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ethnic cuisine in Texas
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The Institute of Texan Cultures
of The University of Texas at San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas 4251 ~
© 1977, The Institute of Texan Cultures
of The University of Texas at San Antonio
Jack R. Maguire, Executive Director
Pat Maguire, Director of Publications
Research Staff: John L. Davis, William T. Field, Jr., David Haynes,
W. Phil Hewitt, Samuel P. Nesmith, Melvin M. Sance, Jr.
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Design Staff: Maria Eugenia Spencer, Tom R. Stephens, Jonathan R. Jockusch
Library of Congress Catalog Card no. 77-6424
Second Printing Edition
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This publication was made possible by a grant from the American Revolution Bicentennial
Commission of Texas and, in part, by a grant from the Houston Endowment, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America
Measurements, Abbreviations and Conversions
Introduction .. . . ..... . .... . . .. . ... . . .. . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . .. ... .. ... .. . . . . . .. 1
The Texans:
The Afro-Americans ... . .. . ...... . . . . ... .. . . . .. . ... . . .. ..... .. . . . . .. . ... . . 3
The Anglo-Americans . . . . . .. .. . . ......... . .. . . . ... . .. . .. . .... . .. . . .. .. .. . 11
The Belgians ... . . . .. .. . ...... . . . .. . ..... . . .. . ... .. . . ..... . . . .. . . .. ... . . 19
The Chinese .. . . .. . .. .. .. . ... .. . . . ........ .. . . ... . ... . .. . . . . . . . .... . .. . 27
The Czechs . .. . . ... . ... . . .. .. . . ... . ... ... . .. ... . .... . . .... . ..... .. . . . .. 35
The Danes . ... .. .. . . .. .. . .. . . .. . ....... .. . .... . ... . ...... . . . . . .... . . . .. 45
The Dutch . ... ... . .. . . . .. . ... .. . . ... . .. . .... . . .. .. .... ...... . . .. .. ... .. 53
The English .. . . .. .. . . .. ... . .. .... ... . . . ................. . ...... .. .. . .. . 61
The Filipinos . . . .... . . .... .. .. . . . .. ... . .. . .. . . . ... ... .. . . ... . .. .. . . .. .. . 71
The French .. . ...... .. . . . ... . . ... ... . . . .. . .. ... . . ... .. .......... . . ... .. 79
The Germans . . . .. . .. . . . . .. . .. . . . .. . .. . ... . . . . . . .. .. . . ... . . .. .. .. . . .. ... 87
The Greeks .... .. .. ... . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . .. . . . . . . ... . ... . ......... 95
The Indians . . . ... . ....... . .... . . . .. .. . . .. . . . . . .. ... .. .. .. . ... .. ...... . 103
The Irish . ..... . . .. . .. ... . . . .. . . ... . .. . ... . ... . .. . ... .. .. . ... ..... . . . . . 111
The Italians . . .. . . . . . ... .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . .. ... ... . . . . ... . . ... . . ... . . .. . . 119
The Japanese ... . . . ... . . .. . . . . . ... . ... ... . . .. . ... . .. ... . .. ... .. . . . . ... 129
The Jewish .. . . . . ........ . . . . . . . .. . . .. .. . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . .. .. . .. . .... .. . 137
The Mexicans . . . ...... . .. .. . .... . . .. ... . .. . . . .. . . .. .. . ... . ... . ... .. . . . 14 7
The Norwegians . .. . . . .. ... . . . .. . .. .. ... . . . ... .. . .. . ... . . ... .. . . .. . . . .. 155
The Polish . . ... .. . . .... . .. . . .. . ..... . . . . . .. ...... . .. . . ... . . . . . . . . .. .. . 163 .
The Scots . .... .. . . . . ... . . .... . .. . .. . . . ... . . .. . . .. . . . . . . ... . . ... . . . ... . 171
The Spanish . . . . .. .. . . ...... . .... .. . . ... .. ..... . ..... . .. . . . ..... .. . .. . 181
The Swedish . .. . . .. .. .. .. .... . .... . . .... . . ... . .. ... . . .... . . . .. .... .. . . 189
The Swiss .... . . ..... . . .. . . ... . .. ... . . .. .... . . . . . ... . . . . . . .. .... . .. .. .. 197
The Syrian & Lebanese . .. .. ... . ... . . . .. . . ... . ....... . .. . .... .. .... . .. . . 203
The Wendish .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . ... .. .. .. .. . ..... . . . . .. . . .. . . ... . . . . . ... .. . 211
The Yugoslavs .. . .. . . . . . . .. .. ... .... .. ... . . .. . .... . . .. . ....... .. . . . . . . . 217
Index
good informants: the people of Texas that the In­stitute
has worked with for over eight years . They
have loaned many of the objects shown in Institute
displays and have given information used in other
Institute products : publications , audio-visual
materials and traveling exhibits. It was with these
people, in contacts ranging over several years, that
conversations were held about cooking, recipes,
festival foods and Friday-night casseroles. They
were asked for recipes they used or that were
common in their ethnic societies.
All the recipes collected could not be included.
Expert help was received from Frances L.
Reasonover, foods and nutrition specialist, Texas
Agricultural Extension Service , Texas A&M
2
University System , College Station. She helped
check recipe content, gave advice on the final
selection and commented, "Three things that can­not
be written into a recipe are judgement, ex­perience
and imagination ." Enough recipes for a
meal are included here from each group , with
many incidental dishes to add to any family's
regular fare .
Cooking is occasionally preserved or fostered by
a group: yet it almost always remains an individual
skill. Each section is preceeded by a short, historical
introduction to the people represented. A few
remarks about festivals are included along with some
interesting stories about certain dishes that we felt
just could not be left out.
brought to the New World by the Spanish, had
been forced to adopt new ways. After the Civil War
many migrated into central Texas, although east
Texas still contains the highest concentration of
blacks in the state.
Reference has always been made in the United
States to "good ol' southern cooking." Often it was
the Aho-American who was the cook. Blacks were
cooks in southern white homes during slavery and
many have continued to cook as domestic servants
in the south since emancipation.
Often when cooking for themselves slaves ate
what their owner did not want. Even after emanci­pation
most blacks could not afford choice cuts of
meat. They used pigs' feet or internal organs which
were the inexpensive parts of the animal. Hog jowl,
chitterlings (the small intestines of the hog), black­eyed
peas, and a variety of garden-grown and wild
greens were often supplemented by small game
such as rabbit, possum and squirrel. The diet was
rounded out with cheap. readily available foods like
sweet potatoes, hominy grits, molasses and breads
baked with corn meal. The fine art of turning
common ingredients into delicious, nourishing
food has been handed down from generation to
generation.
Contrary to popular belief, soul food is not a
definitive term describing cookery by all Afro­Americans
in the United States. It is doubtful that
the expression was intended to describe the prepa­ration
of food at all. Some believe that, like most
terms··coined by blacks during the protests of the
1950s, soul food is intended to convey a feeling of
kinship among Afro -Americans. Others would
argue that the term defines staple diets of blacks as
opposed to that of whites . However, the foods
usually referred to as soul food have been around
for centuries and have been prepared by blacks
and whites alike .. . and it's all good. Bishop College Chemistry Class (Old Marshall Campus)
6
HAM BONE SOUP
1 ham bone with meat
2 large onions, diced
3 stalks of celery
3 carrots
1 pound tomatoes
3 potatoes, cubed
2 whole cloves
The Pastor's Visit; Harper's Weekly
1 cup snap beans, broken
1 cup butter beans
1/4 cup diced turnips
1/2 cup green peas
1 tablespoon sugar
salt and pepper
1 cup fresh corn kernels
Cover the ham bone with water in a large kettle. Boil until meat is almost tender. Add
remaining ingredients, except the corn. Cover and cook slowly for 3 to 4 hours. Add corn
during the last 15 minutes of cooking. Makes about 8 servings.
7
BLACK EYED PEAS AND HAM HOCKS
1 pound dried black eyed peas
2 pounds ham hocks
2 onions, chopped
1 small bay leaf
1 clove garlic
1 pod red pepper
1 small can tomato puree
2 pounds chili sauce
Wash peas to remove all grit. In a large pot, cover peas with boiling water and cook for
several minutes. Remove from heat and soak for 1 hour. In a second pan boil the ham
hocks in sufficient water to cover for 30 minutes. Drain and add peas and remaining
ingredients to the ham hocks. Cover and cook gently until tender-about 3 hours. Makes
about 8 servings.
SWEET POTATO PONE
6 medium sweet potatoes
2 cups brown sugar
1 stick butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/ 2 teaspoon allspice
Mrs. Nancy Roan, San Antonio
1 cup molasses
6eggs
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon cloves
Grate potatoes. Mix all ingredients well and cook in a greased baking dish at 350 degrees
until set and slightly brown on top. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
CORNBREAD
2 cups buttermilk
2eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups yellow corn meal
Mrs. Geraldine Terrell, San Antonio
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
drop of vanilla
1 teaspoon melted butter
Combine buttermilk, eggs and soda and beat welf. Sift together cornmeal, sugar, salt and
vanilla. Add buttermilk mixture and mix well. Pour in a buttered baking pan. Bake at 450
degrees for about 20 minutes. Makes 8 to 10 servings.
Mrs. Imogene White, San Antonio
10
Texas farm and ranch families in the 19th and
even into the 20th century were almost self-sufficient.
They raised livestock, grew their own vegetables
and fruits-almost all the food they needed ex­cept
for a few Christmas luxuries such as oranges
and apples. The family garden furnished a variety
of vegetables: everything from sweet potatoes to
peanuts. Berries, plums and grapes grew wild and
multiple uses were found for each. Preserves,
jellies, pickles and sauces were all homemade. It
was unthinkable to question the delectability of
liver, sauerkraut, turnips, cornbread, okra, poke
salad, buttermilk or black-eyed peas.
When a farm family was forced to purchase the
few items they couldn't raise, grow or pick wild;
they bought in bulk. Sugar came in 120-pound
barrels, cheese in 32-pound wheels, cane syrup in
24-gallon kegs, flour in 192-pound lots, honey by
the gallon and apples by the bushel.
Early in the century this almost self-sufficient way
of life began a gradual change that accelerated
after World War II. The old folks retired and the
young men and women of rural communities
sought their fortunes in the cities. But one thing has
changed little-most Anglo-American Texans still
delight in the foods of their fathers and grandfathers. Cooking With Cow Chips; Le Tour du Monde
14
Until his death in 1976, Richard Bolt was a range cook for the Pitchfork Ranch at
Gutherie. He was the author of a cookbook, Forty Years Behind the Lid, and what he did
not know about chuck wagon food is probably not worth knowing. We include several of
his recipes here as a tribute to range cooks past and present and to Richard Bolt, one of
the last of a breed.
JACK RABBIT CHILI
1large rabbit, boned and cut in bite size chunks
1/3 pound suet, finely chopped
4 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon crushed cumin seed
1 teaspoon salt
1/ 2 teaspoon cayenne
1/ 2 clove garlic, minced
3 cups water
In a Dutch oven fry the suet until crisp. Add rabbit and water and cook until tender. Add
seasonings and cook slowly for 30 minutes. More water may be added if needed. Makes
10 to 12 servings.
ROAST POSSUM WITH YAMS
1 possum, cleaned and dressed
cayenne
salt
Richard Bolt, Pitchfork Ranch, Gutherie
6 yams, peeled
brown sugar
bacon drippings
Clean and dress the possum, cut off excess fat and parboil 45 minutes at rolling boil in
water seasoned with cayenne and salt. Cook six yams, peeled, in same water. Put the
possum on a greased pan with yams around. Sprinkle brown sugar on the yams. Baste
possum with bacon drippings. Bake at 300 degrees about 2 hours.
POSSUM STEW
1 possum, cleaned
pepper
salt
2 medium onions
6 medium-large yams, diced
corn
tomatoes
1 hot pepper
Clean the possum, parboil until tender and remove meat from bones. Mix with pepper,
salt, onions, yams, corn, tomatoes to taste and hot pepper. Mix all together in a large
pot and boil, thinning with water as needed.
Jack Baird, Gilmer
15
SOURDOUGH STARTER
1 cake yeast or 1 package dry yeast
dissolved in 1 quart water
2 tablespoons sugar
4 cups flour
1 potato, peeled and quartered
Mix ingredients in a crock and let sit until very light and slightly aged, usually 10 to 12
hours in warm weather. When the starter is light and bubbling it is ready for use. Do not let
the starter "sponge" and get too sour with water rising to the top. Biscuits or bread will not
rise properly.
The crock of starter should be stored in a warm place and should be stirred frequently.
For best results the starter should be used daily . The starter will improve with age, and so
will your biscuits.
Sourdough starter should be kept in an earthenware crock with a close fitting, but not
airtight, lid . (Do Not Use a tinned container as the sourdough has a chemical reaction
which causes a poison to form.) A 3 or 4 quart crock is sufficient for this recipe .
PEANUT BRITTLE
2 cups sugar
1 cup white corn syrup
1/ 2 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
Richard Bolt, Pitchfork Ranch, Gutherie
2 cups raw peanuts
3 teaspoons soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
Cook sugar, corn syrup and water until it spins a thread. Add butter and peanuts. Cook
until light golden brown. Take off heat. Add soda, vanilla and salt and mix well. Pour on a
well buttered cookie sheet. Cool and break into pieces. Store in an air tight container.
HONEY PECAN PIE
1 cup honey
4eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mrs . Louis Burden, Pearsall
1 cup pecans
1 tablespoon butter
unbaked 9 inch pie shell
Pour honey into an iron skillet and bring to a boil. Beat eggs well and slowly add hot
honey, stirring constantly. Add salt, vanilla and pecans. Pour into pie shell and put butter
over top. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then bake for 20 minutes at 300 degrees.
Agatha Arnold , Pearsall
18
bankers placed administration in the hands of
Guillaume D'Hanis who directed the futher
development of the colony. Though he never
came to Texas this Belgian business manager gave
his name to a community west of Castroville.
Another Texas town was named for Henry B.
Shiner whose father was from the Belgian
province of Luxembourg. Shiner was a prominent
Texas cattleman and donor of the townsite .
Out in the Davis Mountains of west Texas the
Dutchover family is well known in ranching circles.
They are descended from Anton Diedrick, a
young Belgian who was shanghaied aboard a
vessel at Antwerp. When he escaped from his
captors at Galveston in 1846, he was alone and
friendless in a land whose language he did not
understand. A pair of recruiters for Mexican War
service somehow convinced him that if he would
sign their roster, he would get food and a place to
sleep. He made his mark but was unable to make
them understand his name. In exasperation one of
the recruiters said , "Aw, he's Dutch all over. We'll
call him that." The name stuck. In later years he
was an Indian scout, an armed guard for a
stageline and a sheep rancher. He had shortened
the name to Dutchover, but he never tried to
correct the original error.
