Thriving with the Three SisTers

Thriving with the
Three
By Diane Welland
L
S
isters
Discover a Native cuisine with the power to save a people and transform a nation.
ong before cowboys roamed the Western frontier, American Indians lived off the land, hunting,
gathering, and cultivating indigenous plants and animals. The varied dishes they created were complex, refined, and nourishing
enough to sustain whole tribes, as well as the early Anglo settlers who were unaccustomed to their foreign environs and relied on
the agricultural outreach and trade from their new neighbors. Eventually these foods, altered by the influences of English, Spanish, French,
and other immigrants, would become the backbone of today’s Western cuisine. And now, thanks to rising interest in sustainable agriculture
and traditional diets, regional Native American cookery is enjoying a well-deserved renaissance.
In the Southwest, where red rock mesas and low-lying deserts meet rugged mountains, the Native American diet historically relied on three
primary foods: corn, beans, and squash. These sacred foods, which can be found throughout the Americas, thrive even under the harshest
conditions. Traditionally planted together in one mound, these gifts from the Great Spirit became known as the “three sisters.”
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s e p t e m b e r 2 010
“They’re called the three sisters
because they support and help each
other, and because they grow harmoniously together,” says Lois
Ellen Frank, a New Mexicobased chef, photographer,
anthropologist, and
author of Foods of the
Southwest Indian Nations
(Ten Speed Press,
2002). “Each
one makes
the other
strong e r .”
The
tall
cornstalk in
the center
acts as a pole
for the tender
climbing bean
vines that surround
it, while the large,
broad squash leaves
carpet the earth, forming
shade to prevent weeds and
keep the soil moist. But perhaps even more surprising than
the plants’ symbiotic architecture
is the way they environmentally
sustain each other.
“Corn draws nitrogen from the soil,”
says Frank, “and beans put it back in.
They’re perfectly balanced.” Nutritionally
they are also interconnected, as beans are rich
in protein and two essential nutrients that corn
lacks. Corn, the chief source of carbohydrates,
provides energy, while squash is high in vitamin A and is a
valuable source of oil through its seeds.
Of the three, corn was by far the most important culinary
staple, representing the essence of life. Consequently, it became
the object of numerous dances, songs, religious ceremonies, works
of art, and cultural traditions. The five kinds — dent, flint, flour,
sweet, and pop — come in an array of beautiful colors, from the
familiar yellow and white to red, speckled, and a range of blues.
Even with its emphasis on corn, Native American cuisine is
amazingly diverse, as this vegetable can be prepared in a myriad of
ways. While sweet corn is often steamed, roasted, or grilled whole,
dried maize can be boiled for hominy stew, coarsely ground for
grits, or finely mashed into masa for tamales. Flour corn is generally
dried, ground, and used in baked goods from tortillas to cornbread. Blue corn, a kind of flour corn that yields a slightly coarser
meal than yellow or white corn, has a sweeter, nuttier flavor that is
prized by the Hopi Indians.
Piki bread, a crispy paper-thin cornbread made from blue corn, is
a quintessential Hopi dish traditionally made on a large, flat stone
heated over a burning fire. Hopi women dip one hand in a thin,
blue cornmeal batter, then quickly swish their hand across the hot
stone, leaving a thin layer of batter. Once cooked, the parchmentlike sheet is peeled off, then folded and rolled into a tube about the
size of an ear of corn. In addition to breads and dumplings, you can
also find blue cornmeal in stews, stuffings, baked goods, the nowubiquitous blue corn tortilla chips, and even beverages.
Native peoples traditionally dry their corn so it lasts through
the winter, then grind it for flour or soak it in water and ash
from burned juniper, suwvi, or chamisa plants. The ash acts like
lime, breaking down the corn and allowing the hull to be easily
removed. Known as hominy in the Southeast and posole in parts of
the Southwest, these hulled corn kernels are then boiled for several
hours and used in a variety of dishes.
