A Taste of the Past
Food has always been instrumental in establishing a sense of place—especially during Texas’ journey from settlement to statehood. Between the 19th and 20th centuries, Texas cuisine was shaped by the variety of ethnicities arriving into the territory as well as those who were already here. Ingredients, and the meals they composed, were determined by what could be locally gathered, raised, or hunted, then prepared in manners that had been used for generations or replicated the flavors of home.
One of those ingredients was mayhaw, a small, cranberry-like fruit that ripens beneath the hardwood timbers of the East Texas floodplains. “Who would deny themselves the pleasure of living in grand old East Texas, where mayhaws, that make the best jelly in the. These berries were used to create the region’s favorite jelly, a tart, nectarous preserve. Like South Texas salsa and Central Texas kolaches, a jar of mayhaw jelly at the breakfast table once revealed as much about where you lived as it did about what you ate.
