Cooking Up the Taste of Texas
Book Review

“Texas cuisine.” What exactly is it? The answer to this question may be found in “Texas Ties,” a cookbook whose 350 recipes are as diverse as the book’s namesake.
     When a book is a Regional Winner of McIlhenny Company’s Community Cookbook Awards, that is a good sign. “Texas Ties” was published in 1997 by the Junior League of North Harris County, and even at first glance it is obvious that this is not the typical community service organization’s fundraising cookbook.
     Not that those books don’t have their own charm, nor conceal the odd hidden culinary gem, but “Texas Ties” is the distilled result of over 1,200 submissions of Junior League members and friends, and – as it states in the preface – the chosen recipes are “the best of the best.”
     The Smythe sewn, case bound volume is attractive in appearance and organized in such a way that finding the right recipe in a hurry is a snap... But you’ll want to browse through the pages of this book. Each section (Appetizers, Soups and Salads, Entrées, Complements, Brunch and Breads, Desserts, and Comfort Foods) begins with a 500 to 1,000 word (give or take) essay on food, family, and reminiscence. Food is good for the spirit. It is the basis for many traditions. It is part of our culture. At the end of our lives we will each have a cedar chest in our minds that contains the memories that touched our hearts and changed us in some small way; these very personal remembrances remind the reader that every home-cooked meal is a plank in that chest.
     “Thank God, none of us was in the kitchen when the boiling bath in the canner caused the jars to explode,” writes Julie S. Miracle. “We probably would have shrapnel wounds in addition to burns. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes really happened in that kitchen. Red blobs clung to the wallpaper, juice pooled on the floor, splatters were everywhere: on windows, baseboards, even on the baskets hanging from the beamed ceiling. The only thing missing was the crime scene and the body.”
     Martha Maxfield Cottingham writes, “What a shock it was when I discovered that scalloped oysters are not normally considered holiday fare.... Yet when I was growing up, no holiday meal was complete without them. In fact, there were years when both of my grandmothers would bring scalloped oysters to Christmas dinner. Thankfully, some things change.”
     The section on comfort foods contains 39 recipes, but after spending some time with “Texas Ties,” I’d say the whole book qualifies. CS

Available online at www.jlnhc.org.