Native Harvests: Recipes & Botanicals of the American Indian
Registered by 
GoryDetails
of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 2/21/2016
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
GoryDetails of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 2/21/2016 This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
I found this fair-condition softcover at a local thrift shop, and thought it looked intriguing: recipes and the history of foods used by Native American peoples in what is now the New England area.
Lots of good information here, historical and cultural - and culinary; I made notes on a couple of the recipes, including the "Sunflower Seed Cakes". I was pleased to see Jerusalem artichokes mentioned, as I have a nice stand of them growing beside my house - a very tasty and low-maintenance perennial. (The recipe for raccoon pie may have to wait a while; there are plenty of raccoons in the area but I don't think the neighbors would appreciate my hunting them in our back yards!)
There are chapters on medicinal plants, beverages flavored with sap, herbs, or berries, the many types of plants used for smoking (including, of course, Nicotiana itself - though I only use the flowering-tobacco form of that, for its beautifully-scented blooms), and natural chewing gums. Note that some of the plants listed can be toxic - indeed, there's a section on poisonous plants. But it complicates matters to find that one part of a plant might be a useful foodstuff while another is lethal, or that plants range in toxicity at different points in their development, or based on methods of preparation. So do be careful if you want to sample wild plants!
[I've visited the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC, and strongly recommend it - not least for its excellent Mitsitam Cafe, which serves foods from five different regions in the Americas, including the Northern Woodlands, South America, the Northwest Coast, Meso America and the Great Plains, with each station offering delicious dishes featuring ingredients familiar to the tribes in those regions. Closer to home is the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard MA, including exhibits from local tribal cultures; last time I was there they had a "three sisters" garden featuring the traditional corn, beans and squash plantings. The book began with research at the Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington, CT, a place I'd like to visit some time.]
Lots of good information here, historical and cultural - and culinary; I made notes on a couple of the recipes, including the "Sunflower Seed Cakes". I was pleased to see Jerusalem artichokes mentioned, as I have a nice stand of them growing beside my house - a very tasty and low-maintenance perennial. (The recipe for raccoon pie may have to wait a while; there are plenty of raccoons in the area but I don't think the neighbors would appreciate my hunting them in our back yards!)
There are chapters on medicinal plants, beverages flavored with sap, herbs, or berries, the many types of plants used for smoking (including, of course, Nicotiana itself - though I only use the flowering-tobacco form of that, for its beautifully-scented blooms), and natural chewing gums. Note that some of the plants listed can be toxic - indeed, there's a section on poisonous plants. But it complicates matters to find that one part of a plant might be a useful foodstuff while another is lethal, or that plants range in toxicity at different points in their development, or based on methods of preparation. So do be careful if you want to sample wild plants!
[I've visited the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC, and strongly recommend it - not least for its excellent Mitsitam Cafe, which serves foods from five different regions in the Americas, including the Northern Woodlands, South America, the Northwest Coast, Meso America and the Great Plains, with each station offering delicious dishes featuring ingredients familiar to the tribes in those regions. Closer to home is the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard MA, including exhibits from local tribal cultures; last time I was there they had a "three sisters" garden featuring the traditional corn, beans and squash plantings. The book began with research at the Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington, CT, a place I'd like to visit some time.]
Journal Entry 2 by GoryDetails at Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, Massachusetts USA on Sunday, March 6, 2016
GoryDetails at Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, Massachusetts USA on Sunday, March 6, 2016
Released 8 yrs ago (3/6/2016 UTC) at Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, Massachusetts USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I plan to leave this book somewhere near the entrance to the marvelous Fruitlands historical site and museum complex at around noon; hope the finder enjoys it! *** Released as part of the 2016 Oh, the Places We Can Go release challenge. ***
*** Released as part of the 2016 Wine+Food release challenge. ***
