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Discover Marana’s Epicurean Showcase

thousand years,” said Town of Marana Tourism Manager Laura Corte-
lyou. The gastronomy tour was designed to explore that rich history in
the context of contemporary foods that use ancient flavors.

Marana’s rich concentration of archaeological sites are relatively undis-
turbed, and are still yielding surprising discoveries such as the oldest ag-
ricultural irrigation canal system in North America found in 2009. Marana
plays a significant role in the southern Arizona culinary networks through
its own noteworthy restaurants and as a supplier to regional restaurants,
farmer’s markets, and dining room tables.

The Marana Gastronomy Tour is the first tour approved by United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Creative Cit-
ies Network member, Tucson City of Gastronomy, the first UNESCO City of
Gastronomy in the U.S. The designation recognizes 13,000 years of habita-
Intrepid adventurers needn’t travel far to tion, 4,000 years of formal agriculture, the longest agricultural history of any
take a peek at the remains of an ancient city in North America, and 300 years of orchards and livestock ranching – a
kitchen in Arizona. They only need to travel history shared by Marana and Tucson. More information can be found at
a few miles from Interstate 10 as part of a www.townofgastronomy.org/.
new attraction created by the Town of Ma-
rana’s tourism program, Discover Marana
and offered by Gray Line Tours Tucson.

Ancient foodways, artisanal flavors, and
Sonoran haute cuisine set the stage for the
Marana Gastronomy Tour running twice
a month from approximately October
through April. Tourists can expect to travel
back thousands of years with University
of Arizona professor emerita and Arizona
State Museum Curator Dr. Suzanne Fish
as they explore ancient archaeological
sites of the Hohokam civilization, before
returning to the present for a modern cui-
sine tasting infused with with ancient wild
foods, ancient domesticated native foods,
and post-1699 European foods. BKW
Farm, Bean Tree Farm, Catalina Brewing
Company, and Ritz Carlton, Dove Moun-
tain all take center stage during the epicu-
rean showcase.

“Marana is situated on one of three places
along the Santa Cruz River watershed that
has supported the oldest agriculture sys-
tems in North America for more than four

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