Page 249 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Southwest USA & National Parks

WHERE T O EA T AND DRINK  247

Native American
Specialties
There are few specifically
Native American restaurants.
Indian fry bread – a flat, fried
dough served with sweet or
savory toppings – is often sold
at food stands outside tourist
attractions or at events. Navajo
tacos are made with a base of
fry bread rather than tortilla.
Hopi piki bread is made from
ground corn and boiling water
Mural on the wall of a café in Tucson’s Presidio Historic District and is cooked in a thin layer
over a hot surface. At festivals,
popular, and the quality is tomato-based with chili added special foods may be offered to
high since fresh fish is flown in as a spice. New Mexican sauces visitors, such as fried rabbit meat,
from California. use puréed green or red chili or Three Sisters Stew, made
diluted with water; garlic, salt, with corn, beans, and squash.
and sometimes herbs for
Ingredients
seasoning, and flour to thicken, WHAT TO DRINK
The main ingredients of are added too. Meat may also
Southwestern cuisine are be added. Mexican food and its Beer is known to cool burning
similar to those found in Anglo version, Tex-Mex, are chili mouths, and popular brands
Mexican cooking, including found all over the Southwest. include San Miguel, Corona, and
Tecate. A margarita, a tequila
corn, beans, cheese, tomatoes, cocktail served in a salt-rimmed
and, of course, chili. But there glass, is a typical aperitif. California
the similarity ends. New wines feature on most wine lists,
Mexican cuisine has its roots but consider trying some of the
in the Pueblo culture, whose little-known regional wines. There
foods and cooking methods are small wineries in southern
were adapted by early settlers. Arizona and New Mexico. Sonoita
The distinctive taste of many Vineyards, near Elgin, Arizona,
local dishes comes from has received national recognition
ingredients such as nuts for its Pinot Noir and Cabernet
from the piñon pine, which are wines. New Mexico’s wine-
considered a delicacy; nopales, making tradition stretches back
the fruit of the prickly pear to the first Spanish missionaries.
cactus; the chayote (similar Among its forty wineries, the
to zucchini); and tomatillos, a Gruet winery is known for its
walnut-sized green berry fruit. Ice-cold Corona beer, served with a excellent sparkling wines.
Mexican sauces are often wedge of lime

Huevos rancheros, fried eggs Tacos are crisp-fried tortillas Chili relleno is a whole green
on a soft tortilla with chili, filled with ground beef, beans, chili stuffed with cheese, meat,
cheese, and refried beans, cheese, and salad, and served or rice, dipped in light batter
are eaten at breakfast. with guacamole. and then deep-fried.

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