Southwestern Regional Cookery: Mexican New Mexico (1821–1846)

In 1821 Mexico became independent from Spain and opened trade with the United States. Soon heavy freight wagons lumbered west from Missouri along the Santa Fe Trail, bringing new trade goods and reorienting New Mexicans toward the United States. Some food items, like oysters and champagne, entered the region via the Santa Fe trade, but these luxuries were far beyond the means of most settlers, who fed themselves almost entirely on what they raised or gathered. Metal tools remained scarce, and kitchens relied on minimal equipment. Drying was the only form of food preservation, and New Mexicans dried fruits and wild greens as well as corn, beans, chilies, and meat, the mainstays of their diet.