At La Junta Cabeza de Vaca observed that the cow people lacked “ollas” (which most interpreters have translated as "pottery vessels") and thus had to cook by stone boiling in "calabazas" (gourds). The Spaniard had never seen this cooking technique before and described it at some length. This painting captures the Spaniard’s description of the use of wooden tongs to transfer heated rocks from fire to boiling containers. From "De Grazia Paints Cabeza de Vaca" (1973, University of Arizona Press), courtesy of the De Grazia Foundation.
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