South west region cuisine (Arizona, Utah, Texas etc) - Essay Example

South west region cuisine Grade (February 28th, South west region cuisine The South west region coversthe states of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Texas among others, and while many might think that the American cuisine is homogenized and thus has become nationalized, the truth is that there exist cuisines for different regions (Detterick-Pineda, 2004). Climate and agriculture are factors that are very fundamental in influencing the cuisines in the South west region, considering that the characteristic use of chili pepper, vegetable and fruits, meat, cheese and cream that characterizes the most popular cuisines of the region emanates from the agricultural activity of growing chili pepper, and rearing livestock (Olver, 2014).

The American historical regional cuisine is still very much alive today, and it is what differentiates different regions. The South West region is characterized by rustic cooking, comprising of a fusion of various ingredients and diets that could have been eaten by the native Mexicans and the colonial settlers from Spain (Olver, 2014). Therefore, the characteristic cuisine of the South west region is the Mexican food, mainly characterized by the use of large chunks of meats, with beans as the accompaniments and chili pepper as the main spice (White, 1993).

Thus, the combination of the large chunks of meat, beans and chili pepper making a thick soup, serves as a characteristic South west region cuisine, which is very popular even nationally and abroad. Nevertheless, even within the South west region, the preferred cuisines do vary, with the regions of Utah, New Mexico and Colorado being popular for the New Mexican cuisine, which is basically the Chili soup, while Texas has a fusion of the New Mexican cuisine with its own ingredients, to form the cuisine referred to as Tex-Mex while Arizona has its own popular cuisine referred as Sonoran (Olver, 2014).

The Tex-Mex is unique, notably because of the use of Sour cream, which is a basic ingredient used both as an ingredient in cooking and as a cooling garnish. Therefore, the Tex-Mex cuisine comprises of the large amount of meat, cumin, cheese and the characteristic sour cream (Detterick-Pineda, 2004). The Tex-Mex is a fusion cuisine from different regions, which has combined the characteristic large chunks of meat with cheese and the sour cream being a German influence, to deliver a unique cuisine to the State, which continues to evolve even to date.

On the other hand, the Cali-Mex is a cuisine popular in the South west region coastal State of California (White, 1993). The state is one bordering Mexico, and at one time it was even a Mexican region. Thus, it has managed to create a fusion of the Mexican cuisine that is unique to the region, characterized by the addition of a variety of fresh fruits and vegetable to the original Mexican cuisine. The other difference between the other South west region cuisines and the Cali-Mex cuisine is that; the meat is shredded and the spices are lighter than the Mexican cuisines (Detterick-Pineda, 2004).

Nevertheless, the cuisine is equally bright, colored and tasty, which is the characteristic signature of the South west region cuisines. Therefore, the South west region cuisine is characterized by one common factor; the basic Mexican cuisine, which is then blended by adding to it some ingredients or removing some, depending on which particular area or state of the region is involved.ReferencesDetterick-Pineda, C. (2004). The Heart and Soul of Southwest Cooking. Retrieved February 28, 2014 from http://whatscookingamerica.

net/CynthiaPineda/SouthWestCooking.htmOlver, L. (25 February 2014). Traditional state foods & recipes. Retrieved February 28, 2014 from http://www.foodtimeline.org/statefoods.htmlWhite, R. (1993). Its Your Misfortune and None of My Own: A New History of the American West. University of Oklahoma Press.