Due to the efforts of groups and
individuals New Mexcio's food heritage sites are
being recognized and preserved for public access.
The state's food history is being examined museum
displays are educating the public about the long
history of eating in the land of enchantment.
Much more could be done. Here region
by region is a partial list.
NM Food Heritage Sites:
| NE | NW |
SW | SE | Rio
Grande Valley
|
Here are special reports on New Mexico's
major historic urban areas which each feature a
concentration of sites and museums with food-themed
displays that constitute:
Food Heritage
Communities: | Las
Cruces | Albuquerque
| Santa
Fe |
Northeast
Blackwater
Draw Museum first opened to the public
in 1969 displays artifacts and exhibits associated
with the Blackwater Locality No. 1 Archaeological
Site, one of the most important archaeological sites
in the New World. Over 13,000 years of site usage
are described, from mammoth hunting to modern culture.
Blackwater
Locality No. 1 is a National Historic
Landmark that is one of the most important archaeological
sites in the New World. This unique site documents
and interprets the earliest Paleoindian cultures
in North America. It is a research entity and used
as a reference point for Paleoindian Studies in
North America and the Southern High Plains. Blackwater
Locality No. 1 is also listed on the National Register
of Historic Places.
Folsom
Museum; Folsom
Site in 1928
"Folsom
Site" at Wild Horse Canyon, eight
miles west of Folsom, New Mexico is one of the most
widely known archaeological localities in North
America. It is routinely mentioned in archaeological
texts, regularly appears on maps of notable American
sites and, of course, served historically as the
type locality for the Folsom Paleoindian period
– a slice of time and a distinctive archaeological
culture dating from around 10,900 to around 10,200
years ago. Folsom is on the National Register of
Historic Places, it is a National Historic Landmark,
and it is a New Mexico State Monument.
Folsom
Museum (Folsom, New Mexico) is a community
effort to introduce the story of the nearby Folsom
site, where what became known as the Folsom
Culture (c. 10,900 years ago) was discovered in
1926. "Folsom Man" developed a smaller,
thinner, fluted spear point than Clovis type, hunted
big game, notably the huge bison ancestor of the
modern buffalo and used a spear-throwing device
called an atlatl (an Aztec word for “spear-thrower”).
Discovery of Folsom point in 1927 gave earliest
proof of humans in America.
Northwest
The
Museum and Interpretative Center of Chaco Canyon
image
The Chaco Collection contains approximately one
million artifacts from over 120 sites in Chaco Canyon
and the surrounding region. Because most of the
artifacts were systematically collected and documented,
the collections are extremely valuable for scientific
studies.
The Archive documents over 100 years of excavation
in Chaco Canyon, and contains approximately 300
linear feet of records, 30,000 photographs, 7,000
color slides, 600 glass lantern slides, 2,000 maps,
1,000 manuscripts, and field notes, reports, and
other written records.
The objects in this exhibit represent the range
of materials in the Chaco Collection. They give
us insight into the remarkable achievements of the
Chacoan culture, and help us connect more directly
to the past.
Southwest
Bat
Cave is an archaeological site
in Catron County, New Mexico, in the American southwest.
The name actually refers to a complex of rockshelters,
occupied from about 10,000 years ago up to the present,
with evidence for early corn agriculture. While
radiocarbon dates have placed the corn kernels recovered
from Bat Cave to 3500-3000 years ago (the corn was
originally dated much earlier), Bat Cave still has
the earliest corn in the region. Excavated by R.S.
MacNeish in the late 1940s, the corn was examined
by Mary Eubanks.
image
credit
Western
New Mexico University Museum houses
one of the largest permanent displays of
Mimbres Pottery and culture in the world.
Fleming Hall, the museum's building, was built in
1916-1917 and designed by Trost and Trost Architectural
Firm from El Paso. The original function of Fleming
Hall was to serve as a gymnasium and science hall
for the New Mexico Normal School. In 1974 Fleming
Hall was opened to the public as Western New Mexico
University Museum.
Southeast
Lea
County Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage
Center portrays the history of Lea County as
seen from the perspective of Indians, buffalo hunters,
soldiers, open-range homesteaders, and settlers.
Exhibits spotlight outstanding county ranchers and
rodeo performers.
