Great Eats! Making It Official
Nothing says, “Welcome,” like a heaping serving of peach cobbler. States often proclaim foods as “official” to promote a local product and state industries. Peaches in Texas are a familiar sight, especially at stands along the roads of Gillespie County in the Hill Country surrounding Fredericksburg.
Other official Texas foods include chili (state dish), pumpkin (squash), pecan pie (pie), sweet onion (vegetable), pan de campo (bread) and chips and salsa (snack).
Interest groups, or organizations of people and enterprises, influence policy and are often at the forefront of promoting industries, such as Texas food production. These groups work to shape the laws and regulations which govern and sustain economic industries of the state. Helping to establish the “official” Texas food in any category is one way to increase awareness of a product and celebrate a state tradition.
Exhibit Video
Watermelon - Motion Picture, video, and sound recordings, Texas Department of Agriculture Records.
1994/099-03-12
Exhibit Items
House Concurrent Resolution 102, 83rd Legislature, Regular Session, 2013. Secretary of State legislative bills and resolutions filed (General and special laws), Volume 2015/110-38.
This resolution designated peach cobbler as the official cobbler of Texas, calling it “one of the distinctive flavors of the Lone Star State.” Click or tap on thumbnails for larger images.
Texas peaches brochure, 1982. Texas Department of Agriculture records, Box 2011/226.
This brochure produced by the Department of Agriculture promotes the Texas peach industry by sharing sweet and savory peach recipes and encouraging consumers to buy Texas peaches. Click or tap on thumbnail for larger image.
Brandy peaches recipe from Ladies’ Association of the First Presbyterian Church of Houston, Texas. The Texas Cook Book: A Thorough Treatise on the Art of Cookery. The Association, 1883. TSLAC-Main Collection, 641.5 L124 1883.
Edited by the Ladies’ Association of the First Presbyterian Church of Houston, The Texas Cookbook claims to be the first cookbook focused on Texas cooking, with recipes “suited to the requirements of our climate.” It includes peach recipes such as peach cobbler, brandy peaches, and peach sweet pickles.
Click or tap on thumbnail for larger image.
Peach Jamboree, Stonewall, TX, about 1960s-1970s. Transparencies, Texas Tourist Development Agency audiovisual material, Call number 1991/077-12, Image 1991/077-205-04 (digital facsimile).
The Texas Tourist Development Agency promoted tourism in the state. This image may have been intended for an advertising campaign for the Stonewall Peach Jamboree, an annual local celebration of the peach crop.
Click or tap on thumbnail for larger image.
Peaches, Fredericksburg, 1985. Crops, produce and viticulture, Texas agriculture, Texas Department of Agriculture slide collection, Images 2011/139-3-001, 059 and 035 (digital facsimile).
The Department of Agriculture slide collection is a visual record of the agency’s regulatory and marketing responsibilities. These images show the peach harvest at the Whitworth Peach Orchard and the peach processing facility at Fredericksburg Orchards. Click or tap on thumbnails for larger images.
Gillespie County Peach Queen, 1981. Fairs and festivals, Texas life and culture, Texas Department of Agriculture slide collection, Image 2011/139-21-19.
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Stonewall Peach Festival, 1985. Crops, produce and viticulture, Texas agriculture, Texas Department of Agriculture slide collection, Image 2011/139-4-009.
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Next - Land and Cattle ->
Setting the Texas Table Exhibit Pages:
Setting the Texas Table | Cooking Up Texas | The Lean Table | Farm to Market |
Great Eats! Making It Official | Land And Cattle | Celebrating the Taste of Texas |