney on Poplar Street in Tobin Hill, ca. 1910.
MS 359: L-1760-K: Roy Hardin and Mary Louise Casey receive their marriage license and a box of Valentine’s Day candy from S. H. Wernette, marriage license clerk, 1938.
MS 359: L-2891-F: Shirley Kneupper gives Ronald Burns a defense stamp Valentine during World War II, 1942.
MS 359: L-4457-A: Linda Long eats chocolate candy from a traditional heart-shaped box, 1953.
MS 360: E-0052-044: Second annual YMCA Valentine’s Day dance for senior citizens, 1979.
MS 360: E-0086-033: Maria Garcia with a handmade card for her mother, 1982.
MS 360: E-2-13-89: Heart-shaped piñatas outside a West Side store, 1989.
