Until the 1850s, the vast majority of Arizona's population was Native American. Today, 22 tribes still call Arizona home, and their culinary traditions have been a major component of Arizona's cuisine. The large numbers of Mexicans who have migrated to Arizona also contributed their cooking styles, which share many similarities to Native American cuisine. Other settlers added touches to the state's culinary style, though Native American and Mexican cooking remain its predominant influences.
Native American Cookery
Many of Arizona's Native American tribes grew crops, especially corn, beans, and pumpkins or other squash. To provide water for their crops, desert tribes created large irrigation canals, some of which are still in use. Other tribes relied on rainwater, or watered their gardens by hand. But with so many tribes living in Arizona, along with the state's varied geography and climate, food traditions differed somewhat between the tribes.
The nomadic Apaches usually didn't stay in one place long enough to grow their own plants. Instead, they relied on hunting and gathering, with berries and maguey roots being favorite foods. Zuni gardens burst with onions and chiles, while the Havasupai cultivated sunflowers for their seeds. The Havasupai also supplemented their diet with wild datila and mescal, and in the winters they headed to higher grounds to hunt wild game. Mojaves and Hopis hunted game in the mountains, too, and foraged for wild berries, roots, and other foods. Piñon nuts, screw beans, and mesquite beans were Mojave favorites. Navajo cooking closely resembled that of Mexico, with its love of tomatoes, hot sauces, and tortillas filled with meat and vegetables. In the deserts of southern Arizona, tribes like the Pimas and Papagos ate native plants. Fruits from cacti like the saguaro and prickly pear played an important role in their diet. Fruits were eaten raw or dried them, as well as turned into syrups, wines, and jams.
Today, prickly pear jelly, candy, and similar products line the shelves in Arizona's tourist shops. Visitors who'd like a more hands-on experience can pick and prepare saguaro fruit at Ha:san Bak!, a saguaro harvest festival held annually in June or July at Colossal Cave Mountain Park. A number of restaurants throughout the state serve Native American cuisine, ranging from traditional dishes like beef stew to contemporary updates like venison medallions in blackberry-zinfandel-cocoa sauce.
Fry Bread
A perennial favorite at fairs and festivals in the Southwest, fry bread was invented by Navajo women. In the 1860s, war between the Navajos and U.S. soldiers led to 8,000 Navajos being driven from their lands in Arizona and confined at a reservation in Ft. Sumter, New Mexico. Poor soil made growing crops difficult, and the U.S. government supplied them with little more than white flour and lard. To create fry bread, the women mixed these ingredients with salt, water, and leavening like baking powder or yeast. Balls of dough were then patted flat and deep fried, resulting in light, puffy rounds of bread.
Today, fry bread is made in much the same way, with vegetable shortening often used in place of lard. Its popularity has spread far beyond the Navajo tribe. Although fry bread is often eaten with soups or stews, a sprinkling of cinnamon, powdered sugar, or honey turns it into a dessert. The favorite way of eating this delicious bread, however, is to pile on toppings like lettuce, tomatoes, beans or ground beef, cheddar cheese, and green chili. Known as a Navajo Taco or Indian Taco, it was voted the state dish of Arizona by readers of the Arizona Republic newspaper in 1995. Travelers will find both fry bread and Navajo Tacos at fairs, festivals, powwows, and a smattering of restaurants.
The Spanish and Other Settlers
In the 17th Century, the Spanish began extending their missions north into Arizona. They raised cattle, sheep, and chickens to eat. Although they grew many of the same crops as Native Americans did, they also grew wheat, lentils, and garbanzo beans. Native American tribes learned how to raise livestock from the Spanish, reducing their dependency on hunting. They also learned how to grow wheat.
Despite the Spanish missions, few other outsiders came to settle in Arizona until the mining boom of the 1850s. Many mine workers were Slavic or Cornish (from Cornwall, England). Ingredients needed in their own traditional recipes were hard to come by, so in their daily diets they made do with what was available. That usually meant beans, meat, baked potatoes, homemade rolls or sourdough biscuits served with syrup, and coffee with goat's milk. On special occasions, they made an extra effort to cook their favorite dishes from their homelands. For the Slavs, these meals would include items like grouse with gravy, roasted suckling pig with berries, dumplings, baked noodles, cookies, poppy-seed tarts, and sweet rolls. The Cornish enjoyed pasties, a sort of turnover made with pie dough baked with a meat and vegetable filling. But since these traditional foods were only eaten rarely, neither Slavic nor Cornish cooking styles left much impact on Arizona's cuisine.
Comidas Mexicana
To the south, Arizona borders the Mexican state of Sonora. During the Mexican Revolution in 1910, thousands of Sonorans fled to Arizona. Because of this, a lot of Mexican cooking in Arizona reflects Sonoran cuisine. For instance, in Sonora wheat is a common grain, so wheat tortillas are eaten more frequently in Arizona than corn tortillas.
Sonoran foods popular in Arizona include green corn tamales, flat enchiladas, and carne seca (dried beef). Green corn tamales aren't green in color; rather, they're made with fresh, white corn instead of the more typical corn masa treated with lime. Sometimes cheese or a strip of green chile down the center adds extra flavor to a green corn tamale. Flat enchiladas (also known as Sonoran-style enchiladas), most common in southern Arizona, consist of thick corn masa cakes seasoned with red chile and often cheese. After frying, the cakes are eaten with red sauce. To make carne seca, strips of plain or seasoned beef are dried – traditionally in the sun, but dehydrators or ovens may be used instead. Once they're dried, the beef strips may be pounded or shredded into pieces to make machaca. Both machaca and carne seca find their way into egg dishes, taco fillings, enchiladas, and other dishes. One of the most popular ways of cooking it is to make a stew with tomatoes, chiles, onions, garlic, and spices.
In fact, many favorite Mexican stews and soups have become popular in Arizona. The Sonoran menudo, a soup made with hominy and tripe, may be best for travelers with adventurous taste buds. The similar pozole offers wider appeal, as it's made with pork, or occasionally chicken, seafood, or another meat. Traditionally, pozole is served with a variety of toppings which people can sprinkle on top of the soup to their own liking. Chopped radishes, cilantro, onions, jalapeños, and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice are among the common toppings. Other popular soups include caldo de queso (cheese and potato soup), tortilla soup, and sopa de albondigas (meatball soup).
Of course, many other Mexican dishes served in Arizona will be familiar to visitors. They include the burrito (and its smaller relative, the burro), chimichangas (deep fried burros), tostadas (crispy tortillas piled with toppings), and chilaquiles (tortilla strips, fried and covered in sauce).
With its combination of Mexican and Native American flavors, Arizona's culinary style is a palate pleaser.