The arrival of other Belgians in Texas was more
in the nature of drift than flow . Some came with
the French in 1854 to establish the La Reunion
colony on the west bank of the Trinity River.
When this Utopian experiment failed , most of
them simply relocated to the growing village of
Dallas on the east bank. Another group of
Belgians, who had gone to Mexico with the
Archduke Maximilian, fled to south Texas when
the Austrian-born emperor was overthrown and
executed in 186 7. From the early 18th century,
San Antonio held a particular attraction for the
Belgians. The 1850 census listed only eight
Belgian natives living in Texas, seven of them in
22
the Alamo City. By the 1880s the colony was
large enough to act as a magnet for other
countrymen. For the most part these settlers were
vegetable growers on the western outskirts of the
town. Herman Van Daele and Adolph Baeten
drilled the first artesian well in the area and
initiated the large-scale , irrigated truck farming
which dominates the local produce market to this
day .
San Antonio Belgians have been active not only
in food production but also in food processing.
Edward Wellens was a pioneer baker who came
from Antwerp as a chef aboard a passenger
vessel. After settling in San Antonio about 1881 ,
he worked as a pastry chef at the Menger Hotel ,
then was employed at Richter's Bakery. He
established his own business shortly before the
Spanish American War. In 1898 he delivered
bread and pastries to Teddy Roosevelt's Rough
Riders who were then training at the old
fairgrounds . Several years later Wellens
established the Prospect Hill Bakery which
became famous on San Antonio's west side.
Among the Belgians who worked in that bakery
was Camille De Winne, the foreman . In 1923 he
married Margaret DePauw and the following year
opened a small grocery store on West Commerce
Street. In 1925 he opened a bakery next to the
grocery . Selling sandwiches in the store soon
expanded into a small restaurant and later a
tavern .
De Winne's place , The Belgium Inn, became
the most popular Belgian gathering spot, offering
card games, darts and boiling. It was also the
frequent location of the kermess , or outdoor
festival, traditionally held on August 15 and
November 17.
Today it is difficult to distinguish Belgians from
other ethnic groups . Many of their distinctive
folkways are no longer observed except during
such occasions as the Texas Folklife Festival.
0
FLEMISH SALAD OF ENDIVES
What typical Belgian vegetable is white, faintly green around the edges, edible and
delicious either raw or cooked in a multitude of ways? The answer is, of course, the
Belgian brussels chicory, also called endive or witloof. Endives can be imported from
Belgium through New York or Houston importers but the Texas variety, which is more
leafy, can be substituted.
2 heads Belgian endive
1 cup diced, cooked potatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
2 pickled herring fillets, diced
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste
Trim the base of each endive. Discard any wilted leaves. Wash well under running water.
Cut in slices. Combine with remaining ingredients. Chill before serving. Makes 4 to 6
servings.
FLEMISH BEEF STEW
3 pounds round steak or chuck, cubed
flour
salt and pepper to taste
1/ 2 cup butter
6 onions, sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2-1 / 2 cups light beer
2 tablespoons vinegar
De Winne's Bakery, c.l931 ; George De Winne, San Antonio
Sprinkle the meat cubes with flour, salt and pepper. Set aside. Heat the butter in a large
saucepan and saute the onions until tender, being careful not to brown them. Add the
meat and brown on all sides. Tie the garlic, bay leaf, thyme and parsley in a cheesecloth
bag and add it to the pan. Add the sugar and beer. Season with salt and pepper. Cook
tightly covered, over low heat, about 1-l/2 hours or until the meat is tender. Add more
beer if necessary while cooking. Discard the seasoning bag. Add the vinegar just before
serving. Serve with boiled potatoes and a vegetable salad. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
23
BELGIAN MEAT BALLS
The combination of pork and veal,
mixed, and the addition of beer .......­makes
these meatballs distinctively
Belgian.
4 green onions with tops, minced
1/4 cup butter
2 slices stale white bread
1/3 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste
2 pounds ground pork and veal
flour
2 cups light beer
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
Making Wooden Shoes; Le Tour du Monde
Saute the onions in 2 tablespoons butter until tender. Soak the bread in the milk until soft,
then mash with a fork. Add the onions, bread, eggs, salt, pepper and nutmeg to the
ground meat. Blend the ingredients well. Shape into 2 inch thick balls. Sprinkle with flour
and brown in 2 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan. Add the beer and cook over low
heat, covered, for 20 minutes. Add the parsley just before removing from heat. Serve with
mashed potatoes and a vegetable. Makes 6 servings.
FLEMISH STYLE CARROTS
3 tablespoons butter
8 medium carrots, scraped and sliced
2 teaspoons sugar
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons water
1/ 2 cup cream (optional)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the carrots, sugar, salt, pepper and water. Cover and
cookslowly over moderate heat until the carrots are tender-about 10 minutes. Add the
cream, nutmeg and parsley and bring to a quick boil. Remove at once from the heat.
Makes 4 servings.
Mrs . Camille De Winne, San Antonio
24
BELGIAN RED CABBAGE
1 small head red cabbage
1 apple (unpeeled, but cored & sliced)
1 medium onion, cut in small pieces
1/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup vinegar
1 heaping teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1 small bay leaf
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
Shred cabbage fine. Add all other ingredients. Let stew in heavy saucepan until cabbage is
tender, about 1 hour. Add small amount of water or more wine to keep from burning.
Keep pan covered. Cook over slow fire. Remove bay leaf before serving.
Mrs. Jennie Dhaenens, San Antonio
AUNT MARY'S BELGIAN RAISIN BREAD
Mrs. John Waddell of San Antonio has happy memories about the recipes of her mother
Mary VanDeWalle Persyn: "On Saturdays my mom would bake all day. She loved to
cook for all the nieces and nephews. One pumpkin would make 18 to 20 pies and we
would each get a pie for ourselves. I have seven brothers and it thrills me when I use
Mom's recipes and they say, 'Boy, this is just like mama made.' Her family helped to start
the first Belgian Catholic Church. She was working with the Institute to organize our
heritage when she passed away in November, 1974."
4 cups flour
1 package active dry yeast
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins
2 eggs, slightly beaten
Mix 2 cups flour with yeast. Stir water, milk, butter, sugar and salt over low heat until the
butter melts. Add remaining flour, raisins and eggs. Add to flour mixture. Knead until
dough is smooth and elastic. Grease two 1 pound coffee cans. Divide the dough in half
and place in cans. Cover with plastic tops. Let rise until dough reaches 1 inch from top.
Remove tops. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.
BELGIAN CARAMEL PUDDING
1/2 gallon milk
2cupsmilk
2 cups flour
1 pound brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
3eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 pint dark corn syrup
In a 6 quart pot bring l/2 gallon milk to the boiling point. In a separate bowl mix the flour,
cinnamon and brown sugar. Add eggs, vanilla and 2 cups milk to make a smooth batter.
Add to scalded milk and cook over low heat until slightly thickened. Remove from heat
and add corn syrup. Pour into 2 greased 13 x 9 inch pans. Bake at 300 degrees for 1-3/4
hours. Makes 24 servings.
.,;, Mary Van DeW aile Persyn, San Antonio
25
BELGIAN HONEY CAKE
3-1 /2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/ 2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/ 2 teaspoon salt
3eggs
1 cup sugar
1-1/ 2 cups honey
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
Sift dry ingredients together 3 times. Beat eggs. Add sugar and honey and mix well. Stir in
alternately with dry sifted ingredients. Add vegetable oil with vanilla and beat until
smooth. Pour into a well greased and floured 12 x 9 inch baking pan. Bake at 325 degrees
for 1 hour. When cool, wrap in wax paper or foil. Makes 1 dozen 3 inch squares.
Mrs. George Vestuyft, San Antonio
RICE PUDDING OR RICE MILK
Until World War II members of the San Antonio Belgian community enjoyed rice pudding
contests which have been resurrected at the Texas Folklife Festival. In olden days two
couples, blindfolded, would sit on chairs at a table on a raised platform to see who could
feed his partner the most pudding in the shortest amount of time.
2 quarts milk
1 cup rice
brown sugar to taste
1 egg
1 stick cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon saffron (optional)
Pour milk in a large saucepan. Add rice and slowly bring to a boil. Let boil slowly for about
an hour until the rice is tender. Stir to keep from scorching. When done, stir in beaten egg
a little at a time to keep from curdling. Add cinnamon and saffron. Let cool. Serve as a
dessert, sprinkled with brown sugar. Makes 14 to 16 servings.
BEER WAFFLES
2 cups sifted flour
4 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon sugar
5 tablespoons butter, melted
salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/ 2 cup light beer
2/ 3 cup milk
confectioners' sugar
whipped cream
Combine the flour, egg yolks, sugar, butter, salt, vanilla, beer and milk in a bowl. Beat until
smooth. Whip the egg whites until stiff and fold into the mixture. Spread a little of the
batter on a waffle iron and cook. Serve with confectioners' sugar and whipped cream.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Mrs . Camille De Winne, San Antonio
Railroads brought the first Chinese to Texas-not
as passengers but as laborers working on railroad
construction in the Brazos River valley. A crew of
three hundred was brought to Calvert in 1870 to
help build a railroad to Dallas. After completing
their work many of these people settled in towns
along the route.
A decade later history
repeated itself when the
Southern Pacific line was
extended to El Paso.
Another large group of
Chinese laborers entered
Texas. When their work
was complete, they too
settled in towns along
the route, many of them
concentrating in El Paso.
Other Chinese were im·
migrating as farm workers.
In 1917 General John
J . Pershing led an exped­ition
into Mexico to cap­ture
Mexican revolution­ary
leader Pancho Villa.
The expedition camped
near the small pueblo of
Casa Grande and was
soon supplied with candy,
cakes, cigarettes and
A final wave of immigration occurred in 1948
and 1949 with the Communist takeover of China.
Most of these new arrivals were educated men and
women including college professors, doctors, arch­itects,
chemists and engineers.
Immigration has continued in a small but steady
other items not usually Chinese English Class-El Paso, 1905; Cleofas Calleros Estate, El Paso
afforded troops in enemy
territory. The benefactors were Chinese who lived
in the area. They attached themselves to Pershing's
camp, opened small stands, and operated
other businesses.
When General Pershing returned to the United
States more than five hundred Chinese came with
him as refugees. Many of them settled iA San
Antonio. Most of them opened businesses such as
restaurants and retail grocery stores. They pros­pered
and became leaders in the community.
29
flow. Each year there are new arrivals, principally in
Houston, now one of the largest Chinese
population centers in the United States. Chinese
residents in the state are estimated at over
twenty thousand.
Chinese Texans are Americanized in thought,
speech and dress. Many prefer American food;
however, many persons from other ethnic groups
have discovered the pleasures of dining on
Chinese cuisine.
Chinese restaurants reflect the methods of food
preparation in differe nt areas of China. In the north
emphasis is placed on wheat and soy-bean curd
while in the south much use is made of rice and
vegetables. Cantonese citizens cook foods a short
time, just enough to preserve the natural flavors. In
Shanghai, diners prefer their food well done.
People of Szechwan like hot pepper; Shantung
people are fond of onion and garlic; the maritime
people prefer salty seafood.
The Cantonese use rice in their diet as Amer­icans
use bread. In the north where it is too cold to
grow rice, Mandarins raise wheat and prepare
bread and dumplings. Cantonese cooking is char­acterized
by the use of more sweet and sour
flavorings and seasonings. Mandarin food is usually
a bit more oily than Cantonese and more salt is
used in the food preparation.
Oriental import shops stock a wide array of cook­ing
ingredients. One tradit ional food item, mung
beans, is grown in quantity by an enterprising Chin·
ese Texan near Vernon and sold in this country.
Chinese Texans continue to respect ancient
cultural traditions. Holidays and festivals are still
observed, although they have been modified with
the passage of time. The Chinese Lunar New Year
is celebrated with banquets held at home or in frat ­ernity
halls and community centers. Early on New
Year's Eve day, the men of the family go out to
settle all debts in order to meet the new year with a
clean slate. Chinese shopkeepers remain open a
little longer that day.
The last-meal of the year is eaten in a leisurely
fashion. Doors of the house are sealed with red
good-luck papers and at one second after midnight
the family members exchange ceremonial
greetings. The children bow low to their parents
and grandparents and wish them a Happy New
Year. The parents present the children with gifts of
money in bright red en vel opes decorated with gold
emblems that wish the recipients happiness for the
new year. Early the next morning the seals on the
doors are broken and the remainder of the day
30
Chinese Sutler's Store , 1916; Library of Congress
may be devoted to the worship of ancestors. It is
considered bad luck on New Year's Day to raise
one's voice, to tell a lie or to use indecent language.
The Lunar New Year is not only the greatest
Chinese holiday of the year, it is also,' by tradition,
everyone's birthday. No strict rules are followed
regarding the selection of particular dishes for the
New Year season , but an effort is made to serve the
finest foods that are available.
EGG FLOWER SOUP
5 cups chicken stock
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup diced canned mushrooms
1/4 cup diced uncooked chicken
2eggs
pinch monosodium glutamate
Bring stock to a boil. Add peas, mushrooms and chicken. Cook until the peas are tender.
Beat eggs. Add and stir until eggs are separated into threads. Season to taste. Add a pinch
of monosodium glutamate. Serves 5.
CHINESE BARBECUED PORK
1 pound pork tenderloin
1/2 teaspoon monosodium glutamate
1/ 2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 teaspoon salt
Slice pork into 2 strips. Combine remaining ingredients. Add pork and marinate in the
sauce for about 3 hours, turning frequently. Drain the pork and place in on an oven rack.
Roast at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, turning every 10 minutes to assure even browning.
Slice into pieces 1/4 inch thick.
CHICKEN WITH SNOW PEAS, WATER CHESTNUTS AND BAMBOO SHOOTS
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup uncooked boneless breast of chicken
cut into 1 inch pieces
1 /2 pound snow peas (remove tips
and strings, wash and drain)
1/2 cup bamboo shoots, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/ 2 cup water chestnuts, sliced
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 cup chicken stock
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons water
In a preheated skillet or wok place vegetable oil and salt. Bring oil to the sizzling point.
Add chicken. Toss and turn rapidly at high heat for 1 minute. Add snow peas, bamboo
shoots ,water chestnuts and soy sauce. Toss at high heat for 1 minute. Add chicken stock.
Cover and cook for 2 minutes. Make a paste of cornstarch and water. Gradually add
cornstarch paste. Toss at high heat until sauce thickens.
31
ROAST CHICKEN SlEW GAl
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon gin
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger root
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 chicken (3-1 /2 pounds)
Mix ingredients. Rub chicken inside and out with mixture. Marinate for 45 minutes before
roasting in 350 degree oven for 55 minutes on an elevated rack.
