Hidden Kitchens Texas

Hidden Kitchens Texas—secret, underground, below-the-radar cooking across the great state of Texas. Join NPR's The Kitchen Sisters in an exploration of Texas through food—told by people who find it, grow it, cook it, eat it, sell it, share it, and celebrate with it.

NPR radio producers The Kitchen Sisters, opened up a phone line with NPR and KUT and asked people to share their stories of hidden kitchens, kitchen visionaries, food rituals and traditions of Texas—how communities come together through food.

Calls flooded in—stories of ice houses, chili queens, cowboy kitchens, NASA space kitchens, the first barbeque pit on the moon and more.

This itty bitty book is packed with stories of food, farm and family— singer Jimmie Dale Gilmore's reminiscences of Texas barbeque hero, Stubb; Kinky Friedman’s kitchen wisdom; Joe Ely's black eyed peas; Willie Nelson's recipe for fried eggs; Annie Nelson's Pork 'n Greens; Sharon Ely's Holy Posole, Robin Wright Penn's Sweet Potato Crunch; Astronaut Bill McArthur's Jalapeno Space Kolache...

This intimate, historic, offbeat collection captures the beginnings of some of Texas' culinary milestones—the birth of the Frito, the birth of 7-Eleven, the birth of the Slurpee, the birth of the frozen Margarita.

Notorious Texas food writer Robb Walsh, Texas steel guitar wizard, Cindy Cashdollar, writer Joe Nick Patoski—extraordinary tellers—take us across Texas and share their own hidden kitchen rituals, traditions, and recipes. A wild and soulful look at community cooking traditions and kitchen rituals of Texas.