Few things typify a culture or bring people together like food. Cuisine can be an experience and an art form. Native American dishes are no different. Many dishes we think of as Indian are fusions of indigenous and pioneer cultures; others, like succotash and leather breeches, have been incorporated into regional and mainstream cuisine and have lost their “native” label.
At its heart, Native American cuisine centers on local ingredients, game meats and simple styles of cooking, much like the popular farm-to-table culinary movement. The past few years have seen a resurgence of interest in native dishes and cooking practices, with tribes across North America hosting workshops where participants can learn the story behind a dish and how to prepare it.
Here are seven great Native American foods to try as your group travels throughout North America.
Mi’kmaq Bread
“Luskinikn,” or 4-cent bread, is a common dish in southeastern Canada and Maine, where the Mi’kmaq (pronounced MEE-gum-mach) tribal lands are located. It can be likened to a Northeastern version of fry bread. Like its Western counterpart, it’s quick and cheap to prepare. Its name is said to come from the price of its ingredients: 1 cent for flour, 3 cents for baking soda.
Also known as “luski,” the bread is a staple of Mi’kmaq cuisine. It can accompany most meals and is commonly served alongside traditional cuisine at any tribal gathering. It is often served with butter, molasses or jam, or as an accompaniment to savory recipes like moose stew, mussels or seafood pie.
Many cooks like to prep the dry ingredients ahead of time to bring camping, then just add water and cook over a campfire. For a less adventurous version, it is also prepared on the stovetop or baked in the oven. The recipe is easy to personalize, so it’s common to find variations with milk, oatmeal or even berries added to the dough.
Another popular type of Mi’kmaq bread is called “nuskinikn.” The recipe for nuskinikn is made up of similar ingredients as those for luski, but it is often made with raisins and then baked and served like scones or tea biscuits.
The Membertou community, located on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, is home to the Kiju’s restaurant, which focuses on local cuisine. Visitors to Cape Breton Island can explore Mi’kmaq culture at Membertou Heritage Park and then go to Kiju’s for a meal or a cooking class that highlights local ingredients. Mi’kmaq cuisine is also a highlight at many of the powwows across the Canadian Maritimes and Maine, such as the Potlotek Pow Wow on Chapel Island in Bras d’Or Lake in Nova Scotia or the Halifax International Pow Wow in Nova Scotia.
Grape Dumplings
Grape dumplings are a popular dish in general native cuisine and are most closely associated with the Southern tribes such as the Cherokee, the Choctaw and the Chickasaw. The different versions of this recipe were created using wild grapes or muscadines found in the warm humid climates across the southeastern and south-central United States from eastern Oklahoma to the Atlantic Coast. Muscadines are tough-skinned wild grapes that grow in looser clusters than concord grapes.
Traditionally, the dumplings were made by cooking down wild grapes to form a jellylike sauce, but now most cooks use bottled grape juice cooked with a little sugar to make a thick, sweet grape sauce. The dumplings are a mixture of flour and grape juice mixed to form a thick dough. The dough is rolled out and sliced into squares that are then boiled in the grape sauce until cooked through.
Visitors to the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur, Oklahoma, should stop by the Aaimpa’ Café, where grape dumplings are featured on the menu. Guests can either get a dessert order of dumplings or try the Chickasaw Special, which includes an Indian taco; “pishofa,” a traditional Chickasaw dish made of cracked corn and pork; and grape dumplings.