Mrs. Joseph Eng, San Antonio
JELLIED RED-COOKED PORK WITH BAMBOO SHOOTS AND MUSHROOMS
3 to 4 pounds pork (fresh bacon, fresh
shoulder, fresh ham or Boston butt, with
skin. The skin, cooked at length, makes
the jelly.)
1 cup water
1/ 2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sherry
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
4 slices ginger root
1/ 2 cup cut scallions
1 to 2 cups bamboo shoot chunks
1 cup dried mushrooms, soaked, and/or
1 cup soaked dried wood ear
Cut meat into 1 inch cubes. Boil in 1 cup of water in a heavy, covered pot. After bringing
to a boil add all seasonings, cover and cook gently for about 1-1/2 hours. Add bamboo
shoots, mushrooms and/or wood ear. Cook over low heat for another 30 minutes. This
dish can be served hot or cold but is usually eaten cold as an ever-ready dish during the
busy New Year season.
SPRING ROLLS, SOMETIMES CALLED EGG ROLLS
Wrapping:
Fresh egg noodle sheets, also called won ton skins, which can be purchased from Chinese
groceries or specialty shops.
Filling:
3 scallions, sliced
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 cup cross-shredded celery
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 pound pork, cut in shreds
1/2 pound fresh shrimp, chopped
1 tablespoon cooking oil
for deep frying
Combine first 7 ingredients. Stir in pork and shrimp. Stir fry in heated oil. When cooked
and cooled place into wrappings, forming rolls. Moisten edges to hold shape. Deep fry
until the outside is crisp and golden. Serve while hot.
Mrs. P.M. Ku, San Antonio
32
WRAPPED DUMPLINGS
Wrapping:
6 cups flour 3 cups water
Mix flour and water to a dough. Knead on a floured board. Place in a bowl and let rest 30
minutes or more. Roll into sausage-like sections and cut into 1/4 inch lengths. Pat each
piece and flatten with a rolling pin into round, flat pieces about 3-1/2 inches in diameter
and l/8 inch thick. This is the wrapping skin. Keep each rolled piece covered to prevent
drying or fill as soon as each wrapper is made. It is best to have two persons working
together, one rolling the dough and the other preparing the dumplings .
Filling:
1-1/2 pounds pork, ground
3 pounds celery cabbage, chopped
and squeezed
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons chopped scallions
Mix filling. Put scant teaspoonful in each wrapping. Fold in half and pinch edges with
tucks on one side so that each becomes a standing half-moon shape. Drop dumplings into
boiling water. Each time the pot comes to a boil, add 2 cups cold water and bring to a boil
again. Do this 3 times for a total time of about 10 minutes. The dumplings are then ready
to be served either in soup or drained on plates. They can also be pan fried after they are
cooked. Other fillings can be used.
LONG LIFE NOODLES
1/2 pound Chinese noodles
or spaghetti
vegetable oil
salt
Drop in boiling water. Add a little salt and bring to a boil. Cover pot, turn off heat and let
the noodles sit for about 30 minutes or more. Drain , add cold water, drain again, stir in a
little oil and allow to cool.
Meanwhile, stir fry :
2 tablespoons soy sauce vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sherry 1/4 cup sliced scallions
1 tablespoon cornstarch 1/2 cup bamboo shoots, sliced or shredded
1/4 pound raw shrimp, peeled and sliced 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1 I 4 pound pork, sliced or shredded 1 cup shredded celery cabbage
1 I 2 pound chicken, uncooked, sliced or shredded
Mix soy sauce, sherry and cornstarch. Stir in shrimp and pork. Heat oil and scallions.
When hot stir in meat mixture and add bamboo shoots, mushrooms and celery cabbage.
In another pan, heat a little vegetable oil and put in the noodles in clumps. Pan fry until
slightly crisp on one side then turn over and crisp the other side. Add half of the cooked
meat mixture. Stir, put into serving dish and add the remaining meat mixture on top.
Mrs. P. M. Ku , San Antonio
33
•
ALMOND SQUARES
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1-1 /2 cups milk, scalded
1 teaspoon almond extract
Mix gelatin with water. Add sugar to scalded milk. Combine, stirring until the gelatin is
dissolved. Add almond extract and mix. Pour into a rectangular pan and refrigerate to set.
When set cut into squares. Fruit cocktail may be spooned over pieces when served.
FRIED PASTRY
1/ 2 cup brown sugar
2 /3 cup boiling water
1 cup glutinous rice flour
Mrs. Joseph Eng, San Antonio
1 cup coconut shreds or chunky peanut butter
1/2 cup sesame seeds
oil for deep frying
Melt sugar in boiling water and bring to a boil again. Remove from heat and stir in flour
until smooth. Cool. Knead slightly and form into flattened balls. Fill each piece with a scant
teaspoon of coconut shreds or peanut butter. Wrap dough around filling and reroll into
balls. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Deep fry until golden brown. Serve while warm.
SNOWBALLS
1/4 cup walnuts, ground
1/4 cup almonds, ground
1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon shortening
1 pound glutinous rice flour
Mix nuts, sesame seeds, sugar and shortening. Form into 1/ 2 inch balls. Fill a big mixing
bowl with 1/ 2 inch layer of rice flour. Moisten nut balls by dipping them into water. Piace
balls individually in floured bowl and shake bowl back and forth, coating the balls with
flour. Redip coated balls in water and coat with flour 3 times. Slip balls into boiling water
and boil gently for about 5 minutes until balls float to the surface. Add a cup of cold water
and boil for about 3 to 4 minutes. Serve about 4 to each person along with the hot liquid.
Snowballs are prepared on New Year's Eve and served to guests all through the New
Year season.
Mrs. P. M. Ku, San Antonio
34
~. ....' H'Ev ­.
c} &l• ·-- - ~~ ~"' ·
Between 1850 and 1920 thousands of Czechs left
their homes in Moravia and Bohemia to come to
Texas in search of a better life. Today you can visit
towns like Fayetteville, Praha and Hallettsville
where the Czech language is in everyday use.
Picnic at Dubina; Edward Peter, Weimar
Crowded dance floors, fast-paced polka music,
wooden-walled fraternal halls and excellent food
and drink-these are some of the phrases that
characterize the Czech Texans. The Czechs who
settled in Texas in the middle and late 19th century
were known mainly for two things. First, wherever
they settled they worked hard and became useful,
productive citizens. Second, the Czechs, or
Bohemians as they were known, knew how to
celebrate. The occasion could be almost anything- a
wedding in a small rural church, a fraternal picnic,
a parish festival, a Saturday night dance.lt could be
an impromptu song fest and dance at a general
store or saloon.
37
In the 1800s practically all Czech Texans lived in
rural areas. Almost all were farmers who settled in
a geographic triangle bounded by Dallas, San
Antonio and Houston. Some others made their
homes in the lower Gulf coast and the Texas pan­handle.
Since most Czechs lived an isolated rural
life, they took full advantage of any opportunity for
getting with friends to celebrate a special occasion.
Weddings were particularly festive. First, the
young couple rented land on which to live. Then
the groom selected two of his best friends to dress
in Sunday clothes and ride to neighboring farms to
extend formal invitations. A few days before the
occasion the women of the family gathered at the
home of the bride to begin preparing the food for
the wedding breakfast and for the elaborate
reception.
After the ceremony the wedding party returned to
the bride's home or to the parish or fraternal hall.
Sometimes the guests were stopped by friends who
stretched a ribbon accross the road and asked for a
gift of money for the bridal pair. At the reception the
bridesmaids pinned sprigs of rosemary on each
guest, symbolizing fidelity and constancy.
At the reception tables were loaded with pork,
goose and chicken. There were pastries like the
kolache with a variety of fillings and kegs and kegs of
beer. And there was always a polka band for dancing.
38
Interior of Spoetzel Brewery- Shiner, 1909;
Edwin Wolters Memorial Museum, Shiner
Czech Texans continue to celebrate weddings
with a magnificent feast. But at many the traditional
goose and pork have been replaced by Texas barbe­cue.
But Czech sausage, kolaches, potatoes and
other traditional dishes are still served.
Czech festivals remain popular in Texas. At the
Ennis Polka Festival in May, you can dance to fine
polka music and eat traditional Czech food. Another
annual celebration is held on August 15 at
Praha - between Flatonia and Schulenburg. The
occasion resembles a combination of family reunion,
Fourth of July picnic, country western hoedown
and carnival.
The Czechs who came to Texas brought their
religion, their language, their folklore and their
preferences in food. In time many of the old customs
were altered or disappeared, but Czech Texans are
still known for their delicious food. Today a typical
menu might include soup, baked pork loin,
sauerkraut, boiled potatoes and kolachesfor dessert.
0
POTATO SOUP
Czechs eat potatoes prepared dozens of ways-boiled as dumplings, stewed or as crisp
potato pancakes fried in hot lard and topped with jam.
4 medium potatoes
1 quart milk
1 tablespoon butter
salt to taste
Cook potatoes in salted water until tender. Add milk and butter. Meanwhile, prepare
dumplings.
2eggs
3 /4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons baking powder
flour to make a stiff dough
salt and pepper to taste
Combine ingredients. When soup liquid boils, add dumplings by spoonfuls. Cover and
cook about 15 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
SAUSAGE POTATO SALAD
1/ 2 cup cooked, smoked sausage
3 cups cooked cold potatoes
3 /4 cup sliced celery
1/ 2 cup chopped onion
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
Taylor Christian Sisters Cookbook, Clara Stalmach
1 cup salad dressing
1 teaspoon mustard
1 I 4 cup cream or milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
In a large bowl combine the diced smoked sausage, sliced potatoes, celery, onion and
eggs. Mix the remaining ingredients together and pour over the salad mixture. Toss lightly,
then cover the bowl and chill well before serving. Serves 6.
ROAST PORK LOIN
3 to 5 pounds pork loin
coarse salt
Ruby Dana, Dallas
1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds
Rub meat all over with salt and sprinkle with caraway seeds. Put l/4 inch of water in the
bottom of a roasting pan. Roast pork uncovered at 325 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes per
pound. As water evaporates add additional water to pan. Baste meat frequently. To make
gravy, skim fat off the liquid and thicken with flour if desired. Serves 4 to 6.
Agnes Houdek, Dallas
39
a~i·f ·• .• • • · ~: •• •
' 't.
ROAST GOOSE WITH SAUERKRAUT
1 young goose (8 to 10 pounds)
salt and pepper to taste
1/ 21emon
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
6c ups sauerkraut, drained and washed
' in cold water
2 tea ~ po <! ns caraway seeds
.. ,.. .
Wash and wipe goose dry. Remove any .fat from cavity a'nd reserve:· Rub !fell with salt and
pepper inside and out. Prick skin several times and rub with the lem!?rn-·Cook onion in 2
tablespoons reserved goose fat until tender.: Add, sauerkraut and continue cooking for
another minute. Add seeds and season with salh and pepper. Cook on low heat for
another 10 minutes. Stuff this mixture gently into ~tp~ goose and close by sewing. Place
goose breast up in roasting pan and bake in a 325" degree oven for 2 to 2-l/2 hours or
until tender. Serve with dumplings.
"'· · .. Mrs. Stacy Labaj, Granger
SAUERKRAUT ...
Like their German neighbors, Czechs enjoy tangy sauerkraut. Compare this Czech recipe
with those of German Texans and you can see how neighbors exchanged recipes over
the years. ·
1 small can sauerkraut
1/2 tablespoon caraway seeds
salt to taste
1 medium potato
1 small onion, cJ;topped
3 tablespoons·shortening
1 to 2 tablespoons flour
Empty kraut in 1 quart stew pan. Add water to cover, then caraway seeds and salt. Boil 10
minutes. Peel and grate potato. Add to kraut and cook 3 minutes. Saute onion in
shortening, add flour and stir until well blended. Pour kraut juice into flour and onion,
stirring quickly. When well blended, pour back into kraut and cook 3 minutes longer,
stirring constantly. Makes 4 servings.
Mrs. Frank Labay, Taylor
40
CZECH STEW
1 pound pork heart, cubed
1 pound pork tongue, cubed
2 pounds pork, cubed
1 tablespoon pickling spice
1 teaspoon salt
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 tablespoon caraway seeds
3 /4 teaspoon sugar
1 clove garlic
1 cup coffee cream
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon vinegar
Put heart, tongue and pork in pot. Cover with water. Tie in a cheesecloth bag the pickling ·
spice, salt, onion, caraway seed, sugar and garlic. Add to meat, cover and cook for 1 hour.
Remove spice bag and squeeze out juice. Stir in a paste made of 1/4 cup coffee cream
and flour. Add 3/4 cup coffee cream and vinegar. Cover and cook slowly until tender.
Makes about 16 to 18 servings.
CZECH BREAD DUMPLINGS
7 slices bread
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Edward Kadleck, New Braunfels
3/4 teaspoon salt
2eggs
3/4cup milk
Toast bread and cut into small pieces. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.
Add eggs, milk and toast. Mix well. Divide mixture into egg size pieces and drop into a
large pan of boiling water. Cover and cook about 15 minutes. Serve with roast pork and
sauerkraut.
FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL KOLACHES
1 stick margarine, melted
2 cups warm milk
2 packages dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2 teaspoons sugar
2eggs
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
8 to 9 cups flour
Agnes Houdek, Dallas
Combine margarine and milk in a saucepan. Mix yeast, warm water and 2 teaspoons
sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat the eggs in a cup with a fork and add to margarine and
milk mixture. Combine this with the yeast mixture. Add 1/2 cup sugar and salt. Gradually
add sifted flour to. make a stiff dough. Usually 8-1/2 cups is sufficient. Let the mixture sit
15 minutes. Mix well again until smooth. Let rise 50 minutes at 80 to 85 degrees or until
double in bulk. After dough has risen, divide it into egg size portions with a spoon and
form balls. Place on an oiled baking sheet about an inch apart and brush with melted
butter. Let rise until light, then make an indentation in each ball for fruit. Sprinkle with
posipka topping.
41
: I
.•
POSIPKATOPPING
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
Combine ingredients and mix until they resemble coarse meal. Sprinkle over fruit filling.
Let the kolaches rise again about 20 minutes or until light to the touch. Bake at 450
degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Again butter each kolache before removing
from pan onto a wire cooling rack or large board. Makes ahout 6 dozen.
Prunes or apricots are the fruits generally used for kolaches. They are cooked, sweetened,
pureed and usually mildly spiced with cinnamon or nutmeg. Cottage cheese is also
popular for filling; it is blended with a dash of salt, a hint of sugar, a bit of lemon juice and
grated lemon rind.
