Beans, squash and corn may be the famed three sisters of Native American cuisine, but far heartier stuff – buffalo, elk and deer – are three favorite foods of regional tribes.
“Oh yes, we had elk, squash, buffalo, deer, turkey, fish. Elk jerky is wonderful,” said James Jefferson, 80, a Southern Ute elder describing the foods of his childhood. Jefferson and friends were waiting for lunch to arrive during the Taste of Native Cuisine and Culture Expo on Saturday at the Southern Ute Museum.
“We made use of it all, we weren’t in need. We went to town once a month to get things like salt and coffee,” he said of the trip to Ignacio from the Southern Ute reservation where he grew up.
On this day celebrating Native American tribal cuisine, Jefferson, a former educator, reminisced about the abundance of food from the land – pumpkins, melons, potatoes, pine nuts, choke cherries and more. The Southern Utes have a rich tradition of farming and ranching, providing the tribe with a plethora of provisions other tribes didn’t have, from home-grown pigs to spicy chiles.
But artist Norman Lansing maintains that buffalo was and still is the heart of Native American culture, providing medicine, clothing, food and shelter for the tribes. The skulls he paints in brilliant colors represents the buffalo as a provider for the people, he said, a giver of life.
Beyond buffalo, however, southwestern Colorado’s ample sunshine and open mesas afford the Southern Utes a variety of staples even today, as many continue to tend backyard gardens as their grandparents did.
While she was raised eating elk, deer and buffalo, Pearl Casias, the first woman to become chairman of the Southern Ute tribal council in 2011, was also expected to help weed and water her grandmother’s garden, often full of butternut squash and corn. Her grandmother would cook with yucca, and use it to wash her hair, making it glisten.
But some younger Native Americans lack those memories. Karlos Baca, a local chef and member of the Navajo tribe, recalls a childhood of government food giveaways like block cheese and canned meats.
“That stuff is terrible for you,” he said. “I joke that’s why I became a chef.”
Baca designed the menu for Saturday’s celebration using as many local native foods as he could. He even spent a day foraging for tiny bear berries, which only bloom above 9,000 feet, to pair with a cranberry mousse dessert (smooth and sweet-tart, with a crunchy yucca chip and a single, sugar-coated berry for garnish.)
Yet he didn’t disappoint his mostly Native American diners, making sure to feature proteins such as elk, bison and pork, each prepared with a native seasoning like sage, red chiles and juniper berries.
The apple-wood smoked bison filet topped with a wild mushroom ragout was the tastiest dish of the day, the tender meat served rare and the inherent earthiness of the mushrooms bringing out the mild smokiness imparted by the wood. (The elk and apple meatballs, however – well, just don’t ask.)
Creating the tasting menu made Baca, a chef trained in classic French cuisine, realize he doesn’t naturally identify with the food of his ancestors. He’d like to start a movement to bring back traditional Native American foods like yucca root, pine needles and Navajo tea (which tastes surprisingly similar to plain, old black tea), made from a desert flower.
He researched these little-known ingredients and found them mentioned in survival guides, detailing which berries and herbs could be consumed without harm.
“I’ve probably seen them a million times hiking, but I didn’t know you could eat them,” he said. “I want people to know that this food is a valuable part of our culture.”
His fellow chef for the tasting event, Anthony Hamlin of the Mahogany Grille, agreed, saying he spent the last week contemplating what Native American food actually comprises.
“I think about what the earth supplies us – herbs, nuts, fruits, meat. It should be all local,” the Durango native said. “That’s how I look at it.”
A member of the Navajo tribe, Hamlin mentioned the similarities between the food traditions of Native Americans in the Southwest – Zuni, Navajo, Utes, Hopi and others. And he recognizes that his and Baca’s tasting menu offering delicacies like butternut panna cotta with cranberry coulis and almond sage crumble is not the fare he would find in his mother’s kitchen.
Fry bread, beef stew, mutton, simple foods prepared simply is much more the norm.
Casias concurred. A traditional meal she might cook when her children visit would include pinto beans with bacon or ham hocks, a green chile and chicken stew and a side dish of spinach sauteed with garlic, onions and chiles. She used to fry potatoes (a food many at the luncheon mentioned as a favorite), but now avoids fried foods and would make mashed instead.
Those food pairings are so ingrained that when Baca sent out a 2-inch square of fatty pork belly with a red chile and honey glaze, Casias’s son, Russ Box, sitting next to her, couldn’t help himself.
“He asked me, ‘Where are the beans?’” Casias said, laughing.
Casias, Baca and other diners spoke of the prevalence of chiles and tortillas in regional Native American cooking, compliments of early Spanish settlers. Baca, whose mother is Spanish, considers the produce of Mexico – chiles, corn and squash – to be the food of native people. The spices and vegetables marry well with Native American dishes from the Southwest, so he and Hamlin showcased the two in a memorable puree of pumpkin with a spicy chile kick.
“That’s what I want to cook as a chef,” Hamlin said. “I want to create my own identity, and part of that is my heritage. I want to use that.”
Meanwhile, those of us of Puritan descent, can thank this country’s Native American ancestors for the bounty we’ll share next week – pumpkin, corn and early cranberries – to name a few. I bet elk jerky would be a hit as an appetizer.
