Eats: A Folk History of Texas Foods

by Ernestine Sewell Linck, Joyce Gibson Roach, Joyce Roach

"Folklore, which delves into the culture of peoples, may be a more important study about real life--private life--than standard, formal history. . . . One of the lessons that we have learned--or are beginning to learn--from the study of folklore is the importance of food and eating customs in unravelling the history of a people. . . .

Eats may provide as much information about the way we live and see the world as the people we elect to office or the houses we build or the books we approve or the movies we film. . . . The foods we eat, the way we eat them, and the imagination we bestow upon their preparation will tell [much about us] to historians, folklorists, and anthropologists." --James Ward Lee, from the foreword

Genres: Nonfiction

258 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1992

Reviews

[carl theaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Folk history told in an entertaining, folksy way, good insight into the ways of ‘Eats’ in Texas. The first section divides the state into 5 food regions, how the various settlers from different parts of the country brought their preferences for cooking, influenced of course by what ever foods were available, long before refrigeration, and how the Mexican and Native American staples blended with them.

There are plenty of anecdotes and though not a cook book, a few recipes in every chapter. I’m definitely going to try a few, the cajun style Red Beans and Rice sounds good.

Much is made these days over the negative side of Instant, Prepped, and Fast, food. After reading how it took all day, starting with grinding your own corn, to make 1 meal, you understand how these new methods became so popular.

Another ability I came to appreciate was the skill it takes to cook over a wood fired stove, there is no temperature knob ! And every food takes a different talent, biscuits are considered the test of a good cook.

To my amazement, my wife’s Grandmother used a wood stove until 1985, and is reported to have made the best biscuits.

Particularly enlightening is an interview with an Hispanic woman. She told how the names we now use and are popular, such as Enchiladas, Burritos (which means little donkey, sound tasty?) were all used differently among various parts of the state. Tamales, a Christmas season tradition, were originally made from boiled hog heads. Somehow I get the imagine of the stock room of Taco Bell being full of hog heads.

The second section is divided into the food often made for festivals, holidays, harvest time and the seasons. The photos set the scenes, published in 1989, the book is a bit of history itself.

Once finished I went to find one of the recipes, of course I couldn’t, then I noticed in addition to the Index, is a Recipe Index, good stuff !

[Sophia · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a collection of anecdotes and old recipes handed down in Texas, it's okay. However, it considers Texas history to "start" when poor and/or enterprising white folk moved westward from Appalachia and the Deep South and it completely ignores the Native populations and even the Spanish/Mexican populations that had already lived here for centuries, so I'm not here for that kind of narrative.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The information is a little scattered, which makes it hard to follow. However, the book provides some interesting information about the history of food in Texas.