Fillings for kolaches:
Cheese Filling:
1 pound cottage cheese
2 or 3 egg yolks
pinch of salt
1-1 /2 cups sugar
Prune Filling:
1 pound cooked prunes
1-1 /2 cups sugar
Apricot Filling:
1 pound dry apricots, cooked
3 tablespoons melted butter
Pineapple Filling:
1 small can crushed pineapple
1 cup sugar mixed with 2 tablespoons flour
Henry Joe Henke, Jr., Hallettsville
1/2 teaspoon lemon rind
1/ 2 cup raisins (optional)
3 tablespoons melted butter
3 tablespoons melted butter
vanilla or cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon almond flavor
2 tablespoons melted butter
Put pineapple in saucepan and when it starts boiling, add the sugar and flour mixture.
Cook until thickened. Remove from range. Add butter and let cool before spreading on
kolaches.
Poppy Seed Filling:
2 cups ground poppy seeds
1 cup milk
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond flavor
Heat milk in skillet to boiling. Add sugar, flour and poppy seeds and cook until thickened.
Add flavoring.
42
APPLE STRUDEL
1 cup lukewarm milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1/ 2 teaspoon salt
1 cake yeast
1 egg
1 stick butter, melted
flour, as needed
Mix together milk, sugar and salt. Add yeast cake and stir to dissolve. Stir together egg and
butter. Add yeast mixture. Mix with enough flour to make a soft dough. Divide in two
equal parts. Put on floured board. Knead until dough is quite elastic, glossy and blistery
(about 7 minutes) . Cover with a warm crockery bowl and put in a warm place (80 to 85
degrees) for 30 minutes. In meantime prepare the following:
5 or 6 apples
2 cups vanilla wafers
small amount melted butter
flour, as needed
2 cups sugar
2 sticks butter, melted
1/ 2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1/2 cup coconut (optional)
cinnamon
Slice apples. Crush 2 cups vanilla wafers and mix with a small amount of melted butter.
Spread a cloth on table and flour it. Turn dough out in the center of the cloth, roll over
slightly and brush with melted butter. With slightly floured hands stretch dough until it
becomes paper thin. First take the buttered wafer crumbs and spread on dough. Add a
thin layer of apples. Sprinkle with 1 cup sugar and dot with butter. Add 1/2 cup of
chopped pecans, raisins and coconut,if desired .Sprinkle with cinnamon. Pick up one end of
the cloth and the dough will roll like a jelly roll. Shape into a horseshoe. Carefully place on
well greased 8 x 10 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes. Remove from
oven. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and 1 cup sugar. Makes 2
small strudels.
SAUSAGE ROLLS
2 cups milk
1/ 2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1/ 2 cup vegetable oil
Taylor Christian Sisters Cookbook, Mrs. Frank Urbis, Sr.
2 soft yeast cakes
6 cups flour
1-1 /2 pounds sausage
To make dough: Scald milk. Stir in sugar and salt. Add oil. Cool to lukewarm. Dissolve
yeast in a small amount of warm water. Stir in milk mixture and the flour. Mix until
smooth. Let it rise 5 minutes. Turn out on a floured board and knead well for about 7
minutes. Place the dough into a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in
bulk-about 30 minutes. This recipe works fast.
To prepare sausage: While the dough is rising, cut sausage into 2-1/2 inch lengths and cut
in half lengthwise. Bake sausage in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes to remove excess
fat. Cool to room temperature.
To make rolls: Divide the dough into egg size portions with a spoon. Wrap dough around
the sausage. Let it rise. Bake at 350 degrees until brown -about 30 minutes. Makes 30
sausage rolls.
CHRISTMAS BREAD
2 yeast cakes
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons sugar
1 stick butter
1/ 2 cup sugar
1/ 2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
Henry Joe Henke, Jr., Hallettsville
2 egg yolks
5 cups flour
1/2 cup raisins
1/ 2 cup blanched almonds, chopped
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk
Crumble yeast into lukewarm milk (if dry yeast is used, dissolve in a small amount of milk
first), add 2 teaspoons sugar and let rise. Cream the butter, sugar, salt and 2 eggs plus the
2 egg yolks. Add half of the flour and mix well. Add the yeast and mix in the remainder of
the flour. Mix well, then turn out on floured board and knead thoroughly until the dough
is smooth. Place in a bowl and cover. Let rise in a warm place about 1-1/2 hours or until
double in bulk. Turn out on floured board again and knead, adding the raisins and
almonds. Divide the dough into six even parts. Roll each piece into a 15 inch rope. Place
three ropes on well greased baking sheet, sealing together at one end. Braid the ropes and
seal the other end. Twist together two of the remaining ropes and place on top of braid.
Finally, twist the remaining rope and place on top of the two. Let rise again for about 1
hour, then brush the dough lightly with a mixture of beaten egg and milk. Bake at 350
degrees for 45 minutes.
Agnes Houdek, Dallas
City of Praha in 1890s
.,/ "&-THE~ ~~) .
.-------[JiJnl~'&J-~
Lush prairie grass reached up to the bottom of the
wagons when the first Danish settlers came to
central Wharton County in 1894. The Danish Folk
Society had bought land here for resale to
countrymen looking for a new place to live, farm,
enjoy religious freedom and raise their children.
Many of these settlers had spent some years in
the north central United States before coming to
Texas. Others came directly from Denmark. Jens
Peter Olsen was the first to buy land, followed by
the Larsens, Madsens, Hansens and Andersens.
The colony was called Danevang, the Danish field.
The first settlers had a hard time of it. The grass
burned off. The cattle died. Their houses were
primitive and the northern crops the settlers tried to
raise did not grow in the southern climate.
But cotton did grow on the coastal plain and
soon new, sturdy homes were built. The first years
were tough but so were these sons of Vikings. They
stayed and they prospered.
Not that Oanevang represented the only Danish
settlers in Texas. At least one had died at the
Alamo and by 1838 others were leaving the
homeland for Texas. Danish families settled in
central Texas and the panhandle. But nowhere
else was the Danish influence so pronounced as at
Danevang.
As a colony, it was rather isolated from any
neighbors. The family life was Danish, along with
the language, celebrations, attitudes and certainly
the cooking.
Within a few years the Danes built their
community church. Then they started a mercantile
cooperative system. The families would sell their
crops jointly to take advantage of better prices.
These pioneers also worked together to start a
cotton gin, store, telephone system, insurance
company and schools-but above all, to preserve
the Danish wav of life.
The spirit of Danevang was that of the poet Ove
Nielsen who wrote:
47
Gone is the Viking who battled the wave,
But never his spirit will rest in the grave.
We are Americans, fruit of the Danes,
The blood of the Viking is warm in our veins.
Change came quickly, however, as in other
small Texas farming towns. English replaced
Danish in the church. The children rode the bus to
Danevang Confirmation Class, 1908;
Hansen Collection, Mrs. Ella Hansen, Danevang .
.. < ' "'
J
·~. '
El Campo schools and local schools closed. And
when they graduated they moved away.
Several years ago the last meeting of the Ladies
Aid Society was held. Formed in 1900 by church
women who spoke Danish, the society was
replaced gradually by a young, English-speaking
group. This final meeting was like the ones of the
past but with perhaps less business and more food.
A large table was laid with traditional Danish fare
and quite a number of men were in attendance-to
help with the eating. Pastor Muller read the tradi­tional
story in Danish, songs were sung, the last
minutes were approved and the meeting was
over-probably the last time native Danish was
officially used in Texas. But Danish is still spoken
by some people and things Danish have not com·
pletely vanished.
Denmark, a century ago as now, calls forth
many images and one is fine food in combination
with great hospitality. The Danish open-faced
sandwich, sm¢rrebrod, is as famous as frikadeller,
the meatloaf fried cakes. These and other dishes
came with the Danes.
Community gatherings provided the main
occasions for food in the early days. There were
anniversaries, the twin celebrations of June 5 and
July 4 (Danish and American independence
days), birthdays and church festivals. At these
gatherings good food was the rule: flaeskesteg
med svaer, mors tynde smaakager, r¢dgr¢d med
fl¢de and havregrynskage -or roast pork, sugar
cookies, red fruit pudding and oat cakes-among
the hundreds of specialties and common foods.
The Danish Day dinner is an obvious event,
featuring a Danish meal served by ladies of the
community. The traditional Danish Christmas is a
more private community activity. The decorated
tree at the town hall is still a part of community
life. Danish songs, the dance around the tree,
presents for the children and traditional food are
all parts of the Christmas evening.
Today a wide variety of food is common as part
of the Danish heritage. The recipes below are a
collection suitable for a meal. entree or special treat.
0
FRESH BACON SOUP
3 pound block of bacon
2 tablespoons salt
5 pints water
1 medium white cabbage
1 whole celery
2 carrots
peppercorns
Boil bacon in salted water; then skim off foam, turn heat to simmer, cover and cook for
two hours. Slice cabbage into about eight pieces and cut up celery and carrots. Add a few
peppercorns and the vegetables to the soup. Simmer for one hour over low heat. Strain
and separate vegetables. Put vegetables in the bottom of a soup tureen and pour in the
soup. Slice the bacon and serve separately.
COLD BUTTERMILK SOUP
3egg yolks
l /2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 quart buttermilk
1 I 4 cup cream, whipped
Beat egg yolks in a large bowl. Gradually add sugar, beating to a medium stiff mixture.
Add lemon rind, juice and vanilla. Slowly beat in buttermilk until the soup is smooth.
Serve soup in chilled bowls, topped by a spoonful of whipped cream. The soup is tradi­tionally
served with oat cakes. Serves 6 to 8.
DANISH CUCUMBERS
cucumbers
salt
vinegar
Alamo Danish Society, San Antonio
sugar
pickling spices
Use large, thick cucumbers - yellow or near yellowing stage. Wash and pare cucumbers,
rinse and put in a non-metal container, layering the cucumbers with salt. Refrigerate
overnight. Next morning wipe off all pieces and cook in one part vinegar to two parts
water, sugar to taste and pickling spices. The latter can be strained out when canning.
"Make it to your own taste, maybe three cups sugar to one gallon of cucumbers."
Mrs. Ella Hansen, Danevang
Note: To can, place cucumbers in clean hot jars. Heat vinegar mixture to boiling and pour
over the cucumbers. Adjust lids. Place the jars in a large kettle of boiling water with a rack
in the bottom. There should be at least 1 inch of water over the jars and an inch of space
49
between the surface of the water and the rim of the kettle. Cover and boil for 20 minutes.
Start counting time as soon as the jars are placed in actively boiling water. Remove jars
from the kettle and allow them to cool on a rack away from drafts.
PICKLED BEETS
1 I 2 cup white vinegar
112 cup water
112 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups thinly sliced cooked or canned beets
Combine the vinegar, water, sugar, salt and pepper in a 2 quart saucepan and boil
briskly for two minutes. Place the sliced beets in a deep bowl. Pour the hot marinade over
the beets and let this cool uncovered to room temperature. Then cover and refrigerate for
12 hours, stirring once in a while to keep the slices moist. Makes 4 to 6 servings.
DANISH MEAT PATTIES
1l2pound boneless veal
1 I 2 pound boneless pork
1 I 2 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons flour
1-112 cups club soda
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1 I 4 teaspoon pepper
4 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
Grind the veal, pork and onion together very finely and place in a large mixing bowl. Beat
flour into the meat mixture, gradually add club soda and continue to beat until the mix is
fluffy. Beat in the egg, salt and pepper. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour. Shape
the mix into oblongs about 4 by 2 inches and 1 inch thick. Melt butter and oil in a large
skillet. When the foam breaks, lower heat and add the patties, a few at a time. Cook about
6 to 8 minutes on each side. Never serve patties rare because of the pork content. They
should show no tinge of pink. When brown and cooked through, remove and keep warm
until served. Makes about 10 patties.
Alamo Danish Society, San Antonio
ROAST PORK WITH RIND
This is usually the Christmas dinner in Denmark and it will be served on Christmas
evening about 6 p.m. after the family returns from church. It is commonly followed by a
dessert composed of cold rice porridge, almonds, vanilla and whipped cream.
fresh ham or loin of pork
flour
salt
"In Denmark pork is usually roasted with the rind on. Score the rind with a sharp knife
lengthwise and crosswise, spacing slits 1/2 inch apart. Now wash the roast in cold water,
rub it thoroughly with salt and put in a 325 degree oven. Put water in the bottom of the
pan after about 15 minutes. Do not baste the roast or the rind will not be crisp. Roast 3 to
3-1 / 2 hours. Pour the gravy from the roasting pan, thicken with flour mixed with cold water,
and add salt and, if necessary, a little beef extract. Serve with potatoes fried in sugar and
50 Birthe Warberg, Denmark
red cabbage."
DANISH PASTRY
Here are three pastry variants and a filling. A visit to a Danish home is rarely considered
complete by the hostess if some pastry-and hot strong coffee- is not served.
Danish Pastry Dough:
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons sugar
2 yeast cakes
1 I 2 pint milk
1 egg
1-112 cups butter
Dissolve the yeast in a little cold milk. Mix together dry ingredients. Add yeast solution,
beaten egg, sugar, and the rest of the milk to the dry ingredients and stir until well mixed.
Roll out dough on floured baking board until about 3/ 4 inch thick. Spread softened butter
on two-thirds of dough surface. Fold in thirds, roll out and repeat until all butter is in. Re­frigerate
. Yields about 35 pastries.
Cock's Comb Pastry:
basic Danish pastry dough
butter
sugar
almond paste
egg white
chopped almonds
Roll out dough on a floured board to 1! 4 inch thickness. Mix equal portions of butter and
sugar and spread over dough. Cut dough into 4 inch squares and place about 1
tablespoon of the almond paste in the middle of each square. Fold the square over and
press the edges together. Make 4 cuts in the outer edge of each square, then refrigerate on
a buttered baking sheet for 20 minutes. Brush the top of each square with egg white and
sprinkle chopped almonds and sugar over the tops. Bake in a 450 degree oven until
golden brown.
Spandauer Pastry:
basic Danish pastry dough
butter
sugar
egg white
apple sauce or almond paste filling
Roll out dough to l/4inch thickness. Mix together equal portions of butter and sugar and
spread mixture .over dough. Cut dough into 4 inch squares and place 1 tablespoon of
apple sauce or almond paste filling in the center of each square. Fold all 4 corners to the
middle and press down. Refrigerate on a buttered baking sheet for 20 minutes, then brush
with egg white and bake at 450 degrees until golden brown. Glaze squares with an icing of
sugar and water.
Almond Pastry Filling:
1 I 2 cup butter
5 tablespoons sugar
4 ounces ground almonds (about 112 cup)
Mix together and stir until well blended.
