Cuisine of the Southwestern United States

A pot of Chili con carne with beans and tomatoes

Maize

The Cuisine of the Southwestern United States is food styled after the rustic cooking of the Southwestern United States. It is also known to be very popular in the west coast state of California. It comprises a fusion of recipes for things that might have been eaten by Spanish colonial settlers, cowboys, Native Americans,^[1] and Mexicans throughout the post-Columbian era; there is, however, a great diversity in this kind of cuisine throughout the Southwestern states.^{[citation needed]}

Southwestern cuisine is similar to Mexican cuisine but often involves larger cuts of meat, and less use of tripe, brain, and other parts not considered as desirable in the United States. Like Mexican cuisine, it is also known for its use of spices (particularly the chile, or Chili pepper) and accompaniment with beans (frijoles), cooked in a variety of manners. Chili con carne, fajitas, certain kinds of chiles rellenos (stuffed chilis), and various steak-chili combinations are particularly well-known Southwestern foods. Note that "chili" generally refers to a thick stew or soup prepared with beans and meat, while "chile" refers to the peppers that grow in this region and have been eaten for thousands of years by the native people. Recently, several chains of casual dining restaurants specializing in Southwestern cuisine have become popular in the United States.

New Mexican cuisine is known for its dedication to the chile (the official "state question" is "Red or green?" which refers to the preferred color of chiles), most notably the Hatch chile, named for the city in New Mexico where they are grown. The New Mexican Cuisine is most popular in the southwestern states of New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. In the states of Texas and Arizona however, green chili is not very popular at all. Tex-Mex is the Mexican food of choice, rather than the southwest Mexican food found in New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. Nevada and California lie in the middle as far as the preferred style of Mexican-American food.

States

• New Mexico
• Arizona
• California
• Texas
• Colorado
• Nevada
• Utah

Southwest Cuisine (Mexican-American Food) is also present in other states such as Oklahoma, Illinois, Oregon, and Washington.^{[citation needed]}

Southwestern dishes

Black beans

A burrito with enchilada sauce

• Arizona/California burrito
• Arizona cheese crisp
• Burrito
• Chile relleno
• Chili con carne
• Chili con queso
• Chimichanga
• Colorado burrito
• Enchilada casserole
• Fajitas
• King Ranch chicken
• Menudo
• Nachos
• Pozole
• Quesadilla
• Rattlesnake fillet
• Rice and beans
• Salsa
• Sopapillas
• Stuffed peppers
• Taco salad
• Tacos
• Taquitos

See also

	Food portal
	Wine portal
	Beer portal
	Drink portal

• Mexican cuisine
• New Mexican cuisine
• Tex-Mex cuisine

References

1. ^ "Native Americans." (cached version). Ed101.bu.edu. Accessed July 2011.

Further reading

• Nusom, Lynn (1999.) "Authentic Southwestern Cooking." Western National Parks Association. ISBN 1877856894
• Curtis, Susan (1995.) "The Santa Fe School of Cooking Cookbook: Spirited Southwestern Recipes." Gibbs Smith. ISBN 0879056193, ISBN 0879058730