Wyoming’s Nutrition: Buffalo Bill was the original gourmet gourmet – Cowboy State Daily Daily

The first Mexican restaurant in New York was not open by the Mexicans, as could be expected, and instead by Wyoming’s most famous and beloved cowboy so far.

The temporary restaurant – the first Mexican restaurant east of Mississippi – was discovered by no one other than Buffalo Bill, who created this temporary establishment in Madison Square Garden in 1886.

The chefs were wives for several Mexican wachros, so the food was really authentic. New York’s story of the New York reporter describes the first course of nutrition as a “type of meat” called “Puchero Mejicano”, with “many things in it, including rice and chilli peppers were excellent with the eyes closed. “

Other menu elements include, written as they appear in the newspaper of time: ChilceConcarne Y Frijoles, Tortillas, Henchiladas, Picadio Con Tortillas, Chile Rellenos, Tamales, A LO Mejicano.

Henchiladas, the writer explained, were a “device of the chef”, not unlike the French jelly pancake – in other words, nothing like enhilada from today.

“A strong man born of custom can learn to like Henchilada,” says New York reporter, but added: “New York probably won’t face a neutropim appetite for this Mexican weak. ”

Even less likely to gain popularity, the reporter predicts is the tamal he described as peppers, “hash and seasoned with a brim” before being turned into a dough, which “resembled a peeled banana” and stewed in “preparation as a limk. “

It was something that “the prodigal son could eat in an emergency,” the reporter said.

– Mr. Cody’s guests yesterday tried to eat the dish, “the reporter wrote, with a remarkable” lack of pleasure “.

But the reporter was completely wrong for Tamales. They turned out to be a huge hit in New York and within a few years there were trolleys for Tamal in the whole city.

A culinary story was made, even if the cody was largely not aware of his impact.

Fine dining room for the tables

This will not be the first – or last time – Buffalo Bill Cody will make a mark on culinary history.

“The thing in buffalo was that no one thinks of him as a gourmet,” the student and the author Steve Fryen told Cowboy State Daily. “But I found over 2000 pages of notes that were articles that talk about Buffalo Bill, who dinner with people and talking about food.”

The Mexican Cody Restaurant was the first copy to have made up and ultimately inspired the book he wrote, called “Galloping Gourmet: Eating and Drinking with Buffalo Bill Cody”, published by the University of Nebraska Press.

Frisen borrowed the name of his book partly from the special PBS, in which Graham Turner is involved.

“Galloping Gourmet is just as suitable for Buffalo Bill because it was an amazing rider,” Fryen said. “But he, too, when he was interviewed, would talk about food and how the people in his show eat and why he takes care of them so well.”

Cody seemed to be particularly important that everyone involved in his “Wild West of Buffalo Bill” and the Congress of the Rough Riders of the World “were eating and eating well, said Frisen.

“He had nowhere of about 400 people in the beginning to close up to 1600 people near the end, working for him in this show,” Fryen said. “And he had to feed them three times a day. So, he actually came up with some innovations that made it easier, but since he was gourmet … When he started his show, he didn’t give any of that. In general, he shared a good nutrition with his men. “

Cody’s people also did not go into a mess room to eat. They entered a huge tent, which was placed just like a sophisticated restaurant. The tables had a nice tablecloth and real China. The waiter would even take his order and serve the food.

“While you have received up to 1600 people, it was a major task,” Fricse said.

Meat banquets

Holidays were a common topic with Buffalo Bill Bill for his “Wild West” exhibition, which he refused to call a show, fearing that this implies exaggeration and misrepresentation of the West. He hired real cowboys and Indians for his productions – and threatened to fire anyone he hears, describing his production as a show.

The banquets were a huge part of the Wild West exhibition. They were a taste of the things to come, and Cody would invite all kinds of dignitaries, as well as members of the press, to come and enjoy.

Cody came up with a new way to present these banquets. The evenings were introduced into a tent of animal skins serving as a type of carpet, covered with an assortment of wooden seats, stools and trunks for those who want to sit down.