51
APPLE MUFFINS
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 I 2 cup sugar
1 egg
1-1 I 4 cups flour
1 I 4 teaspoon baking powder
confectioners' sugar
Cream butter and sugar together thoroughly. Beat in egg. Sift baking powder and flour
together and mix into butter and sugar by hand. Form a ball of the mixed dough, wrap it in
waxed paper and refrigerate for about an hour. These muffins are properly made in lightly
oiled 12 cup muffin pans. Setting aside about one third of the dough, divide the remaining
dough into twelve pieces. Press each piece into a cup with your fingers to a thickness of
about 1!4 inch .Fill each pastry cup with applesauce or another filling. Roll out the
remaining dough and cut into circular pieces. Moisten dough at the top of each muffin,
place cut out dough on top and seal each completely , Bake at 350 degrees for 40
minutes. When the pan is removed from the oven, loosen muffins with a knife and let
them cool in the cups. When cool, remove them from the pan and sprinkle with
confectioners' sugar before serving. Makes 12 muffins.
Filling:
sweetened applesauce or
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups diced cooking apples
314 cup apricot preserves
Mix butter, apples and preserves and place in muffins.
DANISH APPLE CAKE
1-112 pounds dried apples
3/4 cup sugar
1 /4 cup melted butter or margarine
3 cups crumbs from toasted white bread
Alamo Danish Society, San Antonio
1 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1 I 2 teaspoon vanilla
Cook apples with 3/ 4 cup sugar and water. Combine butter and crumbs in a skillet over
low heat and mix well. Whip cream, adding 1 tablespoon sugar and vanilla. Place a thin
layer of apples and crumbs alternating on a platter, cover with whipped cream. Makes
about 12 servings.
KRINGLER
2 cups butter or margarine
4 cups flour
314 cup cream
sugar
Mix all ingredients except sugar. Roll out, folding three times. Cut strips and twist like
pretzels. Dip in sugar. Bake on ungreased or lightly floured pan at 400 degr~es until light
brown . Makes about 1-1/ 2 to 2 dozen twists.
Mrs. Ella Hansen, Danevang
52
.c'& THE "" ~",'·
-------[putc"o--------,
Orange Hotel in Nederland, Built in 1898; Windmill Museum, Nederland
Since the early 19th century Dutch immigrants
have played a role in Texas history out of propor­tion
to their actual numbers. In fact, a fugitive
Dutch tax collector was present at the birth of Anglo­American
Texas. Philip Nering Bogel had fled the
Netherlands under _embezzlement charges and
took refuge in Spanish Louisiana. He began calling
himself the Baron de Bastrop. After Louisiana was
sold to the United States the bogus baron moved
on to Spanish Texas where he took up residence at
Bexar. Phony or not, the title opened doors that
might otherwise have remained firmly closed.
When Moses Austin arrived at Bexar in 1820,
seeking permission to settle United States colonists
in Texas, he sought the baron's help. Lacking a
55
proper introduction, Austin had failed in his efforts
to present his plans to Governor Martinez. Bastrop
came to the rescue and the contract for coloni­zation
was granted to Austin.
Less than a decade and a half later Texans of
many ethnic derivations were engaged in a war of
independence from Mexico and its dictator, An­tonio
Lopez de Santa Anna. Thick in the fight was
David L. Kokernot, a native ot Amsterdam who
had been in Texas since 1832. While living at
Anahuac, Kokernot joined the Texans in their
protests against Juan Davis Bradburn, the com­mander
of the local Mexican garrison. By a series
of petty tyrannies, Bradburn had thoroughly ant­agonized
the colonists. Kokernot later participated
in the Seige of Bexar. In 1855 he became a Gon­zales
County rancher and his descendants con­tinue
to ranch in trans-Pecos Texas.
After Texas's independence the Netherlands
became, in 1840, the second European power to
recognize the new Republic. But Dutch aid re­mained
chiefly in the form of contributions from
individuals like Isaac M. Van Zandt, an early polit­ical
leader. Had he not been stricken with yellow
fever while campaigning in 1847, he likely would
have been elected Texas's second governor.
The name of John Brands is significant. This
Vincentian priest arrived at Galveston in 1841.
Although Brands's first stay was a short one, he
returned three years later and played a key role in
revitalizing the Roman Catholic Church in Texas.
Father Brands survived a yellow fever epidemic
and became Vicar General.
A Dutch Texan who left his name on the land
was William Henry Snyder, a pioneer teamster and
merchant. In 1877 he opened a small trading post
along Deep Creek in present Scurry County. His
principal customers were buffalo hunters. The vil­lage
that sprang up was first called Robber's Roost,
then Hide Town, and finally, Snyder in honor of
the first merchant.
Until the 1880s the Dutch arrived in Texas one
by one. In 1882 an unsuccessful effort was made to
plant a colony of Dutch farmers in Denton County.
Crop failures and general hard times caused the
members to drift away. In the mid-1890s a second
colonization effort was launched, this one in Braz­oria
County. Called Gothland, it was a prosperous
farming and dairying community. Unfortunately,
the Galveston storm destroyed the town in 1900.
Discouraged, many survivors took advantage of
the Santa Fe Railroad's offer of free passage to
California.
Dutch financiers formed the Port Arthur Land
Company in 1895 to sell 66,000 acres in Jefferson
County. Advertisements ran in Dutch newspapers
offering prospective buyers the chance to invest in
a "tropical paradise" at $8.00 per acre. The settle­ment
was called Nederland and it became the only
lasting Dutch community in Texas. The 1901
discovery of the Spindletop oil field seven miles
north had much to do with that permanence.
56
The Port Arthur Land Company also financed
construction of the Orange Hotel. Its purpose was
to house Dutch immigrants awaiting construction
of their homes. The hotel was a three-story frame
building painted a vivid orange in honor of Hol­land's
royal family, the House of Orange. This
landmark structure was noted for its hospitality and
good food. For most of its existence it was manag­ed
by the Maarten Koelemay family.
Koelemay had come to Texas hoping to con­tinue
his career as a cheesemaker. When the climate
proved too warm tor making cheese, he and his
sons worked as farm laborers. The sons, like many
other settlers in the coastal plains, became profi­cient
at rice farming. Koelemay, himself, managed
the Orange Hotel from 1901 until it closed follow ­ing
the storm of 1915. The family ledger contains
some of Mrs. Koelemay's recipes in use at that
time.
_:.....-. -
Mr. T. Bluitt Langham's Meat 'M arket in 1908;
Windmill Museum, Nederland
0
The tradition of good cooking continues among Dutch Texans today. The recipes
which follow have been assembled by Marie Rienstra Fleming, niece of George
Rienstra, the first Dutch settler in Nederland. Mrs. Fleming is active in the Dutch
Windmill Museum there . She notes that most Dutch families eat at least six times a day
but have only one hot meal. "One wonders," she says, "if it were not the Dutch who
came up with the coffee break . The housewives and cooks of the Netherlands are not
calorie counters. Their food is mostly plain, nourishing and very tasty. Perhaps it is
these qualities that make it possible to eat at such frequent intervals ."
REAL HOLLAND PANCAKES
Breakfast is a cold meal of bread, butter and juice or perhaps cheese and cold meats. Tea,
milk or buttermilk is the usual breakfast beverage. Children are often served hot pap, or
cooked cereal. On special occassions pancakes might be served. Each is as big as a dinner
plate.
1 cup flour 1 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon salt l/4cup butter or margarine
2 large eggs, beaten
Put the flour and salt in a bowl, make a well in the middle and add the beaten eggs. Mix to
smooth batter. Add the milk. Melt half the butter in a heavy skillet. Pour in the batter. Turn
pancakes frequently , each time adding more butter. They should be golden brown and
crisp at the edges. Makes about 6 pancakes.
Mrs. Bart Beenen , Nederland
MEAT CROQUETTES
Lunch is another cold meal. It may consist of liver sausage, ham or other cold cuts. Dutch
breads or different kinds of rolls may be topped with cheese or jam. If there are guests a
hot dish, such as croquettes or an omelette, may be added. Fruit is often served at lunch .
The drink is likely to be coffee, milk, buttermilk or cocoa.
1/ 2 pound lean veal
1-·1/2 cups water
1 small onion
1 tablespoon parsley
1 bay leaf
1/2 envelope gelatin
milk
2 tablespoons margarine
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup veal stock
salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste
1 egg yolk
dry bread crumbs
2 egg whites, beaten
57
Boil meat in the water with onion, parsley and bay leaf until tender. Cut in very small
pieces. Soak gelatin in some cold milk. Make a sauce of margarine, flour and stock. Add
the gelatin, pepper, salt and lemon juice to taste, then add the egg yolk. Add the meat.
Spread mixture in a shallow dish and let set. When set cut in eight equal parts and form a
firm cylinder of each . Roll each in bread crumbs and then in beaten egg whites. Repeat
and finally roll again in bread crumbs. Fry in 400 degree deep fat until golden brown and
serve hot, garnished with parsley. Makes 8 servings.
Mrs. Marie R. Fleming; Nederland
DUTCH STYLE MEATBALLS
Dinner is served about seven in the evening and is usually the only hot meal of the day. It
usually consists of a hot soup followed by meat or fish with vegetables and potatoes. The
meal is finished with fruit or perhaps dessert. Coffee may be served with the meal but
generally it is served afterwards.
1 slice bread
1/4 cup milk
1 pound ground beef
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg, beaten
Soak bread in milk. Mix with the other ingredients and make into small balls. Fry in butter.
Makes 6 to 8 meatballs.
NEVER FAIL SPONGE CAKE
3 eggs, separated (keep 1 white separate
from the others)
1-3/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup boiling water
Place 1 of the egg whites in a
mixing bowl and beat until stiff,
then add the 3 yolks . Beat until
foamy and light and gradually add
sugar, stirring until light. Next add
boiling water and continue
beating. Add flour , baking powder
and vanilla. Finally , gently fold in
the two beaten egg whites . Bake
at 350 degrees for 45 to 60
minutes.
Martha Terwey, Nederland
1-1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
vanilla
DUTCH SPICE CAKE
At ten or eleven in the morning, depending on how early one has breakfast, coffee is
served with spice cake or perhaps bread and cheese.
2 cups self rising flour
112 cup dark brown sugar
l / 3 cup molasses
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
pinch of salt
Combine all ingredients until smooth. Butter an 8 x 12 inch cake pan and add dough.
Bake at 300 degrees for about 1 hour. Keep in the pan for 24 hours before serving.
Buttered slices of the cake are often served with coffee or a slice of this cake may be put
on a slice of bread and served for breakfast. Makes about 24 slices.
Mrs. Marie R. Fleming, Nederland
AUNT NELLE'S COOKIES
Four o'clock is teatime! A cup of tea, a biscuit, cookies or cake is the usual food. The
children are home from school in time to participate, of course.
1-112 cups sugar
314 cup butter
4 tablespoons milk
314 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
112 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cream sugar and butter and add milk. Add sifted flour and soda, pecans and vanilla. Mix
well and shape dough into rolls. Roll in waxed paper and chill several hours or overnight.
Slice thin and bake on a greased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Makes
about 5 dozen cookies.
Mrs. Klaas Koelemay, Nederland
SPICY COOKIES
At bedtime coffee or tea is prepared. When guests are present cake might also be served.
Otherwise, a cookie or biscuit will do.
3 cups flour
213 cup butter, softened
l /2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 I 2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 I 4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 /2 cup slivered almonds
Knead all the ingredients together into a soft ball, reserving a few almonds for decoration.
Roll out on a floured board to about 1/4 inch thick and cut various shapes with cookie
cutters. Butter a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until
brown. Cool on wire racks, decorating with the remaining almonds. 2-1/2
dozen cookies.
59 Anna Rienstra, Nederland
DUTCH ALMOND COOKIES
1 cup shortening
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
l/4 cup blanched almonds, ground
Cream shortening with white and brown sugar and add the eggs . Sift remaining
ingredients, except almonds, and work in . Add almonds. Shape dough into long
rolls. Roll in wax paper and refrigerate for 12 hours . Slice thin . Bake on a greased
cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until light brown.
Mrs . MarieR. Fleming, Nederland
PEPPERNUTS
On St. Nicholas Day (December 5) Black Peter, St. Nicholas' faithful helper,
throws handfuls of peppernuts in the houses while the children sing St. Nicholas
songs.
1-1/4 cups flour
1-1/4 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg yolk
6 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
l/4 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon anise extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
Knead all ingredients together into a soft ball. Form about 90 marble-sized balls
and place them on 2 greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20
minutes or until rather hard .
60
·C>~f}-THE~ b. r-----U£f'fit8U _ _____,
Early English influence in Texas
started with trade incursions into
Spanish territory and soon expanded
into grandiose dreams of settlement and
investment. These efforts were often failures from
the English point of view but did bring many
people to Texas.
The first Englishmen known by name who came
to Texas were sailors-and they never intended to
visit at all. On the evening of October 8, 1568,
Captain John Hawkins put ashore a group of
sailors from the Minion. The boat had barely
survived a destructive run-in with a superior
Spanish fleet. It was so damaged and under­provisioned
that a safe return voyage to England
was unthinkable. Some of the crew, David Ingram,
Richard Brown and Richard Twide among them,
decided to take their chances ashore. In doing so
they walked across the Texas coastal plain on their
way to the Atlantic.
Ingram's story was published later and attracted
other English-mostly as traders-to Spanish
63
Earl of Ayelsford (top row, 2nd right) ;
San Angelo Standard Times
lands. Thereafter, the Spanish
saw many English ships off and
on the Texas coast. At first only
a few English were allowed in Texas
under Spanish rule. After 1821, however, Mexico
was more open to emigrants.
Stephen Julian Wilson and John Charles Beales
were active-but generally ineffectual-English
colonizers. Beales, who had empresario claim to
more than 70 million acres of Texas land, did bring
in 59 settlers to Dolores on the Rio Grande in
1833. Indian troubles and the Texas Revolution
scattered the colony.
Other colonial efforts over the years brought in
settlers but resulted in no lasting settlements. The
Peters Colony of north Texas and Kent near Waco
were typical. The English did not form large,
tight-knit colonies as did some European groups
but rapidly dispersed after their arrival. English
colonists tended to blend in with Anglo settlers
from the United States rather than standing out.
English settlers opened much of west Texas to
large-scale ranching. But many of these British
cattle ventures proved less profitable than antici­pated.
One success was the XlT ranch, the huge
area of panhandle land given by Texas to
England's Capitol Syndicate in payment for the
present capitol building.
Investment in panhandle land grew to a figure of
almost $50 million-a tremendous sum in
1885-and 20 million acres. English capital and
afternoon tea parties became common-for a
while. It is hard to top the tales told of Baron
Tweedmouth of Edington and the Earl of
Aberdeen on the Rocking Chair Ranche which
they rode across wearing formal riding attire
and bowlers.
