This delightful collection captures the flavor and diversity of the cuisine of the Lone Star State. The Texas Cookbook presents recipes ranging from down-home cooking to high-class affairs, from regional favorites to ethnic specialties. Mary Faulk Koock traveled throughout Texas gathering recipes from ranch kitchens and city hostesses. Scattered among these are the author’s anecdotes from her vast and varied encounters with the famous and influential.
In Austin John Henry Faulk, the author’s brother, savors Quail Pie with J. Frank Dobie, Walter Prescott, Roy Bedichek, and Mody Boatright. Fort Worth’s Van Cliburn enjoys the hostess’s biscuits and offers his own recipe for a whole-wheat variety. Here is Lady Bird Johnson’s Peach Ice Cream (the LBJ Ranch) and some expected classics such as Lee’s Chili (Amarillo), Venison Roast (the King Ranch), and Black-eyed Peas with Okra (Austin). But you will also find the unusual in Roasted Wild Turkey (the Hill Country), Fried Apricot Pies (Fredericksburg), and Watermelon Rind Preserves (Luling). Regional contributions shine in Sauerbraten (Kerrville), Salsa Brava (Brownsville) and Crawfish Etouffee (Beaumont).
At the home of friends in Dallas Koock reveals the recipe for Chicken Cannelloni served after an opera. We share in her delight with Persimmon Salad in San Antonio, Cold Breast of Duck with Orange Slices in Houston, and Cebollas Rellenas from the Rio Grande Valley. Where else can you learn the story behind Slumgullion, a purported concoction of Fort Worth’s Amon Carter Sr., and friend Will Rogers, or find the recipe for Pepparkakor (Swedish Ginger Cookies) from the Austin area? Other cities with recipes featured are Tyler, Abilene, Rockdale, El Paso, Waco, Columbus, and Corpus Christi. Much more than a cookbook, this collection offers a look at a way of life and entertaining, Texas style.
Hostess, businesswoman, art patron and supporter, Mary Faulk Koock has attracted people from all walks of life to her great style and love of life through over numerous printings of The Texas Cookbook. This remarkable woman transformed her family home into one of country’s most elegant restaurants, Green Pastures. She traveled widely and well, nurturing a community of artists, politicians, musicians and ranchers across the state. Her capacity to create experiences and build friendships with everyone whose path she crossed transformed dinners and receptions from the simple to the sumptuous.
The Texas Cookbook is a portrait of good food and good company. It goes beyond wonderful recipes and invites us to share the hospitality of leading Texans of the 1960s. Here is a Texas we’ll never know again, peopled by larger-than-life personalities and embellished with a lifestyle of grace and fun. Travel across the state and have breakfast with Van Cliburn, lunch at the world-famous King Ranch, the “eighth wonder of the world,” and dinner with Joan Sutherland and Dorothy and Richard Rogers. Join Mary Faulk Koock as she stages lunch for LBJ, Harry Truman, and Sam Rayburn and a post-concert dinner for pianist Leonard Pennario—and see if you don’t have more fun than Martha Stewart could ever imagine.
