Story and Photos by Sharon Hudgins Actually they’re already here. Mongol cuisine—or dishes dubbed “Mongolian”—has taken the world by storm, like a horde of horse-mounted warriors galloping out of Central Asia on a global raiding party. Mongolian barbecue. Mongolian hot pot. Jingisukan (I’ll bet you can figure that one out). From hole-in-the-wall mom-and-pop joints to look-alike chain restaurants to elegant …
Hatch Me If You Can
Story and Photos by Harald Zoschke Come to New Mexico in late summer, and you can’t escape its state fruit: What oranges are to Florida, chile is to New Mexico. The famous pepper is one of the defining ingredients of New Mexican Cuisine. While our perceived chile pepper color is red, a significant part of the harvest is picked, …
Africa: A Continent of Chiles
By Dave DeWitt An Excerpt from Precious Cargo: How Foods From the Americas Changed the World(Counterpoint Press, 2014). Available here. The high priest of African chiles was Laurens van der Post, the South African author who wrote, “The man who has become hooked on piri-piri hungers for his favorite dish like a junkie for heroin, because the person who has …
Buffalo Chili Con Carne, 1883
The only extensive use I have ever seen made of the [buffalo] meat was by the Mexicans, who used to come across the “Llano Estacado,” or “Staked Plains,” in large parties every Winter, for the purpose of hunting. Their method of preserving the meat is to cut it into long strings, or immense flakes, and after carefully removing every particle of …
Pepper-Pot for Breakfast in Maroon Country, 1862
By Captain Mayne Reid Editor’s Note: The Maroons were escaped slaves in Jamaica who hid in the infamous cockpit country of jungles and sinkholes. The Maroons were famously known for inventing jerk pork, but they also liked their spicy pepper-pot soup. “This white gentleman has not eaten breakfast,” said Cubina, as they came up. “Well, Quaco! What have the …