The Horno oven is an important tool of the desert southwest, vernacular to each location in style and material. Traditionally an horno is made of small mud bricks that are made of the earth where the horno was built with the addition of straw from grain harvest. Originally from the Iberian peninsula and adopted by the Spanish from the Moorish people and carried to all Spanish occupied lands, the horno made its way here to New Mexico and surrounding areas. It’s hard to imagine that the indigenous peoples of this area didn’t already cook in mud already, but the method of building and stacking bricks became the common practice. In New Mexico to this day you still see hornos of various qualities scatted through both old Spanish and Pueblo settlements, some still used, some turning back into the soil.
Henrietta, an elder at Taos Pueblo, my preschool teacher and a dear dear friend once described the horno to me as a woman. She spoke to how they all unique with different needs that need to be understood before using. To use an horno you must be intimate with her, no two are the same or should be treated the same and that it takes time to learn such needs.
We're honored to be part of this culture still and to keep it going through practices like building adobes and hornos from the soil we inhabit, especially for friends. This horno was built for Ballroom Marfa at Capri restaurant in Marfa TX using soil from Northern NM for the bricks and plaster and soil from Marfa TX for the mortar.
Some exciting news on us using the horno and the beautiful space at Capri coming soon.
↓ 35mm photos by Johnny & Maida
