05 558927 ch01 - John Wiley & Sons

COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL

CHAPTER ONE

Beverages

I remember the way my grandfather would prepare his water cooler for a long day of working cattle. The old, ribbed five-gallon canister was always trussed to the inner left corner of the pickup bed, right behind him as he bumped down the road. Of course, his old green truck had no air-conditioning, so the windows were down, his khaki-covered elbow cocked outside.

On the morning of the cattle drive, as he was preparing his vaccine kit, he would take a frozen cardboard milk carton that he had previously washed and filled with water, peel back the red-and-white checkered paper, and dump the

block of ice into his filled cooler. There it would float and bounce underneath the sealed lid of the cooler until the midday break. The cowboys would line upto take their turn pushing the small white tap that released the icy water into the wire-handled tin can that served as the community cup. I still remember drinking from it and tasting the raspy metallic feel on my lips. Sometimes someone would take off his cowboy hat, bend over, and let the stream douse his head-- but, never too much, as the water was too precious to be wasted. The thought of a cool drink was what made the day bearable.

32

Everyone has habits and rituals regarding what he or she will drink. Rising early to fix morning coffee, brewing tea to be chilled and ready for lunch, freezing beer mugs for a perfectly chilled draught--these are routines that people follow to have the beverages ready when they want them. People will wait as dinner simmers, but everyone wants his or her drink right there, on hand.

The traditional beverages of the Wild Horse Desert had everything to do with survival. Of course, we have our drinks for festive occasions, but the daily drinks hydrate, cool, and nourish. Commercial beverages on the market give us the convenience of not having to plan ahead what we'll drink and offer us so many choices that the homemade beverages have fallen out of favor. Still, I think they are very much worth the effort. Drinks are not difficult to prepare, and they lend completeness to any meal.

A little bit of extra planning and care can even make memorable a drink of water from an old tin cup.

33

Tea

TO TALK ABOUT TEA IN SOUTH TEXAS is to delve into all that is curative and mysterious in the early ranch kitchen. Of course, there is the simple delight of a tall, frosty glass of iced tea, and I will share a recipe for our local Sweetened Iced Tea. However, tea for many here goes beyond the mere cup.

A hundred years ago, the brushy wilderness served as a vertiable variety store for the little ranches scattered across the Wild Horse Desert--it was their strongest ally for survival. The brush plants were what the ranchers had on hand to cure ailments, and the best way to extract their medicinal properties was by making a tea from them. Many homes today still have gardens dedicated to growing curative herbs.

Tea can be made two ways: either by infusion, which is pouring boiling water over the ingredients, steeping for a few minutes, then straining out the spent material; or by decoction, which is simply boiling the ingredients in water, then straining out the spent material. Infusions are generally made with leafy ingredients; decoctions are usually made of hard woody ingredients such as stems and bark.

Loose tooth? Try a decoction of sangre de drago, which tightens the gums. Stomach problems? Boil comancha root for a curative tea. Puffy eyes? Try a compress soaked in tea of mesquite leaves. Any ailment could be cured with the right plant and a little faith.

Other teas were simply refreshing drinks. Store-bought coffee and oriental teas were scarce; instead, ranchers brewed refreshing teas, or tisanes ("healthy teas"), from cinnamon sticks, lemon or orange leaves, eucalyptus leaves, or other garden herbs.

BEVERAGES

34

Te de Manzanilla C H A M O M I L E T E A

SERVES 4

Herbal remedies should be administered with caution, as the concentrated

extracts of some plants can prove hazardous. However, there is one recipe that even doctors recommend for colic in babies: te de manzanilla, or chamomile tea. A good strong infusion, barely warm, quiets and soothes a child's tummy and demeanor. Right next to the diapers in almost every South Texas supermarket are long cardboard displays hung with hanks of manzanilla. My babies certainly got their share of te de manzanilla, and I still make it for my kids whenever they need a little extra care and comfort.

4 bags te de manzanilla (chamomile tea)

PLACE the tea bags in a 4- to 6-cup teapot. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil, pour over the tea bags, and allow to steep for 5 minutes. Remove bags from the water and allow tea to cool to warm.

DISHES FROM THE WILD HORSE DESERT

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download