Tortillas, Tiswin & T-Bones: A Food History of the Southwest

(University of New Mexico Press, 2017)

Those with a taste for Southwestern cuisine will find their hunger satiated by this readable, authoritative culinary and cultural history. —Kirkus Reviews

Nobody knows the Southwest like Gregory McNamee. He has seen it all, explored it all, and partaken of every kind of food the region has to offer. This is a book of many delights—so pour a cup of tiswin and feast upon it. —Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The Hummingbird’s Daughter and The Devil’s Highway

A wonderfully absorbing foodie saga that drills down to the heart of its chosen locale. —Foreword

This book feels like sitting down to a dinner with Diana Kennedy and Jim Harrison, tequila in hand and great conversation going long into the night. It’s alive, a love story, a timeless journey. I absolutely loved reading it and will treasure Gregory McNamee’s words for a long time to come. — Tracey Ryder, cofounder of Edible Communities and coauthor of Edible: A Celebration of Local Foods

Tortillas, Tiswin & T-Bones sends the reader on a riveting adventure, tracking the origins of Southwestern ingredients and culture to reveal American history through food. McNamee's prose is deft and authoritative, and this is a highly original, timely book. —Kate Christensen, author of Blue Plate Special and How to Cook a Moose

Gregory McNamee brings food to the table like none other, weaving the history of people, earth, plants, and animals into tales of ancient cocktails, salt-making, and the Mesoamerican sources of tamales. His ability to tease recipes and ingredients out of the past is uncanny. If we are what we eat, and live where we do, this book defines us to the core. Feast! —Craig Childs, author of House of Rain and Apocalyptic Planet