Food Writer, Adán Medrano, Goes Vegan and Vegetarian for New Texas Mexican Cookbook

Nopalitos (cactus) salad, a traditional Mexican dish from Texas

Medrano’s first history and cookbook has been turned into a feature-length documentary of the same name

Medrano’s new book will be accompanied by a TV series about plant-based cooking in Texas

Food writer, Adán Medrano, is testing vegan and vegetarian recipes for a new cookbook celebrating native Texas plant-based cuisine.

HOUSTON, Texas, USA, March 16, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — Adán Medrano goes vegan and vegetarian for his new story and cookbook. He works hard in his Houston test kitchen, cooking recipes and ingredients that reveal the native plant-based traditions of Texas and northeastern Mexico.

When he’s not in the kitchen, he drives across the state to seek out the landscape and the ingredients that for centuries gave birth to plant-based cuisine. He also interviews contemporary cooks and gardeners. Her new book will follow the same format as her previous two award-winning books. It will be a combination of meticulously researched history and over 100 recipes with step-by-step instructions.

Medrano was trained at the Culinary Institute of America and has won accolades for his two recent history and cookbooks that celebrate Native American foods from Texas and northeastern Mexico. They were published by Texas Tech University Press as part of the academic series “The Grover E. Murray Studies In The American Southwest”.

With recipes and history, Medrano documents the style of cooking known locally as “Comida Casera”, the home cooking of Mexican American families. His first book, “Truly Texas Mexican: A Native Culinary Heritage In Recipes,” was made into a feature-length documentary of the same title that was picked up by Amazon and is streaming as an Amazon Prime video.

The turn towards plant-based cuisine is natural for Medrano because it is based on real history and culinary traditions that have been partially lost but can be recovered. He says “it was mostly plants that our ancestors cooked in earthen ovens.” Medrano interviewed archaeologists at various universities in Texas.

One of the scholars interviewed by Medrano is Dr. Steve Black, recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the Texas Archeological Society. Dr. Black says of Native American cuisine in Texas that “over time, over the last 10,000 years, there is plenty of evidence that they have focused on plants.”

As Medrano travels across the state and then back to his kitchen to cook and test, it’s all about good taste and fun. “Dishes should look and taste delicious,” he says. It works with well-known ingredients such as sunflower seeds, cactus, mesquite, pecans, corn, beans, squash and black walnuts. But it will also feature foods that have become unknown and uncooked, such as acorns, amaranth, Jerusalem artichokes, and tubers such as wild onion and cattail.

Medrano’s research will also result in a documentary series that will accompany the book. The video series will be produced by JM Media, LLC, with the same film production team that produced his award-winning documentary, “Truly Texas Mexican.”

He says enthusiastically: “The discovery of our Plant traditions will amaze you!

Adan Medrano
J.M. Communications
+1 713-524-1628
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