Spaghetti Westerns may depict cowboys as rough riding outlaws, but real cowboys in the 19th century were hard working, poorly paid ranch hands that ran long, dirty cattle drives. Over the course of several months, they drove thousands of heads of cattle across the west. Their food was nothing fancy — it was designed to sustain them on their long cross-country trips, and the food had to travel well, not spoil, and had to be quick and easy to make over a campfire. One of the campfire meals that built the American West is cowboy beans and cornbread.
Beans and cornmeal could be found anywhere on the frontier due to their versatile, nonperishable ingredients. Beans are probably the one pantry staple an Old West cowboy relied on most, as they’re high in fiber and in protein. When dried and canned, they can last for years. They’re also cheap, lightweight, and easy to transport. Pinto and Navy beans came in large, 50-pound sacks or small wooden barrels that were loaded onto the chuckwagon.
Beans were first cultivated in Mexico and Central America thousands of years ago, eventually migrating north. They were grown by indigenous communities along with corn and squash, a trio known as the “three sisters” due to their compatibility. Corn was grown by Native Americans and stone ground and made into flat cakes, but by the 1800s, it was commonly eaten by cowboys and pioneers alike.
Chuckwagon cooks prepared beans and cornbread in creative ways
En chuckwagon-kok var den mest betydningsfulde person under en kvægdrive. Han var den, der var ansvarlig for at holde cowboysene mætte, hvilket sandsynligvis var den vigtigste opgave af dem alle. Kokken ville lægge bønnerne i vand for at forbløde dem, sætte dem i vognen og gå forud for cowboysene for at lave lejren. Når dagens arbejde var gjort, ville bønnerne være kogte og klar til at spise. Chuckwagon-kokken — ofte kaldet “Cookie,” af åbenlyse grunde — ville tilsætte løg, chili og saltet svinekød for ekstra smag. Du kan lave dette klassiske cowboy-måltid derhjemme med tre enkle ingredienser.
Majsbrødet ville blive bagt i en støbejernsdutch-ovn og bagt ved hjælp af varm kul placeret både ovenpå og under ovnen. Ingredienserne til majsbrødet var chuckwagon-baser såsom svinefedt, majsmel og dåsemælk, plus eventuelle yderligere ingredienser til smag som baconstykker eller friske chilier rørt i. Selvom der findes mange klassiske cowboy-elementer, som i dag måske ikke anses for at være spiselige, har cowboy-bønner og majsbrød gennem tidens løb stået tidens prøve, og når de laves med moderne ingredienser og teknikker, er de stadig lige så kraftige som nogensinde.