“Posole is also the name of a traditional Native American stew
made from dried hominy and pork or ham,“ says Richard Hetzler,
executive chef at the Mitsitam Café in the National Museum
of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. “We typically do
a green chile posole for our Mesoamerica menu.” Mitsitam means
“Let’s eat!” in the Native language of the Delaware and Piscataway
peoples, and the museum-based restaurant invites visitors to try
traditional and seasonal Native American cuisine from five main
regions: the Northern Woodlands, South America, the Northwest
Coast, the Great Plains, and Mesoamerica.
Certain dishes, like Hetzler’s Three Sister Soup with Sunflower
Foam and Three Sister Salad featuring beans, squash, and corn
in a light vinaigrette, regularly rotate on the menu depending on
the season. “I try to use as many authentic ingredients and
flavors as I can, like mesquite flour, nopales [cactus pads],
and pinyon nuts.”
Ground from bean pods that grow on the shrublike mesquite plant native to the desert regions of
the Southwest and Mexico, mesquite flour has
a nutty flavor with deep caramel undertones.
At Mitsitam it appears in the form of a dark
brown, chewy, and slightly sweet cookie.
Nopales and pinyon nuts are often
found in salads, soups, and sauces
on Hetzler’s menu, and you’ll even
find some pinyon nuts sprinkled
on a lemon-rosemary tart.
“Although Native Americans
NATIVE AMERICAN
W
C
UISINE
hile Native American ingredients and foods influence the cuisine of many restaurants throughout the
West and Southwest, only a few culinary establishments feature true American Indian cuisine. Here’s
the real deal when it comes to Native American cookery. For even more Native restaurants, cooking schools, and
recipes, visit www.nativerecipes.com.
A maya R e staur ant Owned by the Picuris Pueblo of northern New Mexico and located in the Hotel Santa
Fe, Amaya offers an innovative blending of Native American food, from grilled bison tenderloin with vanilla sweet
potato au gratin to Tiwa taco fry bread topped with ground buffalo and black bean corn relish. Private teepee dining is
available. Hotel Santa Fe, 1501 Paseo De Peralta, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 505.982.1200, www.hotelsantafe.com.
C la ssic C ooking A cademy
This nonprofit culinary school offers a six-month Native American culinary
program that teaches traditional and contemporary Native American culinary customs and technologies, including
sustainable agriculture, health, and nutrition. McDowell Mountain Ranch, 10411 E. McDowell Mountain Ranch
Road, Scottsdale, Arizona, 480.502.0177, www.classiccookingacademy.org.
D e sert R ain C afé
A project of Tohono O’odham Community Action, a nonprofit organization
dedicated to promoting a healthy, culturally vital, and sustainable Native community, the Desert
Rain Café showcases the bounty of the Sonoran desert. Every dish contains at least one traditional ingredient, such as cholla buds, tepary beans, or saguaro fruit syrup, and all menu items
focus on healthy foods made with whole grains and natural sweeteners. Indian Route 19,
Sells, Arizona, 520.383.4918, www.desertraincafe.com.
H opi C ultur al C enter R estaur ant & I nn
In northern Arizona, where
the Hopi Indian ancestry stretches back some 100 generations, the Hopi Cultural Center
Restaurant & Inn serves authentic Hopi recipes, which generally center around corn.
While there, be sure to tour the museum, gift shop, and surrounding traditional villages, including the Second Mesa villages of Shungopavi and Mishongnovi, noted
for their coiled baskets and Katsina dolls. Second Mesa, Arizona, 928.734.2401,
www.hopiculturalcenter.com.
K ai Meaning seed in the Pima language, Kai offers a menu rich in creativity and Native
American culture. Located at the Sheraton Wild Horse Resort & Spa, this upscale restaurant
combines the essence of the Pima and Maricopa tribes with locally farmed ingredients
from the Gila River Indian community. Sheraton Wild Horse Resort & Spa, 5594 Wild
Horse Pass Road, Chandler, Arizona, 602.225.0100, www.wildhorsepassresort.com.