Another chap was Heneage Finch, the Seventh
Earl of Aylesford, who in the days of Queen
Victoria arrived in Big Spring, complete with valet.
Finding the Cosmopolitan Hotel filled, he
immediately bought it to get a room for himself and
his manservant. He settled in a house 13 miles
northwest of town and acquired a reputation as a
generous and lavish host who "could not be sur­passed
for his grace in entertaining. On Christmas
Day, he was the merriest of a large party that
partook of the bountiful spread of his table."
Many Englishmen have distinguished them-
ENGLISH OFFICE:
139 CA N NO.NST. LONDON.
OWNERS OF
selves as Texans: Charles Standfield Taylor, a
signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence,
was a Nacogdoches merchant and later county
chief justice; William Bollaert's book Texas did
much to encourage English investment in the
young republic; George B. Dealy was manager and
later an owner of the Dallas Morning News;
Edward Mandell House, one of the most influential
politicians and advisor to President Woodrow
Wilson, aided greatly in establishing Texas as a
national political power; William J. Marsh
co-authored "Texas, Our Texas," the state anthem.
The chief organization of the English in Texas is
the National Order of the Daughters of the British
Empire in America, with 24 local chapters. Most
metrop'llitan areas have additional groups such as
San Antonio's British Sporting Club. The
international Anglo-Texan Society is headquar­tered
in London with the goal of promoting
understanding between the people of Great Britain
and Texas.
The English in Texas celebrate the usual
American holidays. The hearty fare represented
here goes from special treats served at a traditional
time to everyday favorites: Christmas Pudding and
Twelfth Night Cake to Yorkshire Pudding and
Bubble and Squeak.
1
1-l\JERI,C~ QFFI(i)f}:.
X.l:r. RAN'(;Jf,
PANHANoCf:'. 're:xAs.
148 MARKE:T ST. CHICAGO, ILL.
'/1;;///111/q, / $;;,/~j/h:, . ..k7;.),
. / / ' /
Ar: r:! J L3+. , ,·::. l .
Capital Freehold Land and Investment Co., Ltd.; The Museum, Texas Tech University, Lubbock
64
MULLIGATAWNY SOUP
"Britain drew a number of recipes from its colonies, especially India. Mulligatawny is a
favorite soup, somewhat Anglicised, which I found in use in Texas."
2-1 I 2 pints chicken broth,
broth made from beef bones
or 3 bouillon cubes
1 bay leaf
5 cups water
2 teaspoons butter
2 medium onions, chopped
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoon flour
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 tablespoons rice
3 tomatoes, peeled, or
2 teaspoons tomato paste mixed
with 2 tablespoons water
1 garlic clove, chopped (optional)
2 teaspoons sugar
salt and pepper
Add broth and bay leaf to water. Melt butter in a skillet, add onions and begin to fry. Add
curry powder and flour, cook 2 minutes and stir into broth. Add carrots, rice, tomatoes,
garlic, sugar, salt and pepper. Simmer 25 minutes and serve without straining. Makes 10
to 12 servings.
PEASE PUDDING AND FAGGOTS
1 pound split peas
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon melted butter
Jean Lange, San Antonio
1 egg yolk
salt and pepper to taste
Soak peas overnight. Put into saucepan and cover with water. Add salt and bring slowly
to a boil. Reduce heat and cover pan. Simmer gently 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add
extra boiling water if peas begin to dry. Rub through a sieve. Add butter and egg yolk and
mix well. Season to taste with pepper and salt. Pour in 1 quart buttered baking dish. Place
in the center of the oven and heat at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
FAGGOTS
1-1/2 pounds pigs Uver, minced
4 rashers back bacon, minced
2 onions, finely chopped
2 cups white breadcrumbs
3 ounces suet (about 2/3 cup chopped suet)
2 teaspoons sage
1 teaspoon basil
salt and pepper
Mix ingredients until well combined. Form mixture into small balls and put them close
together in a baking pan. Bake in the center of the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. If
faggots become too brown, cover lightly with aluminum foil. When cooked, divide with a
knife and serve with rich brown gravy and the Pease Pudding.
Note: English butchers cut meat differently than American. "Back bacon" has a lot of meat
in it. Substitute bacon available in Texas.
65
1-1/2 pounds beef
4 ounces kidney
1 tablespoon flour
salt and pepper to taste
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons water
Suet Crust:
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3-1/2 ounces suet
1/2 cup cold water
Prepare suet crust: Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Add suet. Mix to a soft
dough with water. Knead lightly on a floured board. Cut off one third for pastry lid. Roll
the rest into a circle about l/8 inch thick. Line a pint pudding bowl or casserole.
Prepare meat: Cut beef and kidney into small pieces. Toss in seasoned flour. Put into
pudding basin with finely chopped onion. Add 3 tablespoons water.
Prepare lid: Roll out one third of pastry for lid. Moisten edge of pastry in basin and place
lid on top. Cover with greased foil and steam for 3-1/2
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Note: The best suet comes from fat from around the kidney, so get on good terms with a
friendly butcher!
LANCASHIRE HOT POT
2 pounds best end neck of lamb (cut into
· cutlets or cut middle neck into pieces)
1 tablespoon seasoned flour
4 medium onions, sliced
2lamb kidneys, skinned, cored and sliced
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
1-1/2 pounds potatoes, sliced
1-1/2 cups stock
chopped parsley (optional)
Trim lamb of excess fat. Coat with seasoned flour. Place layers of meat, onions, kidneys,
mushrooms and potatoes in a 5 pint casserole, finishing with a layer of potatoes. Add
stock. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 2 hours. Remove lid and cook 30 minutes to
brown potatoes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve. Makes 10 to 12 servings.
66
BUBBLE AND SQUEAK
2 pounds potatoes
1 pound cabbage
2 tablespoons cooking fat
Boil the potatoes. Wash and cook cabbage 15 minutes. Strain and mash the potatoes.
Strain and chop the cabbage. Mix potatoes and cabbage together well. Fry in hot fat on
medium heat, turning often, until crisp on both sides. Serve with leftover cold roast beef or
poultry. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
SHEPHERDS' PIE
1 pound cooked leg or shoulder lamb
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup stock
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 to 4 drops gravy browning
salt and pepper
2 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1-1/2 pounds potatoes, boiled and mashed
2 ounces cheddar cheese (optional)
1 tablespoon butter
Chop cooked lamb finely. Fry the onion in the oil 5 to 10 minutes until soft. Add lamb to
the onion with stock, Worcestershire sauce, gravy browning and seasoning. Mix well.
Place in pie plate. Cover with a layer of sliced mushrooms. Pile mashed potatoes on top.
Sprinkle with cheese and dot with butter. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes until brown
on top. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Note: To substitute leftover joint, beef or lamb, run through a grinder. You may even
substitute hamburger meat-but never use pork.
Rodger Bourne, formerly a bobby with the London Police, whose love of Texas history
and visits to the Texas Folklife Festival resulted in his move to Texas, obtained recipes
from his mother, Joan Bourne. "Mind now, I'm not a cook myself," he stated, "but my
Mom most certainly is."
Joan Bourne, London
BOODLES CLUB CAKE
There is a famous club in London called Boodles. This cake was a featured recipe.
1 pound self-rising flour 4 ounces brown sugar
1 pound chopped seedless raisins 1 egg, beaten
10 ounces butter or margarine 2/3 cup milk
Place flour in a mixing bowl. Rub in butter with finger tips until mixture is like
breadcrumbs. Add sugar, fruit and well beaten egg. Mixture will be stiff. Place in a deep
cake pan lined with greased or waxed paper and bake about 2 hours at 350-375 degrees.
Jean Lange, San Antonio
67
POOR FOLKS PLUM PUDDING
"My great-grandmother Baker brought this recipe from England in 1846 and on to Texas
in 1887, along with this story:
'An English Lord having had a very bad year of drought, was worried as to what he
could feed the serfs for a Christmas feast. He ordered his cooks to find "something­anything"
and the following is the recipe as it came to America:
Equal parts of raisins, currants, suet. Enough flour and water to make it stick together.
Mix and stuff tightly into small sacks; tie tightly; boil for about 3 hours. Let cool thoroughly.
Cut into thin slices; heat through; serve with sauce. Make a thin flour starch, add enough
sugar, nutmeg and butter to taste good; serve hot over heated pudding.'
My grandmother, Mrs. William Berry, whose husband as well as her parents came from
England, worked out the recipe used in our family to put the finishing touches to our
Christmas dinners."
1 pound raisins
1 pound currants
1 pound suet
2 to 3 cups flour
1 cup cold water
1 teaspoon salt
Scald 2 small flour sacks. Flour them well. Pack pudding tightly. Tie tightly. Place sacks on
a rack "just off the bottom" of a large kettle of boiling water. Boil 3 hours. More boiling
water may be added if necessary. Let age 1 to 2 weeks. To serve: Remove from sack. Slice
into pieces 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick. Heat in oven until suet is clear and pudding is hot.
Serve with sauce.
·sauce:
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 to 3 cups boiling water
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
Mix dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and boil well. Serve hot over heated
pudding.
Mrs. Bill Earley, Big Spring
PICKLED WALNUTS OR PECANS
The nuts must be gathered early, still green and tender, before the inside shell is
completely formed. Steep the green nuts in brine. After a week place them with brine in a
saucepan and simmer gently till soft. Do not overcook. Drain the nuts and place them on
a rack in an airy place until they become black. Make a pickling solution of vinegar. If malt
vinegar is hard to find, use wine vinegar. To a quart of vinegar add:
1 ounce black pepper (either coarse ground
or peppercorns)
1 ounce ground ginger
1 ounce shallots, sliced if large
1 ounce salt
1 ounce mustard seed
Pour mixture over pecans or walnuts. Let stand a while, tightly closed, before using.
68
Jean Lange, San Antonio
SIMNELCAKE
Simnel Cake is traditionally served in Texas on Easter Sunday. It originated years ago in
connection with Mothering Sunday-which has nothing to do with our Mothers' Day.
Mothering Sunday was a day in March when girls in domestic service were given a day off
and went home to visit their mothers taking with them a cake and flowers. In country
churches in England even today children are often given a posy in church to take home.
English cake pans differ in shape and size from those commonly in use in America.
They are deeper, with sides about 4 inches high . A Simnel Cake cannot be made
effectively in a shallow pan.
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1-1/2 ounce pancake syrup
2eggs
1-1/2 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon mixed spice
11 ounces mixed fruit (sultanas,
currants, cherries), chopped
2 ounces candied peel, chopped fine,
or orange marmalade
5 ounces milk
Line a 6 or 7 inch cake pan. In England brown or greased paper is used for this. Cream
butter, sugar, syrup. Whisk (beat) eggs. Add to mixture alternately with flour, salt and
baking powder sifted together. Add remaining ingredients after mixing fruits with a little
flour. Mix to a soft consistency with milk. Put half this mixture in a cake pan. Proceed to
make the Almond Paste:
1/ 2 cup sugar
1 cup confectioners' sugar
6 ounces ground almonds
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or almond flavoring
1 egg yolk
Sieve (sift) sugars together. Mix with ground almonds. Add juice, flavoring and enough
yolk to bind into a pliable but firm paste. Knead thoroughly until smooth. Break off one
third of paste. Roll it out to slightly less than the diameter of the cake pan. Almond paste
will not stick while rolling if the board is sprinkled with powdered sugar. Put this sheet of
almond paste on top of the cake mixture in the pan. Cover with the remaining cake
mixture.
Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees, then 2 to 2-1/2 hours at 290 to 310degrees. Coolon a
rack and let stand 24 hours. Using about half of the remaining almond paste, cover the
top of the cake. Make the rest into small balls. Place evenly around the top edge of the
cake. Brush the balls with egg yolk. Tie a band of foil lightly round the sides of the cake to
prevent it cooking any further. Place it in a hot oven until the balls are nicely browned.
When cold, pour · soft icing into the center of the cake and decorate as desired.
Joan Brown, San Antonio
69
ENGLISH TRIFLE WITH CUSTARD SAUCE
Custard is a part of many English menus, particularly when combined with cake as in this
trifle or tipsy cake (when soaked with sherry).
Custard Sauce:
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
English Trifle:
6 sponge ladyfingers, split
raspberry jam
sherry
custard sauce
any fruit desired
whipped cream
strawberries
Scald milk. Mix the cornstarch, sugar and salt. Add to hot milk, stirring until smoothly
blended. Cool for 30 minutes in a double boiler. Add egg yolks. Cook for a few minutes,
stirring occasionally, until thickened. Add vanilla and chill.
Arrange the split ladyfingers. Spread with raspberry jam in the bottom of the dish. Pour
some sherry on each piece. Pour custard over the top, layering first with fruit of choice.
Top with whipped cream and decorate with strawberries.
BRANDY SNAPS
1/2 cup sifted flour
1 teaspoon sifted ground ginger
1/ 2 cup finely grated lemon rind
1/4 cup butter
Joan Arant, San Antonio
1/4 cup soft brown sugar
3 tablespoons pancake syrup
1 teaspoon lemon juice
whipped cream for filling
Mix flour, ginger and lemon rind together. Melt butter, sugar and syrup together in a pan.
Stir in flour mixture and lemon juice. Line baking tray with silicone (or waxed) paper.
Drop up to six 1/2 teaspoonfuls of mixture, well apart, on the paper. Allow plenty of room
for spreading. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove snaps from paper. Roll each
loosely around the handle of a greased wooden spoon. Repeat baking process until
mixture is all used. Allow to cool. Pipe rosette of whipped cream inside each end and
serve. Can be stored, without cream, in an airtight container or tin. A touch, or more, of
brandy may be added to the recipe.
Bourne, London
70
.c~ &THE....., b.
The quaint but delicious dishes prepared by the most. The greatest opposition came from
Filipinos are a result of over 300 years of accultur- Mindanao where the Muslims were entrenched.
ation due to foreign occupation by one country or The Spanish called these people Moros - a name
another. The Republic of the Philippines consists of they carry today.
7,100 islands. The major ones are Mindanao, At this time Texas was practically a blank on
Luzon and Visayas. Spanish maps. The Spanish hoped, however, that
The ancestors of the present-day Filipinos came the new land would contain wealth and possibly the
from southeast Asia by way of the island chains to "Strait of An ian" -the northwest passage to the
the south or directly across the China Sea. They Pacific that would open trade routes to the treasures
~~~~:-~~ .,~~· ~T,?.iT. · 1 .E~i.":"·=-·~~3~~.4
Port of Manilla in the Philippines; Le Tour du Monde
are people of Malaya-Polynesian stock. Their
racial types have been affected by the Chinese,
then by Arab and Indian traders, and finally by the
Spanish and the Americans. They belong to about
75 linguistic groups. In 1946, the year of their
independence from the United States, they
adopted Tagalog as the national language.
