The life-sustaining properties of iced tea are quantifiable in the southern United States
A cold glass of iced tea is the saving grace that carries southerners through the sweltering days of summers that seem to stretch on forever in the American South. Continue Reading
A birriero tends to his cooking vessel in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico
The list of possible origins of birria is longer than a Mississippi preacher’s Sunday sermon Continue Reading
The Frank X. Tolbert, Wick Fowler Memorial Chili Cook-Off is held the first weekend of November in Terlingua, Texas
50 years after his death Wick Fowler still casts a long shadow over the world of Texas chili. Continue Reading
Wick Fowler toils over a chili kettle in 1970 at Terlingua, Texas. Photo via the Wittliff Collection at Texas State University
“It’s the first time the judges have shown good taste!” bellowed Wick Fowler upon being declared the World Champion of Chili at the big Terlingua shootout in November of 1970. Continue Reading
A 1953 advertisement for CDM Coffee
Preceding the famous Battle of Vienna in September of 1683, Franciszek Kulczycki, a Polish nobleman, soldier and future coffee merchant, traveled from Turkey where he was under the employ of the Austrian government as a diplomat and courier who aided communications between the two countries. Continue Reading
A 1919 advertisement for Davis Manufacturing Company’s TryMe line of products
In the summer of 1864, Woodruff and Company of Louisville, Kentucky, ran an ad in the local newspaper announcing that they had landed five cases of that most rare and exotic sundry of the day: Royal Bengal Tiger Sauce. This is the earliest mention that I can find of a “Tiger Sauce” being commercially available in the US. Continue Reading
Wick Fowler founded the Da Nang Vietnam chapter of Chili Appreciation Society International
Carroll Shelby shows off the rustic packaging of his chili spice mix
The Village de l’Est neighborhood in New Orleans East
Following the fall of Saigon to the Communist North Vietnamese, 130,000 refugees were evacuated from South Vietnam.
Operation Frequent Wind, the largest boat and air lift in refugee history was a rousing success that would lead to 1.4 million Vietnamese émigrés resettling in the United States between 1975 and 1994.
The Gulf Coast South was a favored destination. Continue Reading
Wick Fowler (photo courtesy of the Wittliff Collections)
At the dawn of the roaring twenties, Wick and his group of playmates contented themselves the way many small-town Texas boys did. When they weren’t in school they spent their days fishing, playing marbles and hunting small game. Victoria, where Wick grew up, had less than 6,000 residents. Continue Reading