M itsitam C afé Enjoy the indigenous cuisines of the Americas while you explore the history of
Native foods at the National Museum of the American Indian. The cafe features five stations depicting
Native foods throughout the Western Hemisphere. National Museum of the American Indian, Fourth Street
& Independence Ave. SW, Washington, D.C., 202.633.1000, www.nmai.si.edu.
P ueblo H arve st C afe and B akery From traditional posole and mutton stew to a rack of locally raised
New Mexico lamb crusted with sunflower seeds, this Native-fusion restaurant at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center features traditional Native and Southwestern cuisine with influences from Mexican, Spanish, Tex-Mex, Cajun, and Creole cooking. Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, 2401 12th St. NW, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 505.724.3510, www.indianpueblo.com.
R ed M e sa C uisine C atering Owned by Lois Ellen Frank and Navajo chef Walter Whitewater, Red Mesa Cuisine
offers cooking classes and event catering services focused on preserving traditional agricultural practices and culinary
techniques while adding a contemporary edge. An example of their artistry? How about the spectacular Kachina Mosaic of
American Caviars with Endive Feathers pictured on their website. Book them for your next Santa Fe shindig. 7 Avenida Vista
Grande, Suite 147, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 505.466.6306, www.redmesacuisine.com.
The S anta Fe S chool
of C ooking Sign up for the Native American cooking class (the next ones offered will be July 23 and
August 23, $80 per person) to learn from Lois Ellen Frank herself. Frank will demonstrate how to make blue corn gnocchi arrowheads
with guajillo chile sauce, seasonal greens with jalapeño dressing, lamb-stuffed rellenos with tomato sauce, and sweet fry bread with seasonal
berries and prickly pear syrup. 116 W. San Francisco St., Santa Fe, New Mexico, 800.982.4688, www.santafeschoolofcooking.com.
Tocabe This fast-casual restaurant serves up fry bread in a variety of forms: from a classic Indian taco topped with lettuce, tomato, cheese,
salsa, sour cream, and your choice of meat and beans to the Little Osage Pizza (fry bread topped with refried beans and ground beef) to sweet fry
bread nuggets for dessert. Owners Matt Chandra and Ben Jacobs, a member of the Osage tribe, won second place at last year’s National Indian Taco
Championship and aim to introduce Native foods and flavors to downtown Denver. 3536 W. 44th Ave., Denver, 720.524.8282, www.tocabe.com.
The Turquoise R oom R e staur ant Serving regional contemporary Southwestern cuisine, the Turquoise Room Restaurant in La Posada Hotel
uses local ingredients to create dazzling dishes. Among the many authentic Native American foods are Navajo churro (lamb) and piki bread with Hopi
hummus using native tepary beans and roasted corn. 303 E. Second St. (Route 66), Winslow, Arizona, 928.289.2888, www.theturquoiseroom.net.
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didn’t eat a lot of sweets, the sweet dishes they did make were
often infused with savory spices like rosemary and sage,” he
points out.
Game, another Native American staple, usually supplemented soups, stews, and bean dishes. Indians hunted deer,
antelope, elk, and bison, as well as small game like quail and
rabbit. Today, these proteins have morphed into sheep, beef,
and pork in daily diets, but contemporary Native American
chefs are finding ways to reintroduce traditional meats in
inventive ways while continuing to use chilis, tomatoes, and a
variety of seeds and nuts in their dishes, especially the pinyon
nut, or pine nut, and acorn. Yucca, hibiscus, and squash blossoms, other desert specialties, appear on menus in salads or on
their own, stuffed and fried. But, even with the introduction
of modern ingredients and techniques, all American Indian
cuisine shares the same intertwined roots.
“Native American foods can be broken down into three
distinct categories,” says Frank. “First are ‘precontact’ foods,
which are the foods that existed and grew here naturally, like
the cultivars of corn, beans, squash, chilis, and tomatoes, and
all the wild foods like cacti, wild greens, berries, fruits, and
wild game. It was an extremely diverse cuisine.