In 1521 Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese,
brought the first word to Europeans of the
existence of the Philippine Islands. Chinese
accounts, however, reveal Chinese trade with
these islands as early as the lOth century. Spanish
conquest in the latter part of the 16th century was
welcomed by some Filipinos and accepted by
73
oft he orient. Following the explorations of Alonzo de
Pineda in 1519 and that of Panfilo Narvaez in 1528,
Texas became known as Nueva Filipinas - New
Philippines - for over 200 years.
The Philippine Islands became a trading center.
Moreover, the ships which sailed between the
Philippines and New Spain were called the Manila
Galleons because Manila was the main port of
entry into the Philippines. In 1898, these islands
were ceded to the United States by treaty with
Spain. a transaction in which the Filipinos had no
say. Not untill901, however, did the United States
succeed in gaining control of the islands by putting
down an in surrection . At first the American govern -
men! had absolute control over Filipino affairs
through the use of presidentially appointed
commissions.
The policy of the United States was towards
autonomy for the Philippines, and in 1907 the
people were permitted to elect what was called the
Filipino Assembly. Finally in 1946 the Philippines
were granted independence. Structurally, they
patterned their government after that of the
United States.
From 1898 to 1920 census records show that
there was little or no migration of Filipinos to
Texas. In 1920 the census shows only 30, but by
1960 there were over 2,700 Filipinos and
descendents in Texas. These incoming people
were largely students or wards of the United States
and its military personnel. They settled for the most
part around the large metropolitan areas:
Beaumont, Port Arthur, Dallas, Fort Worth,
Houston and San Antonio.
Although they have assumed much of American
culture, they have formed Filipino-American Asso­ciations
in most of the larger cities. These associa­tions
are designed to perpetuate Filipino culture,
festival days and customs. Their feast days fre­quently
coincide with those of the Roman Catholic
Church. The meals which are served on these
occasions typically consist of pansit malo (soup),
string bean salad, morcon (meat roll) , chicken and
pork adobo , and escabeche (a fish dish). Served
with this might be baked sweet rice flour or steam­ed
cake. Festival entertainment includes native
dances which are strikingly like Mexican dances.
The people of the Philippines are predominantly
Roman Catholic. Lent is observed by abstinence,
fasting and church-going. This season ends with the
many meat dishes served at Easter dinner.
74
Learning the Tinikilin Dance at the Texas Folklife
Festival in San Antonio
BAKED SWEET RICE FLOUR
1 cup sweet (glutenous rice flour )
1 cup white flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon van ilia
1egg
shredded coconut
Mix all ingredients except coconut and pour in an 8 inch baking pan. Top with sweetened,
shredded coconut and bake for about an hour at 350 degrees.
Filipinos do not ordinarily serve a dessert with meals. Rather, they observe a minandal,
which is similar to the Spanish merienda and English tea. This is usually in the afternoon
between lunch and supper.
They also serve these snacks when a guest drops in . It is considered an honor to have
guests drop in and the Filipino hostess is offended if the guest should refuse her
hospitality.
SWEET POTATO PUDDING
1 cup coconut milk
2 cups brown sugar
Mrs. Aurea L. Reyes, San Antonio
1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
1 cup water
Mix all ingredients and cook over slow heat-preferably in an iron skillet. Stir occasionally
to prevent scorching. Cook until thick. Place on a platter. Flatten and, when cool, cut into
squares. Use coconut, grated and toasted, for topping. Serve with hot or cold tea. Makes 4
servings.
Note: 1 cup of whole milk and 2 tablespoons butter may be used instead of coconut milk.
RICE WITH CHOCOLATE
1 cup sweet rice
3-1/2 cups water or coconut milk
1 cup sugar
Mrs. Olivia Crisostmo, San Antonio
salt
3 to 5 squares of semisweet chocolate
1/4 teaspoon thick coconut milk or whole milk
Wash rice and cook in water or coconut milk in a saucepan over moderate heat. When
almost done, add chocolate squares, sugar and salt. Allow to simmer until rice is cooked.
Stir occasionally to prevent scorching. Do not allow to cook completely dry. Just before
removing from heat, add the thick coconut milk or whole milk. Serve hot or cold. Makes
about 5 servings.
75
SWEET POTATO FRITTER
1 cup grated sweet potato
1 cup sifted flour
1 tablespoon sugar
Filipino Cookout at the
Texas Folklife Festival in San Antonio
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2cupmilk
Mix all ingredients to form a batter. Deep fry by dropping the batter by tablespoonsful.
When brown, drain and sprinkle with sugar. Serve with hot or cold tea. Makes 8 servings.
Miss Lillian L. Reyes, San Antonio FLOATING CAKE
2 cups sweet rice flour
1 cup water
1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds. hulled
1 cup grated coconut
Mix rice flour and water. Form into 10 to 20 small balls. Flatten each ball into a round or
elongated shape and drop into 8 to 10 cups boiling water. As each cake floats to the
surface, remove from water with a slotted spoon. Roll in grated coconut and coat with
sugar and sesame seeds. Serve with hot or cold tea. Makes 4 servings.
STEAMED CAKE Mrs. Aurea L. Reyes, San Antonio
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar 2/3 cup milk, room temperature
2 eggs, room temperature
Mix flour and sugar. Add milk and eggs and stir to a smooth consistency. Pour batter into
a 10 inch cake pan. Place in a steamer and steam for 30 minutes over medium heat.
Serve with fresh grated coconut. Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Gervacio T. Reyes, San Antonio
76
FISH DISH
1 medium sized fish, about 1-1 I 2 pounds
1-1 I 4 cups flour
vegetable oil
2 medium Irish potatoes, julienne cut
1large sweet pepper, julienne cut
2 cloves garlic, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups water or white stock
4 tablespoons vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons sugar
Cut fish in serving pieces and dip in flour. Heatl/ 4 inch of vegetable oil until very hot. Fry
fish, turning once. Drain on paper towels. Set aside. Deep fry potatoes and set aside.
Saute the onion, pepper and garlic in oil. Make a medium-thick gravy from a mixture of
flour, water, vinegar, soy sauce and sugar. To this add the sauted mixture. Boil the
combined mixtures for 5 to 10 minutes. Place the fish on a platter. Pour the gravy over the
fish and garnish with fried potatoes.
CHICKEN AND PORK ADOBO
1 broiling chicken
2 pounds pork shoulde.r
3 teaspoons vegetable oil
2/3 cup vinegar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
112 teaspoon peppercorn
4 cloves garlic, pounded
4 bay leaves
1/2 cup soy sauce
cornstarch
Cut chicken into serving pieces. Cut pork into 1 x 1 x 2 inch pieces. Make a marinade of
the other ingredients except the cornstarch and marinate meat, covered, overnight in the
refrigerator. Remove from the refrigerator and simmer for 15 to 25 minutes (until most of
the liquid has evaporated). Remove chicken and pork and set stock aside. Broil the
chicken and pork in a lightly greased pan for about 5 to 10 minut~s, until meat is brown.
Take the stock, thicken with cornstarch if necessary, and serve with meat as gravy. Makes
about 12 servings.
CHICKEN ESTOP ADO
1 whole fryer
salt and pepper
vegetable oil
114cupwine
114 cup vinegar
Miss Lillian L. Reyes, San Antonio
1laurelleaf
5 cloves garlic
112 cup water or chicken broth
1 tablespoon brown sugar
soy sauce
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Fry in oil. Place in a Dutch oven and add remainder
of ingredients except the sugar and soy sauce. Simmer until tender. When liquid is about
to thicken, add brown sugar and soy sauce to taste. Serve with sliced fried cooking
bananas and sweet potatoes. Makes about 4 servings.
Olivia Crisostomo, San Antonio
77
MEAT ROLL (MORCON)
4 pounds round steak or sirloin roast
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 I 2 cup ground pork or beef
1 I 4 cup sweet relish
2 small boxes raisins
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 I 4 cup chopped cooked ham
6 vienna sausage
olives
2 hard boiled eggs, quartered
1-112 cups water
1 I 4 cup vinegar
1 onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon peppercorn
1 I 2 cup chopped tomatoes
112 cup tomato sauce
1 red pimento, sliced
Cut beef into 2 or 3 sheets about 1/4 inch thick. Marinate in salt, pepper, soy sauce and
lemon juice. Mix the ground pork, sweet relish, raisins and egg. Place ham, sausage,
olives and hard boiled egg in rows on beef sheets. Roll meat as you would a jelly roll
and secure with string. Brown all sides in hot fat. Place the meat roll in a deep vessel
and add water, vinegar, onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt, peppercorn and tomatoes. Simmer
until tender. Add tomato sauce and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Cut into slices and
arrange on serving plate. Pour sauce on top and garnish with black olives and red
pimento slices. Makes 8 to 10 servings.
STRING BEAN SALAD
4 cups 2 inch cooked string beans
3 tomatoes
1 cup shelled and boiled shrimp
1 ~ 1 I 2 tablespoons sugar
salt to taste
6 tablespoons lemon juice
Mix all ingredients. Arrange in a salad bowl. Garnish with sliced onions, ginger and
hard boiled eggs.
Mrs. Aurea L. Reyes, San Antonio
78
.c~&THE ~ ~o.
r----_[if!J-t~fl] _
Much of the romance in Texas history has been
provided, not unexpectedly, by the French. Their
vital, dramatic and even dashing role was
exemplified by the first known Frenchman on
Texas soil, the young cavalier, Sieur de La Salle.
On New Year's Day, 1685, he and his party landed
in present Jefferson County. Twenty days later
they made a second landing on the shore of Mata­gorda
Bay. Five miles inland they built Fort St.
Louis on Garcitas Creek
The colony's brief and tragic life ended in 1689,
overcome by famine, disease and Indians. France's
claim to Texas was weak indeed insofar as sover­eignty
goes, but it scared the Spanish into an active
program of colonization along the Texas-Louisiana
border. With the Louisiana Purchase of 1803,
France surrendered whatever title it may have had
and the United States took up the dispute with Spain.
In 1818 General Charles Lallemand led 400
followers, mostly Napoleonic
exiles, into Spanish Texas.
He and his settlers
chose a site
near the
Blacksmith's Barn in Castroville; Dr. M. W. Sharp, Castroville
81
present town of Liberty. They called their colony
Champ d'Asile. They neglected raising crops in
favor of military exercises and, not wishing to fight
· the Spanish on empty stomachs, fled to Galveston.
There Jean Laffite gave them a captured Spanish
vessel and they sailed gratefully away. Some
colonists could not wait to escape Laffite's domain;
they walked overland to New Orleans.
In 1838 the French navy blockaded the Gulf
coast of Mexico from Matamoros to Yucatan. The
purpose was to enforce certain private claims by
French citizens against the Mexican government.
One of the claimants was a French baker whose
shop in Mexico City had been ransacked by
celebrating Mexican soldiers. The episode was the
beginning of the Pastry War. Smugglers attempted
to evade the blockade by landing cargoes on the
Texas coast below Corpus Christi Bay. Texas,
desiring continued good relations with France, took
::7~---..-- ·~
,~ ·~·
:. .· ~
a dim view of the practice. A militia force was
dispatched to halt the illegal traffic. Near Corpus
Christi the troops chased an outlaw band from a
cliff overlooking the bay. In their haste the smug­glers
left behind about 100 barrels of flour. To this
day the place is known as Flour Bluff. French
claims against Mexico were finally settled after
British intervention.
Texas's discretion in the Pastry War paid a
divident in 1839 when France became the first
nation to recognize the fledgling republic. The
French government established a legation in Austin
and sent the volatile Alphonse de Saligny as
charge d'affaires. Saligny was soon embroiled in a
dispute with Richard Bullock, an Austin innkeeper,
whose pigs were sampling the cuisine in the
legation's garden. Saligny's servant promptly shot
one of the invaders. Bullock, in turn, thrashed the
servant, and the Pig War was on. An avalanche of
diplomatic protests ensued but the Texas govern­ment
ignored the matter until the storm blew
itself out.
Despite such comic opera quarrels, and other
more serious setbacks, French interest in Texas
remained lively. In 1842 French-born Henri Castro
contracted with the Texas government to establish
600 French families on a grant along the Medina
River west of San Antonio. By 1848 he had
brought over 2,000 of them. Most were from
Alsace. Castroville was headquarters for this
venture, but other settlements sprang up at
D'Hanis, Quihi and Vandenberg. Even today these
places have a pronounced Alsatian accent in
architecture, language and food.
In late August thousands return to Castroville to
honor the patron saint of the century-old St. Louis
Catholic Church. Tons of Alsatian sausage and
Texas barbecue are served to the hungry multi­tudes.
The activities which accompany the St.
Louis Day Homecoming demonstrate a culture
that remains colorful and vital.
Land near Dallas was purchased in 1855 for a
socialistic colony comprised largely of well edu­cated
and highly skilled Frenchmen, with a
sprinkling of Belgians and Swiss. The founder,
82
Victor Considerant, had written a book about his
earlier travels in Texas. He believed that communal
living in this environment would result in ecstatic
contentment. It didn't work out. Poor soil, bad
financing and the lack of farming skills caused a
surge of dissension that broke up the colony after
two years. Many of these folk moved to Dallas,
adding a new dimension to that city's cultural life.
The French had a strong hand, too in the settle­ment
of north Texas through the Franco-Texan
Land Company, founded in 1876. The company
was formed by Frenchmen who had purchased
bonds in the Memphis, El Paso and Pacific Railroad.
When that railroad was sold to the Texas and Paci­fic,
the bondholders formed a company to claim
the land that had been pledged as security for the
bonds. Many of the investors now bought the land,
moved to north Texas, and established farms and
ranches. They laid out the town of Mineral Wells
and were the first settlers at Baird.
In the intervening years the French population of
Texas has been largely assimilated. The old culture
remains intact, however, among the Alsatians
around Castroville and the Louisiana-born Cajuns
in the Beaumont-Port Arthur-Orange triangle. As
with other ethnic groups, long-established celebra­tions
have helped maintain French traditions.
L' Alliance Francaise, a club found in several col­lege
towns and large cities, sponsors activities to
perpetuate the language and customs. The club's
most popular events are the annual Bastille Day
balls held on July 14. The occasion commemorates
the fall of the Bastille in 1789 and is the French
equivalent of July 4.
Port Arthur's Crawfish Festival in July empha­sizes
a more recent immigration trend-the arrival
of Louisiana Cajuns during both world wars to
work in defense-related industries. On this festive
day crowds over 100,000 strong pour into the city
to dance, sample tangy Cajun cooking and drink
beer. The food is a flavorful adaptation of Euro­pean
styles applied to native foodstuffs. Rice from
the low-lying coastal plains is combined with shell­fish
from the Gulf to create some truly distinctive
and delicious foods.
