Who Was Rosa De la Garza?

For about a year now, I have been thinking about iconic content in the senses, making remarkably little progress. Every evening, I come home and reflect on my miserable lack of insight.

Fortunately for my sanity I have an avocation that restores equanimity. I have been working through some extraordinary recipes: Amanda Hesser's brilliant Essential New York Times Cookbook, which collects (and comments on) notable recipes from 150 years of that newspaper, and Mark Bittman's insightful food columns in the Sunday NYT Magazine. (I have also tried Lathika George's cookbook of my native cuisine: The Kerala Kitchen, but my experience has been only sometimes revelatory.)

Last night, I got caught up in a 1969 recipe in Amanda Hesser's book . . .

. . . Craig Claiborne took it from Rosa De la Garza, who was "a daughter of Mexican immigrants, who cooked for a wealthy Texas family." It ended up taking two hours of fairly hard work, but the result was among the best I have ever achieved. Here, for those dying to spend their weekend in front of counter and stove, is Rosa's dry chili (cut down from 12 portions).

3 oz beef suet (ok: but how else do you get the Mexican flavour)

2 lb beef chuck cut into 1/4" cubes (The meat-cutting took most of the time, so if you have a helpful household companion . . . Also, the idea of a 1/4" cube is of course a bit of an idealization.)

7 tbsp mixed chili powders (I used ancho, pasilla, and Kashmiri chili in equal portions. You can use a high quality pre-mix.)

2 tbsp toasted ground cumin

2 tsp chopped bay leaf

2 tsp finely chopped garlic

2 tbsp flour

salt

1. Render suet, and stir in beef. Beef will render water: cook on high heat, stirring every couple of minutes, until almost dry.

2. Stir in flour, mix, and then remaining ingredients, and a tiny amount of water to help homogenize.

3. Once completely mixed, add water to barely cover, and cook slowly for an hour or so till tender.