Foodways of the Río Grande Las Comidas del Río Grande Historical Overview

Young girl holding packages of ground chile powder. Una niña cargando paquetes de polvo de chile colorado.

From prehistoric times to the present, the Río Grande valley has been the breadbasket of New Mexico. Beginning with nomadic hunters and gatherers, a steady stream of populations have been attracted to its life-sustaining moisture. In a semi-arid environment such as New Mexico's, the reliable source of the river's water has insured a constant food supply capable of supporting a substantial population. Like the Nile in Egypt, the Danube in Germany, the Ganges in India, the Yellow River in China and the Urubamba River of Peru, the fertility of the Río Grande basin has provided the means for the development of enduring cultures in North America. During the great drought of the 12th century A.D., the sedentary Pueblo people migrated from the Four Corners region into the valley of the Río Grande. Relying upon its waters, as well as upon rainfall, they resumed their agricultural practices of growing corn, beans and squash while continuing to hunt rabbit, deer and bison.

Colonization by the Spanish

During the initial period of colonization, the Spanish depended heavily on the Pueblo people for their food supplies. It is doubtful that the Spanish would have survived their first winter of 1598 at San Gabriel had it not been for the generosity of the people of San Juan Pueblo.

Young girl with an armload of fresh garden picked corn. Una joven con una brazada de maíz recién cocechado.

After hundreds of years of close association, interchange and assimilation, the traditional diets of the Hispanic and Pueblo peoples have much in common. The foundation of both diets rests solidly upon the use of beans, corn and squash - the traditional foods of the Río Grande - as well as on chile, a Mexican Indian food introduced to this area by the Spanish, and wheat, an old world grain brought to the Americas also by the Spanish. In the diet and cuisine of the Hispanic people of the Río Grande, these primary foods are traditionally supplemented by a variety of animal products which include eggs, milk and cheese, and meat from domesticated animals brought over from Spain such as cows, sheep, goats and pigs. Also included are native fish, elk, deer and, formerly, buffalo. The traditional diet is additionally enriched by a variety of other vegetables and fruits of both "New" and "Old World" origin. Among these are the "Old World" peas, garbanzo beans, fava beans, asparagus, cucumbers, onion, garlic, melons, watermelons, grapes, apples, pears, peaches, apricots, plums and cherries. "New World" foods include pumpkins, potatoes, wild spinach, tomatoes and chokecherries.

Historically, the majority of arable land was reserved for the cultivation of the staples. The planting, cultivation, harvesting and storage of these foods was a labor intensive affair that required every available hand.

Food Growing and Preparation

In the early spring, tools are sharpened, the acequias dug and cleaned, and the fields plowed and planted. In the summer the crops are tended, weeded and irrigated and in the fall the vegetables and fruits are harvested, dried and the farm animals slaughtered.

Farming occurs in small family plots along the acequias (irrigation ditches) called tierras de regadillo, or at higher elevations on lands that depend exclusively on rainfall called tierras de temporal. Of the staples grown in the valley of the Río Grande, corn and wheat are among the most versatile and can be employed in the greatest number of ways in the preparation of an assortment of dishes.

Corn (Maiz)

Woman shelling corn by hand. Una señora desgranando maíz manualmente.

Both blue and white corn are grown in the valley of the Río Grande. The blue corn is picked only after it has fully ripened on the stalks. Corn is placed in huge piles next to people's houses or in the open spaces of plazas; people tell stories as they are husking. After setting the corn out on the rooftops to be dried by the sun for a few days, it was traditionally shelled by rubbing two cobs together. It is then ground into corn meal at a local mill or on a stone mano and metate (mortar and pestle) in the manner of the Pueblo and Mexican Indian peoples. The blue corn meal is used in the making of atole, a hot breakfast gruel; chaqueque, a moist blue corn bread; and special blue corn tortillas, a type of flat bread made from a watery batter and poured over a hot griddle. Atole is also given to anyone who is ill and it was frequently a dying person's last meal. White corn, when tender, is routinely fried with squash in a most satisfying combination called maiz con calabacitas. By themselves, the tender green squash are cut into spirals or sliced into circles called rueditas or rodajas and hung to dry for future reconstitution in calditos, or soups, another mainstay of the diet.

