Sonoran Desert: Cooking

That’s the sound of a mortar and pestle, being used to grind flour for pancakes in an Arizona kitchen. It’s not an ordinary kitchen and these won’t be run-of-the-mill pancakes, because the flour is being ground from the beans of a mesquite tree. Welcome to breakfast in the desert. I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by DuPont.

“We use this for grinding the mesquite beans, to make the flour that we’re going to have the pancakes out of. And I do use it to grind my spices at home and also to hand-grind some grains.”

Our chef is Jessie Emerson, a clinical herbalist at the Sierra Alta Herb Institute of the Southwest in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Right now, she’s cooking in an open-air kitchen at the Institute’s base camp in the Sonoran desert of Arizona.

“The mesquite bean tastes sweet, when it’s roasted it’s got a nice nutty, toasty flavor to it and it helps you utilize all the nutrients slowly so that you’re not overworking one part of your body. We have here the mesquite syrup. This is made by cooking mesquite beans. This is what we will put on our pancakes.”

Jessie teaches people about the foods that grow in the desert, especially those that have medicinal powers. For example, she says, prickly pear cactus seems to help control diabetes and has other healing properties as well.

“The flowers can be used to strengthen weakened blood vessels and capillaries. the flower, of course, turns into the fruit. The fruit makes excellent juice, salsa, jams and jellies. I’ve had it as barbecue sauce.”

Pulse of the Planet is presented by DuPont, bringing you the miracles of science, with additional support provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities. I’m Jim Metzner.

Sonoran Desert: Cooking

When a New Mexico herbalist cooks for you, you may be eating pancakes made from mesquite flour or barbecue sauce made from prickly pear cactus. Producer recorded sounds as part of interview.
Air Date:06/01/2000
Scientist:
Transcript:

That's the sound of a mortar and pestle, being used to grind flour for pancakes in an Arizona kitchen. It's not an ordinary kitchen and these won't be run-of-the-mill pancakes, because the flour is being ground from the beans of a mesquite tree. Welcome to breakfast in the desert. I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by DuPont.

"We use this for grinding the mesquite beans, to make the flour that we're going to have the pancakes out of. And I do use it to grind my spices at home and also to hand-grind some grains."

Our chef is Jessie Emerson, a clinical herbalist at the Sierra Alta Herb Institute of the Southwest in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Right now, she's cooking in an open-air kitchen at the Institute's base camp in the Sonoran desert of Arizona.

"The mesquite bean tastes sweet, when it's roasted it's got a nice nutty, toasty flavor to it and it helps you utilize all the nutrients slowly so that you're not overworking one part of your body. We have here the mesquite syrup. This is made by cooking mesquite beans. This is what we will put on our pancakes."

Jessie teaches people about the foods that grow in the desert, especially those that have medicinal powers. For example, she says, prickly pear cactus seems to help control diabetes and has other healing properties as well.

"The flowers can be used to strengthen weakened blood vessels and capillaries. the flower, of course, turns into the fruit. The fruit makes excellent juice, salsa, jams and jellies. I've had it as barbecue sauce."

Pulse of the Planet is presented by DuPont, bringing you the miracles of science, with additional support provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities. I'm Jim Metzner.