“The second big influence on the cuisine was what I call
‘first contact’ foods, which were the foods the Spanish brought
to the Southwest that evolved into Native American cuisine.
These foods were introduced to the Native Americans about
500 years ago and include pork, beef, sheep, and stone fruits.
“Finally, there are ‘government-issued’ foods, which are the
foods issued to Native Americans by the U.S. government,
things like white flour, sugar, powdered milk, and lard.” Even
these government foods, however, have been creatively incorporated into Native American cuisine with lasting results.
Take, for example, what has perhaps become the most iconic
Native food of all — Indian fry bread. Served at roadside
stands, powwows, and state fairs throughout the West, drizzled with local honey or served taco-style topped with a meatand-bean chili, lettuce, tomato, and plenty of shredded cheese,
fry bread tells the story of both culinary tragedy and triumph.
Navajo fry bread originated in the 1860s, after the United
States government forced more than 8,000 Navajos to make
the 300-mile journey known as the “Long Walk” from their
home in Arizona to Fort Sumner in New Mexico. Far from
home and planted fields, they were given little more than
white flour and lard to eat. The Navajo women created fry
bread as a means to survive on their poor-quality rations.
Now blamed for rampant obesity and diabetes in Native
populations, fry bread has been accused of killing more
people than the U.S. government. But love it or hate it, fry
bread is at its core about making something out of nothing. And now, going back to their roots, Native chefs are
able, once again, to make something out of something — the
sacred ingredients that existed long before us all. The result?
Absolutely delicious.
W
ant to learn how to cook the American Indian way?
Check out the James Beard Award-winning Foods of the
Southwest Indian Nations (Ten Speed Press, 2002) by Lois Ellen Frank,
who spent more than 20 years working with Native communities in
the Southwest, documenting time-honored techniques and recipes
and adapting them to modern palates and kitchens with the help
of her Navajo colleague and culinary advisor, Walter Whitewater.
Come November, you’ll also be able to peruse Richard Hetzler’s
forthcoming The Mitsitam Café Cookbook: Recipes from the Smithsonian
National Museum of The American Indian (Fulcrum, 2010), which
features 90 recipes from his critically acclaimed restaurant. Both
cookbooks are available at www.amazon.com.
P iñon Chile B eans
Serves 6-8
Reprinted with permission from Lois Ellen Frank’s cookbook
Foods of the Southwest Indian Nations. Frank often makes this chile with
ground lamb or bison.
This recipe comes from the Begay family on the Diné (Navajo) reservation in Pinon,
Arizona. It is their favorite chile bean recipe and I am asked to cook it every time I
visit. This recipe is so great because you can make one recipe to feed six to eight people
or you can multiply it and make enough to feed 60 people. It is a favorite at all
family and ceremonial gatherings. This recipe goes great with warm Indian Frybread
or Adobe Bread ... . It makes a hearty meal by itself or as a side to any feast.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 green bell peppers, seeded, deveined, and chopped
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes with basil
2½ cups cooked dark red kidney beans
2½ cups cooked pinto beans
2 cups cooked corn kernels (fresh, frozen, or canned)
3 tablespoons red chile powder
1 teaspoon salt
Heat the oil in a large cast-iron or soup pot over medium-high heat.
Add onions, sauté for 2 minutes, until translucent, then add the
green bell peppers and sauté for another 2 to 4 minutes. Add the
ground beef, stir, and sauté until the meat is brown, 7 to 10 minutes.
Cut each of the whole tomatoes into 8 pieces (a large dice) and add
the pieces to the meat, onions, and peppers. Cook for another 2
minutes, stirring constantly. Add the kidney beans, pinto beans, and
the corn and stir well. Bring to a boil, then decrease the heat to low.
Stir in the red chile powder and salt. Let simmer for 20 minutes,
stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Serve hot.
Cow b oys & I n di a n s
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