The Border Cookbook: Authentic Home Cooking of the American Southwest and Northern Mexico

by Bill Jamison, Cheryl Jamison

Now more than ever, Southwestern food is a hugely popular trend. As ingredients are becoming more readily available to at-home cooks, there is a great demand for simple, delicious, and authentic recipes that bring Mexican and Southwestern food to our own tables.In their James Beard Book Award-winning cookbook, authors Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison combine the best of Mexican and Southwest cooking, bringing together this large region's Native American, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo culinary roots into one big, exuberant book - The Border Cookbook. In over 300 recipes they explore the common elements and regional differences of border cooking. They offer classic and new recipes that typify cuisines known as Tex-Mex, New Mexican, Sonoran, Cal-Mex, traditional Mexican, Gulf cuisine, and Native American; and their easy-to-follow recipes are suitable for every meal, every day of the week.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Reference, Food, Nonfiction

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Cheryl and Bill Jamison are the authors of more than a dozen cookbooks and travel guides, and have four James Beard awards and numerous other honors to their credit. Their most recent books are The Big Book of Outdoor Cooking and Entertaining; Good Times, Good Grilling; Chicken on the Grill; A Real American Breakfast, and a revised and expanded version of their landmark Smoke & Spice, one of the best-selling cookbooks of the last decade. The Jamisons appear regularly on TV and are frequent contributors to magazines like Cooking Light and Bon Appetit. They live just outside Santa Fe, New Mexico."

Reviews

[Devon Flaherty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whew! The last book that I found in the garage, I’m surprised that The Border Cookbook by the Jamisons didn’t make it into the house earlier. A James Beard award winner, it’s a wonderful reference for American-Mexican border cooking. I think the issue might have been that at the time, I didn’t recognize Mexican and Tex-Mex as distinct (although overlapping) cuisines. Perhaps I once looked on this cookbook with disdain, seeing burritos and, well things I would expect to find at Los-Whatever’s-at-the-corner, and dismissed it as inauthentic Mexican, when what it is is authentic Tex-Mex (although they probably don’t use that term because it involves other border states, not just Texas). Not that it really matters, authenticity, so much, unless that’s what you’re specifically looking for. Many of the world’s most exciting cuisine is combination or fusion food, new and wonderful terrain that holds to no tradition at all.

Anyhow, you get the point. This is Tex-Mex border food. There are lots of recipes, no illustrations, but very small stories, tips, variations, and sometimes serving suggestions. There is also an introduction to the ingredients and techniques of the cuisine at the beginning of the book. As is true of many cookbooks I own, sometimes putting together a meal involves planning ahead and flipping around, first making a sauce or two or a pickle or a salsa before actually making the dish. And sometimes, for the sake of family sanity, you’re going to serve things in this cookbook in a way untrue even to Tex-Mex cooking, like with plain rice or—gasp—doctored refried beans from the can. For guests, maybe, you could pull together a whole spread. Recipes also vary from somewhat complicated to downright easy. There are drinks and desserts here, which makes me happy, and, honestly, about every other recipe makes me drool on myself. I can’t wait to try almost everything.

What I have tried is Caldo de Queso (spicy cheese soup), El Paso Green Chile Soup, Queso Flameado (hot cheese dip), Abuelita’s Almond Chicken, The Honorable Henry B.’s Soft Tacos, Baked Veggie Chimis, Frijoles de Olla (pinto beans), Drunken Beans, Refried Beans, Pinquinto Santa Maria (more beans), and Rice with Fideos, all of which received a rating between good and awesome. (My rating system is never again, not recommended, okay, good, great, and then the extra credit, above and beyond: awesome).

I love this cookbook. It’s full of food that is both exciting and approachable for the average American family, including my enchilada-loving kids and their tamale- and chile-relleno-loving Mama. It is also literally very cheesy, for better or worse.

***REVIEW WRITTEN BY THE STARVING ARTIST BLOG***

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mentioned in another review that I appreciate cookbooks without pictures sometimes. I like simple drawings that show the dish or its ingredients, and allow your imagination to kick in. This is a great cookbook! It covers foods from all over the region. Most of the recipes are suitable for weeknight meals or easy entertaining. I've made several and they are delicious. My go-to recipes for Frijoles a la Charra and New Mexico Carne Adobada are here. The Mexican Chocolate Cake and Mexican Vanilla Ice Cream are also great.

[Lindsay Merrill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read through the whole book (yes, I read cookbooks for fun). I feel like I'm a pretty good judge of cookbooks by just reading through them, but I'll definitely update my rating and review after I cook a few of the recipes.

This book was informative, fun to read, and the recipes look delicious! I'm excited to try some out. My favorite part of this cookbook was learning about all the regional variation on each "type" of recipe.

[Chanelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This cookbook has the best enchilada sauce ever! It is so good I have a hard time not eating it by the spoonful. Oh yeah ~ And the recipe for those super yummy, super thin Tucsonan tortillas.

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this cookbook and would like to spend more time cooking out of it--the couple who author it are some of my favorites for regional American cooking, and the recipes are reliable

[Craig Garver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent survey of Mexican food along the border

This is an an excellent cross section view of traditional Mexican cooking in an area about 300 miles north and south of the border.

Each Mexican state has a different style of cooking, differences reflected in the states immediately north of the border. Arizona embraces Sonoran cooking. Isolated from the rest of the country by the Sierra Madre, Sonora is ranching country with a taste for a bit milder levels if heat.

Chihuahuans life heat, and this branch of Mexucan frontier cooking extends up the Rio Grande valley to Albuquerque and Santa Fe, which in turn add their own variations due to high elevations and shorter growing seasons ... and an infusion of Pueblo influence. Tex Mex is a whole different world, along with California and Baja California.

This is a very well researched scholarly volume. I 've made many of the dishes and they are all excellent.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite cookbooks, and the one that turned me on to Southwestern cuisines. I've had my copy since 1997 and everything that I've cooked out of it has been great. The instructions are simple and there is very little jargon. The indicia has additional information and variations on the recipes. It's also just fun to read; the author provides anecdotes and some history of the foods. My only complaint is that the recipes sometimes start near the bottom of the page and continue onto the next page, which means you sometimes miss a cool recipe if you aren't looking carefully.

My favorite recipe is her apple salsa, which I have adapted to my own tastes. The habanero ketchup is great, as are the drunken beans. Be warned: many of the recipes are pretty spicy, and you may need to adjust to taste. But there are a lot of flavorful dishes to make in this book.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I great book with wonderful insight into the regional cooking. Every recipe has a feel of authenticity. I love that the authors give info on variations by regions. Recipe layout is very user friendly.

[kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Authentic and simple recipes for those of us who love the spicy food of the southwest.

[Cheryl Schibley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun cookbook to read - haven't made anything yet.

[kaity · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that this book gives multiple regional variations of some recipes. I'll be returning to this one regularly.

[Sandy Beeson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love looking at this book. It's as much of a history book as it is a cookbook. The recipies are amazing too!