The tender ears of white corn can also be baked over hot coals or on a grill and eaten fresh. For the purpose of putting up large quantities of corn for winter, the ears are baked overnight in a hot horno sealed with a wooden door mudded around the edges to retain the heat. On the following day, the corn is removed, its husks peeled back and braided into a long chain that is hung for drying. When shelled, the chicos, as they are known, are added to beans, giving them added flavor and nutrition. Posole is another popular food made from white corn and indispensable for a feast, particularly at Christmas time. The dried white corn kernels are placed in a solution of lime and water and boiled for a time. The lime dissolves the hard outer tissue of the corn. After rinsing several times, the corn is left to dry in the hot sun. When boiled, the corn bursts open and grows soft. Pork or beef and pods of red chile are added to enhance its flavor.

Fall provisions are stockpiled in a small farm storage room. Braids of chicos or roasted corn are hung to dry from a perch for winter consumption. Provisiones almacenadas durante el otoño en un almacén de un ranchito. Trenzas de chicos o maíz asado se cuelgan al aire libre para secarse y guardarse para el invierno.

Young New Mexican Hispanic girl helping out in the kitchen. Una niña hispana de Nuevo México ayudándole a un familiar en la cocina.

Chile The Hispanic people employ chile both as a condiment and as a vegetable that enhances almost every other food. When picked green, it is roasted in hot hornos (beehive-shaped ovens) or over a grill. It is frequently peeled and tied into ristras, or long strings, for drying and subsequently reconstituted. Or, it can also be peeled and its seeds and stems removed for immediate consumption while yet fresh. It is then chopped, and salt and garlic are added to enhance its flavor. The chile can also be allowed to ripen on the plant where it turns red. Once it is picked, it is tied into ristras, or long strings, and hung on south facing walls for drying. When completely dry, the pods are removed and the chile is then crushed into flakes (chile caribe) or ground into a powder that is made into a hot chile sauce (chile colorado) tempered with a certain amount of browned flour.

Production of Wheat

Until mid-century, wheat was extensively grown in the higher elevations of the Río Grande basin. When the fields had turned a golden yellow, men and women alike went out in groups to cut the stalks with a simple hand sickle. The wheat was tied into sheaths and transported on horse-drawn wagons to a hardened mud threshing floor.

An exchange of a homemade loaf of bread between mother and daughter. Madre ofreciéndole una torta de pan a su hija.

After laying it on the threshing floor, herds of goats or sometimes teams of horses were led around and around stomping on the wheat until the grain fell to the ground. The straw was then cleared away, the grain swept into piles and winnowed. It was tossed up into the air and the wind carried the chaff away. The grain was then taken to the banks of the river or to a nearby acequia, or water ditch, where it was washed before it was put out in the sun to dry. After drying, the grain was taken to a local molino, or water driven mill, where the wheat was ground into flour. Women still today take flour, knead it into dough and roll it into loaves. Several loaves of bread can be baked at once in an horno. Other foods made from wheat by the Hispanic people of the Río Grande region include tortillas, bizcochitos or sugar cookies, and panocha, a sweet Lenten moist bread made from the flour of sprouted wheat.

Cooking Implements

Besides the horno and the mano and metate, the traditional foodways of the Hispano people of the Río Grande have spawned a variety of utensils, furnishings and spaces. Among them are the dispensa or pantry house, where foodstuffs, particularly those that have been dried, are stored. The wooden troja, or grain bin, figures prominently in dispensas. The almud and fanega are box-shaped wooden containers used in the measuring of grain. Their use and names date back to the Arabic presence in Spain from 711-1492 AD.

The alacena was a niche or hollow space built into a kitchen wall and frequently equipped with doors where foodstuffs were stored for daily use. The trastero or wooden cupboard, sometimes decorated with spindled doors or wooden trim, has also been used for the storage of food as well as for the safe keeping of plates and silverware.

Other objects important to New Mexican Hispanic cooking are the fogon de campana, or bell-shaped corner fireplace, where much of the indoor cooking was done; and the tenamaste, or tripod, which supported the ollas, or locally produced clay pots, in which much of the food was cooked. Other indispensable items in a Spanish Mexican kitchen of the Río Grande include the bolillo, or rolling pin; the comal, a clay or metal griddle used in making tortillas; and finally, the delantar, or apron.

Close up view of woman rolling out a tortilla. Detalle de una señora tendiendo tortillas con un bolillo o palillo.

The kitchen was almost exclusively the domain of women. There women bonded through the sharing of their experience in addition to preparing enormous meals and feasts for their families and communities. Whether in times of plenty or times of scarcity, the Hispanic people of the Río Grande have been fond of sharing their food with friends and strangers alike. If the Hispanic people succeeded in bonding in the work of the field, they twice bonded at the table where they partook of one another's stories as well as the collective gifts of the land of the Río Grande.