Desert Terroir: Exploring the Unique Flavors and Sundry Places of the Borderlands (Ellen and Edward Randall Series)

Why does food taste better when you know where it comes from? Because history--ecological, cultural, even personal--flavors every bite we eat. Whether it's the volatile chemical compounds that a plant absorbs from the soil or the stories and memories of places that are evoked by taste, layers of flavor await those willing to delve into the roots of real food. In this landmark book, Gary Paul Nabhan takes us on a personal trip into the southwestern borderlands to discover the terroir--the "taste of the place"--that makes this desert so delicious. To savor the terroir of the borderlands, Nabhan presents a cornucopia of local foods--Mexican oregano, mesquite-flour tortillas, grass-fed beef, the popular Mexican dessert capirotada, and corvina (croaker or drum fish) among them--as well as food experiences that range from the foraging of Cabeza de Vaca and his shipwrecked companions to a modern-day camping expedition on the Rio Grande. Nabhan explores everything from the biochemical agents that create taste in these foods to their history and dispersion around the world. Through his field adventures and humorous stories, we learn why Mexican oregano is most potent when gathered at the most arid margins of its range--and why foods found in the remote regions of the borderlands have surprising connections to foods found by his ancestors in the deserts of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. By the end of his movable feast, Nabhan convinces us that the roots of this fascinating terroir must be anchored in our imaginations as well as in our shifting soils. A culinary journey through the flavors of the southwestern borderlands from an agricultural ecologist and “natural storyteller” (Times Literary Supplement). Why does food taste better when you know where it comes from? Because history—ecological, cultural, even personal—flavors every bite we eat. Whether it’s the volatile chemical compounds that a plant absorbs from the soil or the stories and memories of places that are evoked by taste, layers of flavor await those willing to delve into the roots of real food. In this book, Gary Paul Nabhan takes us on a personal trip into the southwestern borderlands to discover the terroir—the “taste of the place”—that makes this desert so delicious. To savor the terroir of the borderlands, Nabhan presents a cornucopia of local foods—Mexican oregano, mesquite-flour tortillas, grass-fed beef, the popular Mexican dessert capirotada, and corvina (croaker or drum fish) among them—as well as food experiences that range from the foraging of Cabeza de Vaca and his shipwrecked companions to a modern-day camping expedition on the Rio Grande. Nabhan explores everything from the biochemical agents that create taste in these foods to their history and dispersion around the world. Through his field adventures and humorous stories, we learn why Mexican oregano is most potent when gathered at the most arid margins of its range—and why foods found in the remote regions of the borderlands have surprising connections to foods found by his ancestors in the deserts of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. By the end of his movable feast, Nabhan convinces us that the roots of this fascinating terroir must be anchored in our imaginations as well as in our shifting soils. Includes illustrations The verve in the herb : a culinary natural history -- Hungry for home : Mostafa al-Azemmouri discovers a new world of desert foods -- Seek-no-further : foraging and fishing through the Big Bend -- A flour blooms : Esperanza and the magical mesquite tortillas -- From the Beeves' lips to Paul's fears : grass-fed flavor -- Pan on a mission : Capirotada comes to Baja California -- Camel chorizo : a missing link -- My first (and last) rodeo : catching Corvina in the Sea of Cortes -- A desert communion. From the biology behind flavor to the stories and memories that taste evokes, here is a savory exploration of the terroir of the Southwestern borderlands-the geological, ecological, and cultural history embodied in the foods of this desert region. Examines the unique qualities of the foods of the desert areas of Mexico and the southwestern United States, discussing how the ecology and cultural history of the area shape its food