How many of your everyday foods are Native?
Native Americans are known for their diverse foods, languages, and culture and that is exactly what we’re going to talk about. November is Native American Heritage Month and this is a great time to learn about some traditional foods and dishes Native Americans make.
To start off the three staple foods of Native American food are corn, squash, and beans. Early Horticulture has always been very important in their culture especially since they grow most of their food.
Most cooking methods included baking, frying, deep frying, boiling, and
Native American fry bread taken by Derek Montgomery
roasting over an open fire. While having corn, squash, and beans as their main sources of food, they needed to get creative with the foods made. The corn was used for porridge, which was boiled corn flour and was soup or a beverage. Cornbread was a very common food in the Native American diet and could be used as tortillas when made thin. Interestingly enough, red, blue, white, and yellow corn were always available to Native Americans. Another way corn and beans were used was by combining them to make bean bread. Fry bread, which is a flat bread made from fried dough, is a very popular food of most modern North American Indians. This food is so popular because it is a symbol of their ability to survive under adverse conditions such as being forced out of their homes to live in an unfamiliar area with unfamiliar foods. This happened when Native Americans from Arizona were forcibly relocated to New Mexico, this was known as the Long Walk.
In many Native communities, women planted, hoed, weeded, and harvested communally in large groups. As we know, they grew corn, beans, and squash. These staples foods are used to create the Three Sisters Salad. Here is the recipe so you can try it!
Serves 4 to 6
Apple Cider Vinaigrette
6 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup canola oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Three Sisters Salad Photographed by Renee Comet Photography
Salad
2 zucchini, halved lengthwise and seeded
2 yellow summer squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
2 ears corn, husked
1/4 cup canola oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 cups cooked cranberry beans, drained
1 medium yellow tomato or 3/4 cup yellow cherry tomatoes, diced
2 plum (Roma) tomatoes or 3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, diced
Richard Hetzler, Executive Chef, Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe
Katherine Fogden/Restaurant Associates and Smithsonian Institution
For the vinaigrette: In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients and whisk to blend. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 10 days.
For the salad: Prepare a hot fire in a charcoal grill, or preheat a gas grill to high. Brush the zucchini, squash, and corn with oil. Season the vegetables on all sides with salt and pepper. Grill the zucchini and squash until crisp-tender and grill-marked on both sides, about 10 minutes. At the same time, grill the corn until lightly browned, turning to cook all sides, 4 to 5 minutes.
Transfer the zucchini and squash to a cutting board and finely dice, then empty into a large bowl. Cut the kernels from the corn and add to the bowl along with the beans and the yellow and red tomatoes. Add 1/4 cup vinaigrette and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper and toss again.
Serve at room temperature or cold!
When you think about Thanksgiving and Christmas and foods traditionally eaten, this would include turkey, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, baked beans, and mashed potatoes. All of these originated from Native Americans! Foods in America are greatly influenced by Native American, even the most common foods, like maple syrup on your pancakes in the morning. Also, many berries that are popular today were also a great addition to the Native American diet which included: blackberries, blueberries, cranberries, buffalo berries etc. Sometimes we forget where our food comes from and this is the time to appreciate it!
By Karina Cedillo