What's referred to as Southwestern cuisine today, she says, is a blend of several cultural influences and cooking styles. Authentic New Mexican recipes, for example, are simple and frequently referred to as peasant food. The cuisine is based on the simple Pueblo Indian diet of corn, beans and a wide variety of chile peppers. Most recipe have fewer than 10 ingredients. Southwestern cooking borrows the best from all these individual regions and cuisines.
Citrus also is added to the water served at the table.
Besides beverages, citrus is used to enliven fruit salsas that often accompany fish and fowl, and is used widely in marinades and salad dressings. These signature flavors are essential to achieve the authentic taste Butel shares in her recipes. Tortillas are a staple in Southwestern cooking. While attending Butel's cooking school, students learn to prepare both corn and flour tortillas from scratch. However, just as with other baked goods more familiar to Midwestern cooks, such as piecrust or bread, attention to detail makes a huge difference in the end result.