Recently I was a guest on a podcast and the topic turned to what made Arizona, well, Arizona.
We are more than a melting pot. That would just be a collection of things, more of a recipe. A melting pot coalesces everything and just makes the “dish” kind of homogenous.
With a mulligan stew, on the other hand, you have different flavors that still enhance things. Yet even in the mix, each can still be recognized as a distinct flavor.
This comes from a description by Tucson writer, Bernice Cosulich. She noted that the group of “cowpunchers, college dudes, barkeeps, prospectors, and timbermen” that inhabit the state was “picturesque, to put it mildly.” This diverse and seemingly random mix of people who came together to form, in the early days of the state, was much like a Mulligan stew. That is, traditionally made from a mix of whatever ingredients are available.
Well, that’s where some of these Midwestern, Eastern, and immigrant personalities and characters come in. As each have come here, they have burgled in the mix. Yet, still, to some degree, each is recognizable. They each and all bring something unique and special to the dish as a whole. They all help make this state the unique collection that it is.
Just like chefs and cooks creating a meal of varied ingredients. If I want to use some tarragon, I’ll be able to tell that that tarragon’s in there. And while I might not be able to exactly pinpoint what, I know it is from somewhere but is now part of the whole mix and distinctive.
And that’s what sets us apart. From many to one.
Relentless