Hubbard
Museum of the American West Throughout history,
the horse has played a dramatic role in the exploration
and expansion of the cultures of the world. More
than just a collection of wagons and photos, the
Hubbard Museum of the American West chronicles the
contributions of the horse, a remarkable animal.
The museum has gained prominence among museums located
in the Southwest. The awesome equine sculpture by
Dave McGary, "Free Spirits at Noisy Water,"
graces the museum entrance. It has a richly diverse
collection of fine art, family heirlooms, and western
memorabilia. At the Hubbard Museum of the American
West, history truly comes to life
Rio Grande
Valley
Bandelier
is best known for mesas, sheer-walled
canyons, and several thousand ancestral Pueblo dwellings
found among them, Bandelier also includes over 23,000
acres of designated Wilderness. The best-known archeological
sites, in Frijoles Canyon near the Visitor Center,
were inhabited by farmers from the 1100s into the
mid-1500s, and earlier groups had used the area
for thousands of years. The park was named for Adolph
Bandelier, a 19th-century anthropologist.
El Rancho de las Golondrinas is a living
history museum located on 200 acres in
a rural farming valley just south of Santa Fe, New
Mexico. The museum, dedicated to the heritage and
culture of Spanish Colonial New Mexico, opened in
1972. Original colonial buildings on the site date
from the early 18th century. In addition, historic
buildings from other parts of northern New Mexico
have been reconstructed at Las Golondrinas. Villagers
clothed in the styles of the times show how life
was lived in early New Mexico. Special festivals
and theme weekends offer visitors an in-depth look
into the celebrations, music, dance and many other
aspects of life in the period when this part of
the United States was ruled by Spain and Mexico.
Los
Golondrinas website
Los
Golondrinas park map
Santa
Fe's Acequia Madre
Acequias (ditches) played a critical role in the
early history of Santa Fe. By cutting off the water
supply from the Acequia de la Muralla, which ran
along the north wall of the city, Pueblo Indians
forced the Spanish colonists to evacuate the Palace
of the Governors in 1680. Using a similar strategy
13 years later, Vargas regained control of the city.
Although little remains of that main ditch, the
Acequia Madre, on the south side of the Rio de Santa
Fe, still flows when the irrigation gates are opened.
This site is listed on the State Register of Cultural
Properties and the National Register of Historic
Places.
Hubbard
Museum of the American West
Throughout history, the horse has played a dramatic
role in the exploration and expansion of the cultures
of the world. More than just a collection of wagons
and photos, the Hubbard Museum of the American West
chronicles the contributions of the horse, a remarkable
animal. The museum has gained prominence among museums
located in the Southwest. The awesome equine sculpture
by Dave McGary, "Free Spirits at Noisy Water,"
graces the museum entrance. It has a richly diverse
collection of fine art, family heirlooms, and western
memorabilia. At the Hubbard Museum of the American
West, history truly comes to life
Annual
Chuckwagon Cookoff
.Whole Enchilada
Festival
Making the Worlds Largest Enchilada
As Robert V. Estrada can tell you, a lot goes into
making the world's largest enchilada!
Special equipment used in the making of THE Enchilada
was designed by Robert V. Estrada. The equipment
includes the press, the carrying plate, the cooking
vat and the serving plate.
First, we place the carrying tray on top of the
press; then we put 250 lbs. of the masa dough on
top of it. The dough is then pressed to make the
tortilla.
From here, the tortilla is carried by about 14
men to the cooking vat that contains vegetable oil,
which has been heated to 550 degrees (this is a
difficult procedure).
The tortilla is then cooked and when done, it is
carried by the same men, and laid on the serving
plate (this is another one of our difficult procedures).
Robert V. Estrada will then ladle on some of the
chile sauce, then he will spread some of the cheese
and then some of the chopped onions.
This marks the completion of the first layer of
THE Enchilada. The second and third tortillas are
done in the same manner. Then THE Enchilada is ready
to be served.
It takes approximately two and a half hours, from
start to finish, in the making of the World’s
LARGEST Enchilada!
Ingredients
750 lbs. of stone ground corn to make the Masa
tortillas
175 gallons of vegetable oil, heated to cook the
tortillas
75 gallons of red chile sauce
175 lbs. of grated cheese
50 lbs. chopped onions
Restaurant heritage
La
Fonda Hotel, Santa Fe
Farm
& Ranch Museum
