Native American Food

[shouldazagged]

I enjoy watching Andrew Zimmern, though some of the stuff he chokes down is really appalling to me. But he did a program in Appalachia that included a Cherokee family feast featuring ancestral dishes like hazelnut bread, trout cooked with sumac, etc. Looked great, and it was nice to see the meal blessed in Cherokee.

I don't know a lot about Native American food, but would like to know more. I know we have some Indian folks on the forum, and would be glad to hear from you, preferably with recipes.

A woman I used to work with had been married to a Navajo who told her he had grown up eating beans cooked with beef (he preferred a chuck roast) and chilis. I've tinkered with that one for a few years, and in a little while will sit down to a bowl of it with tortilla chips. My version certainly isn't traditional, may not be authentic at all, but it sure is tasty. Pinto beans and boneless chuck short ribs, cooked long and slow, with the addition of a little diced jowl bacon, in a chili beef broth seasoned with herbs and cumin.

Anybody else have any contributions? Anything you remember from childhood, learned from Indian friends, or have researched?

 

[the ringo kid]

Though im part Cherokee-the only "Injun" food I ever had was a fresh baked flat bread that was fantastic. We also had some Pemmican which was great as well. Other than what they gave us when we visited a Tribe whose village was near where my uncle lived in Oklahoma--I dont think ive had anything else? On that visit-we got "inducted" into that particular tribe. I still remember the smell of that bread--and that was a tad under 40 years ago.

 

[keith44spl]

Had some good grub at a little cafe in the Nations near Four Corners, one time bout 40 years ago....

Must of been purty good, cause I still remember it.


.

 

[snubbyfan]

Now you just know you was gonna get my attention.
We make our own traditional American Indian whole grain bread called Bannock, baked in a cast iron pan. The only thing is it doesn't keep well since it has no preservatives. We usually do half batches.
preheat oven to 350 degrees
mix ingredients:
4 cups unbleached whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups water

kneed for 3 minutes
spread into 10 inch round cast iron skillet greased with melted butter
top with 1 tablespoon melted butter
bake for 45 minutes

If you haven't tried it yet, try adding rubbed sage to meats. After the meat's spiced just sprinkle it with rubbed sage and cook. Yummy.

Native magazine has a column titled "Spirit of the Harvest," that has traditional foods and how to prepare them. Some are rather simple and others are a little more complicated.

Ringo kid, pemmican or Moki-maani in Blackfoot's one of my faves too. Great snack on a road trip.

 

[sureshotbob]

I'll have to ask my wife as she is a full blood Malaseet from Northern Maine. The only thing that I remember her making was fry bread in a cast iron frying pan.

 

[Comrad]

Isn't native American food what they natives shared with the pilgrims in Massachusetts, turkey with stuffing and gravy.

 

[carpriver]

I worked at a reservation here in the U.P. I have enjoyed baked pumpkin, fry bread, sage roasted venison, and roasted turkey stuffed with wild rice, wild onions, and other wild or natural fruits and veggies and herbs. the best was honey and wild raspberries over fry bread.

 

[timn8er]

Here in Oklahoma they serve something called an Indian Taco. I don't know how legit it is. I had to try it & so I went to a place that was supposed to be famous for their "tacos". It was like a large pancake, filled with lettuce, cheese, tomatos, & chili beans. Once again, I don't know how legit it was, but I've never been back. I, too, would be interested in some recipes.

 

[Erich]

Atole - blue cornmeal mush, is pretty good. And most of you have had johnnycakes/hoecakes and succotash. And tamales. And enchiladas. And tacos. And salsa.

Remember, all true beans, corn, tomatoes, and peppers are from the Americas. (Syphilis, too . . . . )

Obviously, fry bread (using European wheat) and indian tacos are not legitimately Native (but, like smallpox, they were adopted). I understand puppytail stew is pretty good, but I've got too many Lakota in my family to joke much about it.

 

[the ringo kid]

We make our own traditional American Indian whole grain bread, baked in a cast iron pan. The only thing is it doesn't keep well since it has no preservatives. We usually do half batches.

If you haven't tried it yet, try adding rubbed sage to meats. After the meat's spiced just sprinkle it with rubbed sage and cook. Yummy.

Native magazine has a column titled "Spirit of the Harvest," that has traditional foods and how to prepare them. Some are rather simple and others are a little more complicated.

Ringo kid, pemmican or Moki-maani in Blackfoot's one of my faves too. Great snack on a road trip.

I would "kill" for more of what we ate that day. Ive heard of Moki-manni--but do not know what it is? Also, I heard a steakhouse in my area is now serving Buffalo--im going to try it sometime-their version

 

[Gunslinger808]

Around here it shares much of the same ingredints and cooking methods as traditional Mexican food.
Chilis, corn masa, flat breads and tortillias, ect...
Ain't nothing like a fry bread with chilli con carne topping!

 

[snubbyfan]

I would "kill" for more of what we ate that day. Ive heard of Moki-manni--but do not know what it is? Also, I heard a steakhouse in my area is now serving Buffalo--im going to try it sometime-their version

The problem with restaurant Buffalo is that since it's lean it's easy to over cook and dry out. We had restaurant Buffalo before and they put so many sauces and stuff on it you couldn't really taste the meat.
We found some ground Bison in the store the other day, it's not a meat you can just set and ignore until it's done. Ya gotta babysit it and take it off the heat just before it's completely cooked and cook it thick to retain the juices. The only spice I put on it is rubbed sage.

 

[A10]

Up here, smoked and dried venison and elk, cedar planked salmon, fresh trout roasted over a campfire (spit them on a green stick), boiled cow parsnips, mussels, crab, scallops, and abalone.....I could go on. Darn fine eatin!

Look up some of Tom Browns Field Guides, there is good information there.

Edit: How could I forget the blackberries and native blueberries????

 

[kamloops67]

eat mowich pretty regular, and sacup are always passing by

 

[ErnieDeBord]

If it counts, I may have smoked some "loco weed" once

 

[bishopm14]

I don't care if it's 'traditional' or not, but as a part Cherokee Okie, an Indian taco can't be beat.
The fry bread by itself isn't bad either.
Obviously, all this depends on if the people in the kitchen know what they're doing.

 

[Marshwheeling]

Walleye and wild rice. It's Minnnesota, what else?

 

[Maze 686]

Fry bread made from ground up corn, corn on the cob that gets cooked without pulling off the leaves. Frog legs, venison meatloaf, roasted rabbit with sage.

 

[DeathGrip]

It was regional. If you wan't to eat like a native go harvest your own. Tribes were always growing something or knew where it was growing. It depends on where your tribe was from.

American regional food (as it's called) has the same thing going on just with influences.

The world got great things from America and America got some pretty good things abroad.

Could you imagine food without the spice trade and the discovery of America?



Food is great history.

 

[sigp220.45]

I work on the Navajo reservation (NM side) and the Jicarilla Apache rez. There is lots of good food at the smaller places and even the roadside stops where they sell food right from the car. Too bad most non-Indian folks are scared to eat on the rez.

Pinon nuts are good, mutton stew I can pass on, I love kneel-down bread, and fry bread fresh out of the fryer is to die for. Fry bread also provides a built in joke when I show my creds: "Hey, its the Fry Bread Inspector!"

Once at a retirement party for a Navajo cop one of the guys showed up with a sheep head. I can eat almost anything, but those bulgy eyes staring at me were too much.

As an aside, the Indians I deal with are mostly 4/4ths. We have to prove Indian blood for federal charges. These full blood Indians have a joke: What do you call 64 Cherokees in a room? A full blood.