04/11/2022
The beauty of being Native American has to be in our culture & the traditional teachings passed down from generation to generation.
Those teachings are beautifully reflected in our cuisine, from growing to harvesting ingredients such as corn, as well as making the culinary juniper ash (Gàad) used in corn dishes. There is a reverance for each ingredient used.
We look to the phases of the moon to know when to plant corn, there are songs for the corn (Nàadaa bi'yíin) & songs that are sung during the harvest of the corn. The corn pollen (Tàda'díín) is used for ceremonial purposes & prayer, the husk is used for kneel down bread or Navajo cake (Ałkàan).
I keep all this in mind with my creations, from growing blue corn, burning the juniper, sifting the ash & incorporating in my blue corn desserts. The ash not only unlocks the nutrients in blue corn but makes it more alkaline & acts as a preservative.