NEW YEAR'S BREAD
1 stick margarine
1 cup sugar
2eggs
1 envelope of yeast
1 cup warm water
1 cup scalded milk
flour
1 egg, beaten
Cream melted margarine and sugar. Add 2 eggs to mixture. Dissolve yeast in warm water
and add to mixture. Add milk and beat in enough flour to make a stiff dough. Let rise until
double in size. Knead and braid. The braid may be placed on a flat baking sheet in a long
loaf or joined to form a wreath. Let rise again. Brush with beaten egg and bake at 350
degrees for about 1 hour. Makes 1 loaf.
ONION SOUP
4 or 5 white onions
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon sugar
6 cups beef or chicken broth, fresh or canned
Mrs. Connye Seuhs, Castroville
1 bay leaf (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
6 slices French bread, toasted or croutons
1/4 cup grated gruyere, Swiss or
Parmesan cheese
Slice the onions very thin into rounds. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a soup kettle or
stewpot. Add the onions and fry very gently over low heat until golden, limp and
translucent. Sprinkle with sugar, cook gently for a few minutes, then add the flour and
cook for 1 more minute. Add the broth (fresh or canned, make sure it is full bodied) . Then
add the bay leaf and salt and pepper to taste. Bring quickly to a boil, reduce heat to low
and simmer for about 30 to 40 minutes. Taste for seasoning.
Note: To reinforce the beef or the chicken broth one may use beef or chicken bouillon
cubes or soup base. Also remember that canned broth is already well salted.
The final touch: Sprinkle a few croutons and grated cheese on top. Or toast one side of
the bread then sprinkle cheese on the untoasted side. Grill until the cheese has melted.
Put a slice of bread in each soup bowl and pour the soup on top. Or toast eight slices of
bread on both sides in the broiler. Butter lightly, spread each with 1 tablespoon grated
cheese and run the slices under the broiler again, watching that the edges do not burn. Fill
the soup bowls with very hot soup and float the cheese toasts on top of each. Serve with a
side bowl of additional grated cheese.
Francine Rowden, San Antonio
83
CHICKEN AND SAUSAGE GUMBO
one 4 to 5 pound hen
salt and pepper
onion salt
garlic salt
2 cups shortening
2cupsflour
6 quarts water
2 pounds smoked sausage
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 bunch parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons file (finely ground sassafras leaves)
Cut up hen and season with salt, pepper, onion salt and garlic salt. Fry in shortening until
brown. Add flour to the same shortening and stir until dark brown. Add water until roux is
dissolved. Bring 6 quarts of water to a strong boil, then drop in roux gradually. Add hen.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook until hen is tender. Add sausage and cook 20
minutes. Add green onions and parsley 5 minutes before gumbo is done. Two minutes
before gumbo is done add file. Serve over rice.
SHRIMP AND CRABMEAT JAMBALAYA
2 pounds cleaned, deveined shrimp
1 cup celery
2 to 3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup chopped green onions
1 pound crabmeat
salt and pepper
1 cup water
2 cups cooked rice
red pepper to taste
Saute shrimp, celery, garlic and onions in a Dutch oven or large pot until shrimp are about
done. Add crabmeat. Add 1 cup water and simmer 5 minutes. Add 2 cups cooked rice. Be
sure there is enough broth to cover rice. Mix and simmer together until done-about 10 to
15 minutes. Add plenty of red pepper. Makes 6 to 10 servings.
W.T. Oliver, Port Arthur
CHICKEN MARENGO
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 tablespoons butter or margarine
4 chicken joints (thighs and drumsticks)
4 tablespoons flour
1 cup dry white wine
14 ounces clear chicken broth
one 8 ounce can skinned tomatoes
12 button mushrooms
1 garlic clove
bouquet garni (bag of mixed spices)
4 slices bread, fried (optional)
salt and pepper to taste Making Barbecue in Castroville;
parsley to garnish Dr. M. W. Sharp, Castroville
Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the butter and, when melted, fry the chicken joints u
golden brown on both sides. Lift the chicken out on to a plate and keep warm. Add the
flour to the fat in the pan and allow it to brown slightly. Reduce heat, add the wine and the
chicken broth, and stir until it thickens. Add the remaining ingredients, except parsley, and
the chicken to the pan and stir well. Simmer very slowly until the chicken is tender, about
30 minutes. Check the seasonings and remove the bouquet garni. Place the bread on a
84
heated serving dish and place a chicken quarter on each. Pour the sauce over and serve
sprinkled with chopped parsley. Makes 4 servings.
STUFFED PONSE
3 pounds ground pork
1 bell pepper, chopped fine
2 slices bread, soaked In milk
1-1/2 stalks celery
Francine Rowden, San Antonio
1 cup onion tops
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
salt and pepper (mostly red pepper) to taste
1 small pork ponse (stomach or maw)
Mix all ingredients except ponse in a large mixing bowl. Thoroughly clean ponse and stuff
with the mixture. Sew up with thick white thread or nylon string. Brown the stuffed ponse
in lard or shortening in a large pot. Lower heat, add water and cook until done-about 2
hours. Check water level frequently and add water if necessary. Slice and serve. Makes 6
to 10 servings.
PORKPIE
2 tablespoons flour
1-1/2 pounds pork; cut, chopped or chill-ground
1/4 cup chopped green onions (Include greens)
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup vinegar
Mrs. Lawrence Foux, Beaumont
3 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter
water, If needed
uncooked pie crust
Mix flour into pork and add to a marinade made of the remaining ingredients. Marinate
overnight in a covered dish. Pour mixture into a prepared pie crust and bake at 350
degrees for about 1 hour.
PEAS FRENCH STYLE
1 pound shelled peas or 8 ounces frozen peas
6 lettuce leaves, washed
6 sprigs onions, sliced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Mrs. Patty Tondrey, Castroville
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
2 teaspoons butter
Melt the butter in large saucepan, add the onions, lettuce, salt and pepper, then the
parsley, the sugar and the peas. Stir in the water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer
gently for about 20 minutes or until the peas are very tender. Remove and discard the
parsley and the lettuce. Cream the flour and the butter together thoroughly and add to the
peas in small pieces. Stir gently with a wooden spoon and heat gently until any remaining
liquid is thickened. Serves 4 persons.
85
DUCHESS POTATOES
1 pound potatoes
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons milk or light cream
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
1 egg
Wash the potatoes and boil in their skins until tender. Skin and press through a sieve . Put
them in a clean saucepan and add the egg yolk, butter, cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Heat
the saucepan very gently and beat the potatoes thoroughly until light and fluffy. Place the
beaten potatoes in a pastry bag with a large star piping tube. Pipe rosettes of potato on a
greased baking tray and brush them lightly with beaten egg. Bake at 425 degrees until golden.
The baking time will vary according to the size of the rosettes. Makes 4 to 6 servings.
SQUASH WITH ALMONDS
1 pound zucchini or yellow squash
1/2 cup flour
5 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/2 cup almond halves
salt and pepper 1/2 cup light cream
Wash the squash and cut into 1/ 2 inch slices. Toss the slices in flour seasoned with salt and
pepper. Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the squash and fry until golden on both sides.
Drain and arrange the slices in a serving dish . Fry the almonds slowly in the butter until they
begin to brown. Drain and sprinkle over the squash. Heat the cream gently and pour over the
squash . Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve piping hot. Makes 4 to 6 servings.
AMBROSIA
3 medium oranges
2 ripe bananas, sliced
1-1/2 cups grated coconut
2 to 3 tablespoons sugar
~,~..'"; I'f
Francine Rowden , San Antonio
'l·'·-·o- ~~ . ·~~ '\~\ . .:.:.·~ • i.f;
q ~~ ~ ... C~,<
,,•,·. ,,.1.,. .,.....~.. ~
;,~ ·:- lemon juice to taste
ripe strawberries, in season
fresh pineapple (optional)
Peel oranges, slice crosswise and remove seeds. Place bananas, coconut and oranges in
layersin a deep bowl, sprinkling each layer with lemon juice and sugar. Top with coconut.
Let stand at least 2 hours before serving. Add ripe strawberries and pineapple chunks if
desired. Serve chilled. Makes 6 servings.
86
Texans of German descent now comprise the
state's fourth largest ethnic group. They are out­numbered
only by the Afro-Americans, Mexicans
and Anglo-Americans. As early as 1860 these
people had established their own distinctive pattern
in the state's social fabric.
This development stemmed largely from one
German settler in Mexican Texas-Friedrich Ernst
who came to Austin's colony in 1831. His glowing
letters home drew more immigrants to the fertile
prairies north and west of San Felipe. Teutonic
place names such as Frelsburg, New Ulm and
Bleiblerville appeared on the Texas map amid pre­dominantly
Anglo-American settlements like
Columbus, Nelsonville and Kenney.
German immigration entered a new phase in
1842 when a group of noblemen at Biebrich on the
Rhine formed the "Society for the Protection of
German Immigrants in Texas," the Mainzer Ade/s­verein.
This society, although poorly organized, -
managed to make German the most significant
European influence in early Texas. Its effort began
with two costly mistakes. The first was to acquire a
worthless grant near San Antonio from Alexander
Bourgeois and Armand Ducos. When this farce
was exposed, the society fell into the clutches of
Henry Fisher (Heinrich Fischer) and Burchard
Miller (Brukart Mueller) . These two men had been
in Texas long enough to secure claim to a three­million-
acre grant between the Llano and Colorado
Rivers above Austin. The land was more suited to
ranching than farming and hostile Indians abound­ed.
The Adelsverein did not acquire title to the
grant. It merely bought the obligation to colon­ize
thereon .
Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels was chosen as
the administrator of the society's project. Although
money slipped like mercury through his fingers, he
established a coastal port at Indianola to land the
settlers. He also founded a way station, New
Original New Braunfels Settlers; Frontier Times Museum, Bandera
89
Braunfels, Where they could locate until Indian
difficulties to the north were settled. New Braunfels
became the center from which other commu·
nities sprung.
By 1845 the society's financial affairs were in
desperate shape. The prince was replaced with
John 0. Meusebach, a practical man who capably
organized the colony's business. Most notably he
founded Fredericksburg and placated the nearby
Comanches. Other Germans, some in organized
groups, others as individual families, settled be·
tween the Gulf and the hill country, from Indianola
to New Braunfels. Immigration was halted by the
Civil War, then resumed in larger numbers. Ger­mans
also swelled the population of Galveston,
Houston and San Antonio. In the hill country they
filled the original area contained in the old Adels­verein
grant. Their descendants have continued to
wrest a profitable livelihood from this marginally
productive ranchland.
' German customs and traditions endure because
such great numbers of these gregarious people
came to Texas. They brought with them the tightly
knit social structure of their native villages. Their
popular pastimes were Schutzenfests (shooting
fests) and Saengerfests (singing fests). A day at the
rifle range was invariably accompanied by the
music of an "oompah" band, a bounteous noon
feast, cake and coffee at four, and a dance that
night. Each community was proud of its male
chorus that sang the old familiar songs in German.
Statewide Saengerfest competition was held an­nually
after 1853 with clubs from San Antonio,
Houston, Galveston, Austin, Fredericksburg and
New Braunfels dominating.
These old fashioned entertainments remain pop-
90
ular but have been supplemented by other crowd­pleasing
festivities. The Wurstfest at New Braunfels
began in 1961. The town's mayor proclaimed that
a Saturday in November should be set aside to
celebrate German food and tradition brought to the
hill country by settlers in the 1840s. Today the
Wurstfest is a 10-day event that draws 150,000
people. The Brenham Maifest and the June Berges
Fest at Boerne offer sausage, beer, kraut and other
savory cuisine plus parades, band music, dancing,
craft exhibits and sporting events.
The Easter celebration in Fredericksburg follows
a unique tradition born of the Texas frontier. There
an annual Easter Fir~s Pageant commemorates
Meusebach's treaty with the Comanches. During
the negotiation the Indians posted guards over the
village and periodically lighted signal fires that
blazed from the nearby hills. The frightened child­ren
were calmed, so the story goes, by a kindly
woman who assured them that the fires were the
Easter rabbit boiling eggs and dyeing them with
flowers on the hillsides.
Preparations for the Christmas celebration in
each German home lasted for weeks. Homemade
gifts were lovingly crafted in secrecy. A cedar tree,
set up in the parlor, was decorated by the adults
behind locked doors. After supper on Christmas
Eve the door was opened and the children, small­est
first, filed into the room. The candle-lit tree
bowed under the weight of handmade ornaments,
paper chains, peppermint sticks and special Christ­mas
cookies. After a prayer, poems were recited by
the smaller children and hymns and carols sung by
all. Gifts were exchanged and a simple holiday
meal was served, topped off with a delicious hot
claret punch.
t,;
0
GRANDMOTHER'S POTATO SOUP
2 medium potatoes, cut to bite size
1 medium onion, cut to bite size
3 to 4 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 teaspoon pepper
salt to taste (about 2 teaspoons)
Cover potatoes and onions with water and cook about 20 minutes at a medium boil. Add
remaining ingredients. Bring to a full boil-about 2 minutes. Makes 4 servings.
POTATO CAKE
2 cups sifted sugar
1 cup butter
4 eggs, well beaten
2cupsflour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup cocoa
2/3cupmilk
1 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup nuts
1 teaspoon vanilla
M. C. Hall, Austin
Charles Koerner's Saddle Shop, 1905;
Edwin Wolters Memorial Museum, Shiner
Cream sugar and butter and add eggs. Sift dry ingredients together 3 times and add
alternately with the milk. Add potatoes, nuts and vanilla. Beat well and bake in a greased
and floured loaf pan at 325 degrees for 1 hour.
Mrs. Arthur Kuenemann and Mrs. Henry Hirsch, Fredericksburg
GERMAN PANNAS
6 cups ground hog-head meat
6 cups broth in which hog head was cooked
3 teaspoons salt
pepper to taste
3 cups cornmeal
1 cup flour
/
Put ground meat and broth in a big pot. Add the salt and pepper. When this mixture
begins to simmer add the dry ingredients that have been sifted together. Cook over low
heat, stirring constantly, until mixture turns loose from the sides of the pot, about 15
minutes. Remove from heat and pour into baking dishes immediately. Pack the mixture
tightly in each dish . After the mixture is cool, refrigerate and chill well. Cut 1/2 inch
thick slices and fry until golden brown. This is delicious for breakfast. Makes about 15
to 20 .
Mrs. A. H. Hierholzer, Karnes City
• 91
SWEET-SOUR CABBAGE
3 slices bacon
1 medium head cabbage (red or white)
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 apple, diced
a handful of grapes (optional)
2cupswater
salt and pepper to taste
1 or 2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
salt
1-1/2 tablespoons flour (optional)
Cut bacon into tiny pieces and fry. Remove bacon from the pan