Newspaper Article

Popularity of N.M. Cooking Spans 75 Years ; Way back in 1931, 'Historic Cookery' promoted traditional local cuisine

DONNA REDMAN For the Journal

2006

Overview

Actually, it was gaining popularity as far back as 1931. In her cookbook \"Historic Cookery,\" first published that year, Fabiola Cabeza de Baca Gilbert said there are two reasons for the popularity of New Mexican food. The first is that it tastes good, and the second is that the basic ingredients -- chile, beans, lamb's quarters (a wild plant similar to spinach), goat cheese and whole grain cereals, for example -- are good for you. Gilbert was the first home economics extension agent in northern New Mexico. She wrote her cookbook as a free publication distributed throughout the state by the New Mexico State University Extension Service. The blurb on the back cover of the small cookbook says it is possibly the earliest cookbook of New Mexican foods published, and was the first to give exact measurements and instructions for preparing the traditional cuisine. \"The recipes in 'Historic Cookery' are an amalgamation of Indian, Spanish, Mexican and American. They are typically New Mexican,\" Gilbert said in the introduction to her cookbook.

• Publisher: Albuquerque Publishing Company
• Subject: de Baca Gilbert, Fabiola Cabeza / Rustebakke, Ann / Stein, Diana