10 W E S T W O R D F o o d & D r i n k 2 0 2 4 westword.com with a focus on game meats like bison, elk and lamb. Fresh, farm-to-table produce plays a big part, with ingredients like Pal- isade peaches, Olathe sweet corn, Pueblo chiles and Rocky Mountain trout. The chef community in Colorado is passionate about sustainability and locally sourced ingredients. I think better accessibility to great products from all over the state has helped consumers and chefs represent, utilize and enjoy all the greatness Colo- rado has to offer. Corey Ferguson, executive chef, El Five: For me, being born and raised in Colorado, our cuisine is shaped by our place, our history and the people who call Colorado home. Hunting, fi shing, farming and ranching was always a part of my life. That shaped Colorado cuisine for me. Antelope sausage, brook trout cooked in the coals of a campfi re, a trip to the Fort for a pioneer’s dinner and, of course, all the wonderful produce from Colorado. Colorado is an agricultural state, and that has certainly helped defi ne Colorado cui- sine, as well as a healthy infl uence from Midwestern and Southwestern cuisine. Matt Vawter, chef/owner, Rootstalk: As a native Coloradan, narrowing us down to one specifi c type of cuisine is a bit tough, but this just means we’re still defi ning our culinary identity, which makes it exciting for us chefs. Given the number of people who have moved here from all over the country (and the world), it’s become a bit of a melting pot, blending infl uences from Mexican and Southwestern cuisine, as well as the Midwest, the South and the West Coast. Holly Kinney, proprietress, The Fort: Colorado cuisine is indigenous foods that American Indian Nations prepared and that today we celebrate as new foods of the Old West. Bison was the primary protein, grilled or stewed, as was other game such as elk, deer, antelope, quail, trout, etc. For vegetables, corn, beans and squash were the Three Sacred Sis- ters and, prepared together, they provide a complete vegetarian protein. Tepary and Anasazi beans, piñon nuts, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin squash and berries such as chokecherry were indigenous to Col- orado. Also, chiles — green and red chile has been grown for thousands of years in Colorado. Chocolate was traded into Col- orado and New Mexico from the Tlaxcala Mexican Indigenous tribes. The Spanish brought churro sheep, which were used by the Diné for eating and weaving their wool into blankets. Early Spanish settlers also raised sheep and goats. For fruits and vegetables, early settlers planted peach trees, and Colorado has become known for our Palisade peaches, Olathe corn and Rocky Ford cantaloupe. Cuisine refl ecting Colorado’s indigenous ingredients is key to calling it Colorado cuisine. Rich Grant, former communications director for Visit Denver: Just as fi sh and chips are to England, baguettes to France, gyros to Greece and pasta to Italy, Colo- rado is most closely associated with beef. Denver was the endpoint for one of the great cattle drive trails, but most of them drove cattle north from Texas and ended along the rail lines farther east in Kansas and Nebraska, which became more well known for beef steaks. Colorado (at least “tourist” Colorado), at the base of the Rocky Mountains, became more associ- ated with the exotic meats of the West, buffalo and elk. The National Western Stock Show in Denver for decades was the largest marketplace for beef in the world. Red meat is the longest- and most-associ- ated cuisine with Colorado. Dana Rodriguez, chef/owner, Carne and Work & Class; culinary partner, Casa Bonita: I don’t necessarily feel there is a clear defi nition of Colorado cuisine. What I think makes Colorado amazing is the diversity of cultures Colorado Cuisine continued from page 8 continued on page 12
