The Sioux Chef Dishes on Minnesota's First "Pre-Contact" Restaurant

[geardaddy]

http://blogs.citypages.com/food/2014/10/sean_sherman_of_the_sioux_chef_dishes_on_minnesotas_first_pre-contact_restaurant.php



If you were asked to name three pre-contact Native American dishes, could you do it? Or does your knowledge stop with fry bread? If so, you're not alone. Indigenous recipes and cooking methods have largely disappeared since Europeans first made contact with the Americas.
Sean Sherman, otherwise known as the Sioux Chef, decided to find out why. His research revealed that the disappearance of indigenous dishes coincided with the introduction of the reservation system. Native Americans subjected to the system learned to rely on commodities provided by the government -- including foods high in sugar, salt, and fat.

In the past few years, Minnesota has seen a resurgence in interest in pre-contact foods and flavors. Heid Erdrich published Original Local: Indigenous Foods, Stories, and Recipes from the Upper Midwest in 2013; University of Minnesota grad Jason Champagne teaches cooking classes and nutrition at various Native American organizations throughout the state; and Native-run farms like Dream of Wild Health are using heirloom seeds to grow indigenous produce.

Sherman's new restaurant concept, which is slated for a winter opening, will focus on pre-contact Native American dishes. Meals will be affordable and served family-style, with the exception of bi-monthly chef's nights, when Sherman will prepare high-end indigenous dishes.

We chatted with Sherman about his culinary trajectory, government commodities, and his opinions on Columbus Day's name change.

See the rest at the link.

[livetohike]

1. Interesting! Would love to go there

Thanks for posting this .

[geardaddy]

2. It's not open yet,

but I plan on going there when it does!

[Kali]

3. stewed game, greens, squash, corn, beans?

not much info in the article about the foods he will be serving.

[geardaddy]

5. No, there isn't.

I was hoping there would be some more info about that. But I'm pretty sure, he won't be serving fry bread.

[Luminous Animal]

10. Here is another article with several pictures.

The food looks great.

http://mic.com/articles/100308/amazing-new-native-american-restaurant-promises-a-delicious-pre-colonization-menu

[japple]

4. Would love to see the Southeastern US indigenous peoples' recipes. I live

in NW GA, the former seat of government of the Cherokee people. There was a celebration here for a few years, honoring the 3-sisters planting tradition, but I don't know if it's going to be repeated.

[Jenoch]

6. Where did the pre-contact

Sioux get their sweet potatoes?

[geardaddy]

7. Same place they got their maize probably. N/T

[Jenoch]

8. They could grow corn in central Minnesota.

Sweet potatoes cannot be grown in northern climates. The growing season is not long enough. (Temperatures below 50° kill the plant.)

[Luminous Animal]

9. The pictures in the article are dishes that he is going to feature at his restaurant which will

serve pre-reservation food from all the Americas. Though largely focused on the Minnesota Dakotas regions.

[Jenoch]

11. If he includes food

from indigenous peoples from North, Central, and South America, then his food will be much more varied than if he kept it limited to what the Sioux were eating in what became Minnesota. The Sioux were in Minnesota before the Ojibwe pushed them west.

[Luminous Animal]

12. Yes. He wrote his cookbook featuring the food of the Sioux. His restaurant is another venture.

He says that the menu is mostly local but will also include pre-contact food from around the Americas.

Granted he cemented his reputation as the Sioux Chef and likely stuck with the brand but that does not mean he cannot expand his repertoire.

He mentioned in one of the articles that I read that he communicates with other pre-contact chefs. It is a given that they swap ingredients, recipes, and techniques.

[Retrograde]

13. There were extensive trade networks

Sweet potatoes may be South American in origin. Even if the pre-contact peoples in Minnesota didn't eat sweet potatoes, pre-contact peoples everywhere did eat a wide variety of roots: sweet potatoes may just be a close approximation, or a local name.

I'd love to see more and varied native plants brought back into common use.

[Jenoch]

14. I am interested in foods that

have not been commercialized. Heirloom tomatoes and other produce come to mind. My maternal greatgrandfather and his brother were 'seedsmen'. That is, they grew vegetables to harvest their seeds. I wish I had some of those seeds today, some of them might even be viable.