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Originally Published by the Corpus Christi
Caller-Times.
Wednesday, July 11, 2001
Chuckwagon Cooking
The trail-drive stories that I have read always center around
the legendary, mythic cowboy. But no one cowboy, not even
the trail boss, was more important than the cook. Nothing
could disturb the tenor of a long trail drive than a bad cook,
or at least that's my reading of it.
The cook was often nicknamed "Coosie," an Americanization
of the Spanish cocinero (cook). He was also called - behind
his back - "bean burner," "belly cheater,"
"dough wrangler," and "biscuit shooter."
But whatever he was called, "Coosie" ran the camp
and cowboys would go to any length to keep him in good humor.
In "How the Cimarron Got Its Name," a cowboy said,
"This biscuit is burnt on the bottom and the top, the
middle is raw, and it's salty as hell - just the way I like
it."
Coosie was in charge of the chuckwagon, usually pulled by
mules. After breakfast was over, Coosie and his helper moved
the chuck-wagon ahead of the herd until they reached the spot
chosen as the bedding ground. The chuckwagon was a converted
farm wagon with a large box divided into shelves at the back.
A hinged drop table folded up to cover the shelves. The wagon,
where the cowboys kept bedrolls and rain slickers, was called
"crumb castle," "mess wagon," or "pie
box." (Outfits that hauled mess gear and provisions on
the backs of mules were called "greasy-sack outfits.")
The chuckwagon was the social center of the camp, but strict
etiquette was followed. There was no riding or cutting up
that would stir up dust around the food pots; there was no
filching from the sugar sack, no peeking in the pot while
the food was cooking, no raiding the coffee bags for the free
stick of candy, which was reserved for the man who ground
the coffee.
Sourdough Biscuits
A Coosie usually kept sourdough starter to make biscuits with,
which were cooked in an iron Dutch oven. The oven was put
in hot coals, with other hot coals heaped on top. Hot biscuits
were spread with "Charlie Taylor," a mixture of
sorghum and bacon grease that passed for trail butter. Coosie
might, as a rare treat, fix pancakes, called "splatter
dabs."
But meals varied little, from all that I can read. There was
chili, beans, son-of-a-gun stew, which was made from the heart,
liver and other beef parts, including calf testicles. Son-of-a-gun
stew could be made of anything, and often was. Trail food
also included fried bacon, called "chuckwagon chicken,"
and fried salt pork, called "Kansas City fish."
The Chili was made from beef browned in bacon fat,
mixed with flour, and simmered with a little water, onions
if available, and lots of chili pods. Such refinements as
canned tomatoes came later. (This Texas dish became a national
craze after it was a big hit at the Chicago World's Fair in
1893.)
Day in and day out, there were beans. They were cooked on
a slow fire the night before; it was the job of the cook's
helper to keep the fire going and keep water in the beans.
They were called "Texas strawberries" or "prairie
whistlers." Clarence Durham's book "Hashknife Kid"
tells one incident of a cowboy who had his fill of beans:
"These beans offend all five of my senses. I feel bad
when I eat them. I'm tired of tasting them. I'm tired of looking
at them. And I'm tired of hearing about them."
Coosie thought a minute and said, "That's only four."
"After two years with this outfit," the cowboy said,
"that's all I've got left."
'Spotted Pup" for dessert
Dessert was sometimes an old Navy dish called "spotted
pup," made with rice, raisins and cinnamon. One Coosie,
out of cinnamon, found that Copenhagen snuff served as a reasonably
good substitute.
The meal was finished with Arbuckle's coffee brewed strong
enough that you could carry it in your pocket.( This is
where we would suggest Chuckwagon's Best Cowboy Coffee )
If a cowboy got up to replenish his cup, and someone yelled,
"Man at the pot," camp etiquette required him to
serve as the waiter and refill others' cups.
I looked through many sources searching for chuckwagon recipes,
but perhaps they don't exist. Each Coosie had his own way
of cooking and that probably didn't involve written-down recipes.
That's a shame, for we will never see their style of cooking
again.
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