Southwestern cuisine sprang from the blending of Spanish and other European staples with indigenous cuisines. The Europeans came to the area bringing their staples including wheat, beef, pork, chicken, olives and figs. The indigenous peoples had very different staples, including corn, beans, squash, chiles, tomatoes and chocolate. Over time those two cuisines blended to become what we now know as southwest cuisine. And that’s why there are both corn and flour tortillas!
One classic southwestern dish I just had to try was carne asada, or “grilled meat” in English. For that I went to La Sierra Grill in Hereford. The meat is cut into thin slices for this dish, and this place marinates its meat for 72 hours before cooking it. When the meal arrived it came with a wonderful aroma, then delivered an excellent marinated flavor. It was easily the best carne asada I’ve ever had.
The Taste of Arizona
La Casita in Sierra Vista serves up a delicious chimichanga, but the real star of the meal I had was in the glass. That’s a prickly pear margarita. The purple fruits that sprout from prickly pear cacti are edible, and syrup is made from them. This margarita had a succulent flavor and I will definitely get another if I’m ever that way again. If you want to try this at home, you can buy the syrup online from Tucson-based Cheri’s Desert Harvest, and it comes with a margarita recipe!
Over the years I have developed a taste for breakfast at Morning Star Cafe in Hereford, near my dad’s house. The cafe proudly proclaims, “The only thing we’re serious about is food,” and serious they are. The portions are HUGE! The most distinctive meal I’ve had there is the Arizona omelet — three eggs stuffed with bacon, sausage and jalapeños, then smothered in sausage gravy. After I ordered it the cook came over and asked if I really wanted one because, “those jalapeños are really hot.” I’m not afraid of jalapeños, and I could always take them off if I couldn’t handle them, so I said, “Yes.”
This is what they delivered:
I was SHOCKED at how much meat they stuffed in there! I was a short-order cook for a few years in my youth and I’ve cooked thousands of omelets. If I had ever served an omelet stuffed like that I would probably have been fired. I enjoyed every bite of that omelet, jalapeños and all.
There was no way I was going to leave Arizona without trying the legendary Sonoran Hot Dog, so I went to the popular Street Tacos diner in Sierra Vista to test drive one. This thing is a beast! They put TWO bacon-wrapped hot dogs inside a baker’s bread bun (I would probably use a nice, soft hoagie roll at home), then top it with whole pinto beans, grilled onions, tomato, mustard and mayonnaise. I almost didn’t order one when I saw the ingredients list at the restaurant because I’m not a fan of mustard, but it’s such a southern Arizona classic I bit the bullet and ordered one. To my surprise it tasted great. The mustard really works on it. Now I see why Arizona is so proud of the Sonoran Hot Dog. The carne asada taco I paired it with was delicious too.
Last but not least, if you are ever in Tucson looking for a good breakfast, go to a place called Bobo’s and order a banana pancake. These aren’t your usual banana-flavored pancakes. They are enormous, stuffed with bananas and smothered with caramelized butter and crunchy, caramelized bits. They are thick, and they cover the entire plate they are served on. I’m not a fan of pancakes. I’m more of an omelet and hash browns kind of guy. But I get one of these every time I have breakfast in Tucson. Dear ol’ Dad was with me when I took this photo. There’s that banana pancake, taking up the entire center of the table.
