The New Mexico Food and Beverage Community
The New Mexico food and beverage history had long been the domain of the Pueblo Indians. They raised corn, beans, squash, and pumpkins.
The Spanish introduced the Indians to horses and cattle in the early 1600’s. They cultivated the barren lands around the missions creating farms, orchards, and vineyards. With the coming of the Spaniards they soon added goat, lamb and beef to their diet. By the late eighteenth century, using an irrigation system in which wide ditches called acequias were utilized, the settlers were not only able to utilize the Rio Grand Valley but were cultivating fruits, vegetables, and cereals in the Albuquerque area.
The settlers were able to utilize several spices in their cooking, most of which came via Mexico which had indigenous ingredients as well as ingredients from the far East which were brought in by ship. Indoor and outdoor fireplace cooking was the preferred method of the times. Among the most popular dishes were chic-peas and rice and lamb shanks with hot sausage. Roasted lamb was also very popular and was served with a red and green Chile hot sauce.
Today the New Mexico food and beverage community has grown from their humble beginnings to a full fledged culinary destination. From Albuquerque to Santa Fe the growth of the regional food highlights are too numerous to mention. The growth in other ethnic cuisine and five star dining has also had a dramatic increase over the last decade.
If you would like to be an "Insider" for your New Mexico city please let us know via the contact us page on the site. If you would like to submit an article for publication on the site let us know via the content submission page. Enjoy New Mexico!
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