Mexican Cooking
introduction by Andrew Smith

The Gebhardt Chili Powder Company was founded by William Gebhardt, a German, who migrated about 1885 to New Braunfels, Texas. Gebhardt opened a cafe, which served chilis imported from Mexico. To preserve them, he dried and crushed them into powder. He began bottling his powder, and in 1890, he opened a factory to San Antonio. Six years later he trademarked the name "Gebhardt's Eagle Brand Chili Powder." The powder became an important ingredient to such an extent that recipes in Texas cookbooks specifically recommended its use.

When Gebhardt began marketing chili powder to a wider audience beyond Texas, he ran into a very serious problem--consumers not familiar with Tex-Mex cookery had little idea what to do with it. To help cooks understand Tex-Mex cookery, Gebhardt produced a small 32-page cookery pamphlet. This cookbooklet was originally published about 1908. As such, it was the first English-language booklet published in the United States that focused on Mexican-American cookery. It proved so successful that new editions of it were regularly published through the 1950s.

ZC4739    Mexican Cooking                                       $14.95

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