The whiskey and beer were flowing quite freely – although Cody was committed not to drink while his Wild West exhibition was traveling. The main dish can be baked buffalo or beef roasted, offered by a large pan. The guests would stab their choice of meat with sharp wooden sticks and were encouraged to simply eat the meat from the rod, no dish or utensils were required.

There are usually a few fresh vegetables such as sliced ​​radishes or tomatoes, and watermelon to round the holiday.

But the clear star of these banquets of cowboy camps or roasted with ribs, as they were called, was definitely meat.

However, the holidays were not always baked with ribs. One time Buffalo Bill Cody hosted a breakfast of spring chickens fried in cream with corn, corn bread, onions and hash, after baseball game.

At that time, Cody said he wanted to give people “the idea of ​​how easy it is to prepare a truly good holiday without the help of fashion restaurants equipped with all modern improvements.”

Hunting journey that changed codi’s life

Cody probably developed his love for gourmet food at the beginning of his life, Fricse told Cowboy State Daily.

This is a 1871 hunting trip, which for the first time introduced him to increased food preparation. Cody of his 20s at the time was eavesdropped as a leader and delayer of the group, which included some of the largest figures in New York.

They were there to hunt all their meat, and this included buffaloes as well as many other types of games. The only provisions they brought were the things chefs would have to turn their wild game into gourmet dishes.

What does a “square food” look like for a hunters party of a group of wealthy New Yorkers hunting wild games in the West?

The 1879 menu in Cody’s notes suggests that this is a magnificent affair worthy of any high-end restaurant if some of the things were quite unlikely even in that day and age.

There was a Buffalo tail soup as well as a Cisco Fish and Fried Dace baking to start things.

The long list of appetizers started with a trimmed dog, stewed rabbit, buffalo fillet, AUX champion (with mushrooms) and continued with roasted moose, antelope, deer with black tails and wild turkey. The rounding of the list was stretched by Teal, Mallar, Antelope Chops, Buffalo-Calf Steaks and Young Wild Turkey.

These men did not forget their vegetables. No one way. There were sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and green peas.

For dessert, if you had a room left, there was a tapioka pudding.

The drinks included two types of champagne as well as claret, whiskey, brandy and bass.

“He was in his autobiography that it was an incredible diet,” Fricse said. “And he goes to an item, saying exactly what they ate and what these guys have prepared.”

Bring popcorn to France

Cody was a hit with these New York hunters. They considered it a rather subtle character. Not only did they touch him for future hunting expeditions, but they invited him back to New York and then showed him throughout the city.

“He goes to banquets,” Fricse said. “He eats at Delmonico. It is ultimately something like a toast of the city. “

It is here that Cody gets his first taste as a theater and realizes that he could earn a lot more money as a delayer by playing himself than he could ever as a real -life leader and scout.

The Cody Wild West exhibition was one of the first productions on the mass market in America. In the end, his culinary exploits around the world would take him. In the end, Cody would also make his culinary sign for European countries, in the same way that they had New Yorkers and their possible taste for the tamal.

“He was in Paris in 1889 for the world exhibition here and this is the exhibition where they opened the Eiffel Tower,” Fryen said. “And there is an article in the newspaper, or maybe it is a title in an American newspaper, I forget which one says,” Buffalo Bill teaches Paris to eat popcorn. “

Popcorn was a novelty in Europe that was not widely experienced until Cody introduces them to him.

“This popcorn was pretty novelty,” Fricse said. “And it was also a novelty when they made popcorn candy, which were actually popcorn balls.”

Popcorn balls were a convenient way to sell popcorn and were immediately popular in France.

“In fact, so much that there was a theater critic for a year or more later, after Buffalo was there with his show and the critic complained. He said, “It is impossible to hear the actors say in their parts, to hear them on stage, because everyone joins this new popcorn concession as they sit on the play.”

Cody also opened one of the largest bars in the world while in London.

“It was 700 feet long and served American cocktails,” Fricse said. “And they imported American bartenders to serve the cocktails specifically.”

These cocktails contained something that was not common at the time – ice.

“Buffalo Bill has unveiled Europe with American ice cocktails,” Fricse said. “And they got caught. In fact, there are still American bars in London where you can get American cocktails as they call them. “

Renee Jean can be reached [email protected].