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"Some food historians say that 1491 to 1493 are the years the world began--in terms of food, that is. Prior to 1492, eight plants--corn, beans, squash, chile, tomato, potato, vanilla, and cacao--existed only in the Americans. ... When these ingredients crossed the ocean, they drastically transformed the way the Old World would eat and cook forever. Yet the average American ... doesn't know this history. [This book] introduces the splendor and importance of Native culinary history and pairs it with ... Native American-inspired dishes. Grounded in a primer on Native American cuisine and with a necessary discussion of food sovereignty and sustainability, Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky shares more than 100 nutritious, plant based recipes organized by each of the foundational ingredients"--
About the author
Lois Ellen Frank, PhD, is a Santa-Fe based, James Beard Award-winning author, chef, Native foods historian, educator, and photographer. Dr. Frank has spent over 30 years documenting foods and life ways of Native Americans from the Southwest. She received her PhD from the University of New Mexico in Cultural Anthropology focusing on the discourse and practice of Native American cuisine and was a Culinary Ambassador Diplomat with the U.S. State Department and Office of Cultural Affairs.
Walter Whitewater is from the Diné (Navajo) Nation. He is now a chef with Red Mesa Cuisine, specializing in Native American Cuisine using ancestral foods with a modern twist. The Culinary Advisor on the James Beard Award-winning cookbook, Foods of the Southwest Indian Nations, Chef Whitewater won the James Lewis Award for his work as a Native chef.
Summary
This enriching cookbook celebrates eight important plants Native Americans introduced to the rest of the world: corn, beans, squash, chile, tomato, potato, vanilla, and cacao—with more than 100 recipes.
When these eight Native American plants crossed the ocean after 1492, the world’s cuisines were changed forever. In Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky, James Beard Award-winning author and chef Lois Ellen Frank introduces the splendor and importance of this Native culinary history and pairs it with delicious, modern, plant-based recipes using Native American ingredients. Along with Native American culinary advisor Walter Whitewater, Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky shares more than 100 nutritious, plant‑based recipes organized by each of the foundational ingredients in Native American cuisine as well as a necessary discussion of food sovereignty and sustainability.
A delicious, enlightening celebration of Indigenous foods and Southwestern flavors, Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky shares recipes for dishes such as Blue Corn Hotcakes with Prickly Pear Syrup, Three Sisters Stew, and Green Chile Enchilada Lasagna, as well as essential basics like Corn Masa, Red and Green Chile Sauces, and Cacao Spice Rub. The “Magic 8” ingredients share the page—and plate—to create recipes that will transform your world.
Foreword
James Beard Award-winning author's plant-based celebration of the eight plants Native Americans introduced to the rest of the world-corn, beans, squash, chili, tomato, potato, vanilla, and cacao-with more than 100 recipes.
