cowboy_lg3Recipes from Reata and Texas West of the Pecos
by Grady Spears and Robb Walsh
Cloth, $29.95
224 pages, full color
Publication Date: February 1999
ISBN: 1-58008-004-9

In a world of electronic communication and information super-highways, Texans have never lost sight of the cowboy culture. Its influence reaches every facet of Texan life–the way they eat, the way they dress, even the way they think and act. A Cowboy in the Kitchen: Recipes from Reata and Texas West of the Pecos is a rousing and delicious testament to this way of life. From innovative Tex-Mex flavors to perfectly prepared steaks to sinfully rich desserts, this is a book for the cowboy in all of us.

The Reata restaurant name has a special resonance for Texans. “Reata” means rope in Spanish, but in Texan mythology the name means a lot more. Reata was the name of the ranch in Giant, a book by Edna Ferber that was made into a movie in 1956. The film starred Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean and won nine Academy Awards. Today, celebrities like Tommy Lee Jones, Martha Stewart, Nolan Ryan and many, many more consistently patronize the Reata restaurants in Alpine and Fort Worth, Texas.

in review
Selected one of the “Top Ten Cookbooks of 1999” by Peter Franklin’s nationally syndicated column, “Cookbook Nook.”