INTERNATIONAL SETTING
The Del Camino Restaurant was founded in 1942. Its name, translated, means, "The Restaurant at The Road." "The Road" in this case being "El Camino Real," which literally translated means, "The King's Highway." El Camino Real," which literally translated means, "The King's Highway" El Camino Real, during the days of the Spanish Conquistadors, stretched from Mexico City on the South to Santa Fe on the North, and Del Camino Restaurant is actually located on this Old King's Highway. The Spanish Conquistadors could well have camped on this very spot while searching for the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola.
Six miles East of Del Camino is the Ysleta Mission area on US Highway 80. Here the Tigua Indians first began the cultivation of land in 1681. This land is still under cultivation, making it the oldest continuously cultivated land within the United States.
The Ysleta Mission itself is one of four in the El Paso area, the oldest being the Mission of Our Lady of Guadalupe, founded in 1659 in the Mexican village of Paso del Norte, now the city of Juarez.
Over 400 years have passed since the first exploration of this area, and today over 600,000 people live on both sides of the border…in El Paso and Juarez…the largest border bilingual community in the Western Hemisphere. Here customs, traditions and fashions of two cultures merge into an enchanting mosaic of enjoyment for visitors and residents alike.
Nearby are such internationally known tourist attractions as White Sands and Carlsbad Caverns National Monuments.
El Paso has long been famous for its Climate, Cattle, Cotton, and Copper.
This then is the setting for the Del Camino Restaurant…on "The King's Highway"…at an International Crossroads…in a frontier city wedded by its location, climate, and cosmopolitan citizenry to a dynamic future. Yes, you are in El Paso…the International City!
DEL CAMINO COMIDA MEXICANA
Upon returning to the United States in 1961 to go to college, I started working as a busboy in the El Matador Club within the Del Camino Restaurant. Over the years, I graduated to waiter, bartender, short order cook, etc. Circumstances led me to return as a manager of the Del Camino Mexican Restaurant in 1966 and several colleagues and myself published a brochure that captured the wonderful Del Camino Mexican dishes. This year a friend sent me a copy of this old cookbook and I decided to add it to my web page. I have added some new recipes and adjusted a few recipes, but most are as unchanged and as delicious as they were many years ago.
The Del Camino Mexican Food Cooks worked in their own kitchen, and were there for many years. They brought the recipes and methods that have made our Mexican Foods famous from the interior of Old Mexico. It is the use of proper cheeses, the careful selection of chili pods, and the astute methods of blending ingredients that makes up the difference of ordinaty and fine Mexican Food which was the specialty at Del Camino.
Native El Pasoans, who have long been accustomed to good Mexican cookery, acclaimed Del Camino's Mexican Food as the best served on the entire border during the years I lived there.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Most recipes will accommodate 4 to 6 people.
Green Chili Sauce
Red Chili Sauce
Spanish Sauce
Taco Sauce
Vera CruzanaEnchiladas
Enchiladas (Flat Pancake Style)
Burritos (Fried Meat)
Huevos Rancheros
Tacos
Taco Meat Filling
Pork in Red Chili Sauce
Chili Rellenos
Menudo
Mexican Style Steak
Burritos
Black Bean Mango Burritos
Refritos and Cheese Sandwiches
Tamale Rellenos
Meatless Tamale Pie
Caldillo
Chilaquiles
Chili con CarneRefried Beans (Refritos)
Guacamole Salad
Frijoles Rancheros
Ojarascas or Nachos
Chili con Queso
Pinto Beans
Spanish Rice
Tostados
Jalapeno Dip
Tortillas
Sopaipillas
Tamales Dulces
Empanadas
Chilled Roasted Red Pepper SoupAtole
Champurrado
