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California cuisine--with its goat cheese, arugula, and free-range chickens--took the culinary world by storm in the 1980s and '90s, but as Jacqueline Higuera McMahan shows us, "Rancho cooking" may be the original California cuisine. Descended from early Spanish settlers--known as the Californios--McMahan comes from a culinary tradition that spans backward through the gold rush and the missions to Mexico and Spain. In Rancho Cooking she tells the tale of the Californios' cuisine, and of her own family, through stories and recipes handed down for generations.
"Chiles are in our blood, my grandmother told me," McMahan writes, "I pictured rivers of dark chile flowing in our veins." That river of chiles flows not only in the veins of the Higueras, but throughout the history of cooking in California. Beginning with the Spaniards who, by necessity, borrowed culinary traditions from everyone from the Moors to the Indians, and merging with Mexican food drawn from Aztec and other Indian culinary traditions, Rancho cooking evolved as it was carried north through the Spanish territories in California. The Spanish brought with them their favorite foods--tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, corn, and of course chiles, to name a few--and the settlers perfected the art of barbecuing, which was so well suited to their outdoor lifestyle.
What will strike readers first about this book is that the cooking represented is a far cry from the typical Mexican fare we're used to. This food has a sophistication far beyond smashed beans and rice. Olives, figs, fresh herbs, squash blossoms, and pumpkins appear with surprising regularity, and olive oil, not lard, is the fat of choice for cooking. Of course you'll also find many of the dishes that we think of as standard Mexican fare--enchiladas, tamales, quesadillas--but all have a distinctly Rancho touch. Enchiladas are filled with seafood and napped with a velvety tomato-chipotle sauce, quesadillas are stuffed with squash blossoms and epazote leaves, and tamale dough gets extra flavor from olive oil in addition to the usual lard.
As much a history book as a cookbook, Rancho Cooking belongs on the shelf of anyone who calls him- or herself a connoisseur of California cuisine. --Robin Donovan
From Library Journal
McMahan is a descendiente of one of California's original rancho families, Spaniards who came to California via Mexico in the late 18th century. In her latest book (some of the material is based on text from her California Rancho Cooking, but this is more a new book than a revised edition), she offers many stories about her grandmama and other members of her extended family, along with 150 recipes. Rancho food combined elements of both Spanish and Mexican cooking, using Latin American ingredients such as tomatoes, chiles, and corn and European ones like olives, figs, and olive oil. Sidebars and narratives "The Grandest Barbecue of All," "Maria Higuera's Wedding" are interspered throughout the recipes, and there are full-page color photographs of some of the delectable dishes. A unique look at a culture that no longer exists, this is recommended for most libraries. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Is it a stretch to consider the cooking of America's most populous state "exotic"? California has been so overrun by people from the East and by homogenized American cuisine that it's hard to find the state's original cooking anywhere. Jacqueline Higuera McMahan comes as close as anyone else to describing authentic California cooking style in Rancho Cooking. Drawing on Mexican and South American roots, she has collected mouthwatering recipes that document a nascent California style of cooking that started as early as the sixteenth century. Central to all cooking of the Western U.S., the chili provides a foundation for McMahan's culinary investigations. The pepper appears and reappears in most savory dishes of the region, including Chilean-influenced empanadas: pastries stuffed with meat, olives, raisins, and almonds. Pluck and wit demanded of early Californians is nowhere better illustrated than in the author's grandmother's recipe for spaghetti for ten made with eight chicken wings. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Description
Jacqueline Higuera McMahan's personal history as an eighth-generation Californian adds spice to this sumptuous celebration of "the first fusion food." The recipes, blending Spanish, Mexican, and Californian cuisine, include Butterflied Lamb in Pomegranate Juice, Adobado (Chile-Soaked Pork or Spareribs), Grilled Trout Wrapped in Fig Leaves, and Strawberry Enchiladas with Sweet Milk Tortillas. With dozens of accompanying photographs in this collection of earthy yet sophisticated recipes of old California, McMahan also shares early California lore and memories of family meals.
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