"Silver and Turquoise Ball" at Talking Stick Resort April 13, 2013

Our Apaches in the Kitchen crew are assisting in a large fundraiser called "The Silver and Turquoise Ball" which benefits the Phoenix Indian Center. This event is on April 13 at Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. I developed the menu and our crew will aid in the event production. This event is expected to draw 450 people and we have developed the four course menu to reflect our Apaches in the Kitchen crew as well as Indigenous Foods of the Americas. Stay tuned for images.

Here is a clip promoting the event.

Here is a link to the event website

http://silverandturquoiseball.com/

Indigenous Culinary Culture Building 2013

This is the first post since the NACA Indigenous Food Culture Conference that we held in November. The event went well. We are now two months into the 2012-2013 Winter Ski Season at Sunrise Park Resort. Our entire crew experienced a tremendous amount of growth this year. Together we have won our first award at a Chef's Competition in Phoenix AZ. 

AIGA Chef's Competition 11/13/12 First Place Winning Crew: Left to Right: Exec Director Valerie Spicer, Vina Reidhead, Chef Nephi Craig, Vincent Way, Juwon Hendricks, Nancy James and AIGA Chair Timothy Hinton

We have traveled to New Mexico to cook for 250 people for a wedding. We have trained an entire new staff of young and committed chefs in training. Vincent Way aka Vinny, is now working as a sous chef in training on the saute station and producing consistent dishes for the restaurant and our Chef's Table. Every year this kitchen is like a training ground for cooks. We process them in, they learn to cook and see some amazing interpretations of Native American Cuisine. Hopefully they choose to stay with us through out the year and into next season.

NACA Conference: Left to right: Chris Rodriguez, Valerie Segrest, Vincent Way, Nephi Craig, Walter Whitewater, Lois Ellen Frank, Arlie Doxtator, Jason Champagne

Native Chefs Feeding the Apache Community: Vincent Way,
Walter Whitewater, Arlie Doxtator, Mark Mason, Jason Champagne, Nephi Craig,

As the Chef of Apaches in the Kitchen, I am excited about the future. We have done some amazing work in developing Native American Cuisine and community building. The NACA Conference was an amazing way to meet and see other Native Chefs. Post NACA Conference, Vinny, went to stage at Black Sheep Cafe with Chef Mark Mason and he returned recharged and ready to start the season. He brought back a wealth of experiences and has grown as a result. One of our NACA Scholars is now employed with us as a line cook and doing great! We are working on a Gastronomy Program in Character Building by Activating Ancestral Knowledge in food and agriculture. 

Gathering River Stones at the bottom
of the Salt River Canyon: Ari Carter Craig /Nephi Craig

We have plans to visit Kyle Knox with the Natwani Coalition in Hopi for their planting season. We also plan to work more with The People's Farm and they have been gracious enough to ask us what we want them to grow for our restaurant! We have launched a foraging program where we scout for and obtain wild foods, this will run into the summer. We have also made long treks into various parts of the White Mountain Apache  Reservation to locate objects to act as serving vessels for our Chef's Table this season. The land has power and we are "borrowing" that to showcase and present our interpretations of Native American Cuisine that is being produced in the high mountains on the White Mountain Apache Tribe. 

First Course: Chefs Table, Capturing time and place

At the conference I mentioned to those in attendance that we were holding a coccus in a very appropriate place, the high mountains. Since time immemorial Native Peoples have gone to the mountains for guidance, prayer and council...that is exactly what we did for the NACA Conference in an attempt to revitalize our sacred cosmological relationship with our plant and animal relatives. This work will continue.

The land has memory. The land holds lessons. This image at the left is of our "Apache Trail Mix" as served on the Chef's Table, a first course. The white stone it is served on is from Cibecue at Salt Creek. The juice in the shot glass is "Apache Cool-Aid" or a beverage made from sumac berries. The print out is an intro sheet on NANA for whom will appear later in the procession of dishes as Sauce Nana. We are fortunate to be in our ancestral land.

Sunrise Park Resort: White Mountain Apache Tribe 2013

                                                                                         

We continue to work and be the change we want to see in our community. Indigenous Food and Agriculture continue to teach us lessons while our sacred mountains bring the winds, snow and people for us to feed as Apaches in the Kitchen. 

Stay tuned!

NACA Indigenous Food Culture Conference Presenters

We have assembled some of the best Native Indigenous professional talent out there today. We are extremely excited and grateful to be hosting these important presenters from across Indian Country. This blog, Apaches in the Kitchen, details our collective journey and now is beginning to involve the pathway of others. In the beginning we, the culinary staff at Sunrise Park Resort, talked about this. I shared a vision of Culinary Culture Building in our community and how it can affect other communities as well. This culinary events symbolizes how we as Apaches in the Kitchen are making that vision a reality, together.



ABOUT PRESENTERS:

Claudia Serrato

Claudia Serrato, MA

Bio: Foundress of Sac(RED) (WOMB)yn, Doctoral Student of Medical Anthropology, co-author of Decolonial Food  For Thought blog, alternative Cocinera and Womb Ecologist, and co-president of the Native Organization of Indigenous Scholars (NOIS) at the University of Washington.

Valerie Segrest

Valerie Segrest, Author, Scholar and Nutrition Educator

Bio: Valerie Segrest is a member of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and works as a native nutrition educator for the Northwest Indian College’s Traditional Plants Program. She coordinates the Muckleshoot Food Sovereignty Project. She co-authored the book Feeding the People, Feeding the Spirit: Revitalizing Coastal Indian Food Culture.

Chris Rodriguez

Chris Rodriguez, Chef/Scholar

Bio: Chris Rodriguez is a Xicano, professional chef and co-creator of the grassroots community health project Decolonial Food For Thought. He is an independent scholar and political commentator on native and Indigenous food autonomy and sovereignty movements in Mesoamerica.

Lois Ellen Frank

Lois Ellen Frank, Ph.D.

Bio: Lois Ellen Frank is a working Chef at Red Mesa Cuisine, a Native American Catering Company specializing in locally sourced, seasonal Native American foods. She is also a James Beard Award winning cookbook author of Foods of the Southwest Indian Nations. Her work is internationally known and influences a generation of Native Chefs.

Walter Whitewater

Walter Whitewater, Chef/Author

Bio: Walter Whitewater is a working Chef at Red Mesa Cuisine, a Native American Catering Company specializing in locally sourced, seasonal Native American foods. Chef Whitewater is also a James Beard Award winning cookbook co-author of Foods of the Southwest Indian Nations. His work is internationally known and influences an entire generation of Native Chefs.

Kyle Knox

Kyle Knox, Farmer at Natwani Coalition

Bio: Kyle is Hopi and Akimel O’odham (Pima) from the village of Kykotsmovi and is a member of the Coyote clan. Mr. Knox has a BA in Fine Arts and Media Production from ASU and brings his experience as an active Hopi farmer to help shape the future of the Natwani Coalition.

Jason Champagne

Jason Champagne, MA student in Public Health and Dietetics

Bio: Jason Champagne is a member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, a graduate student at University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and a graduate of the Le Cordon Bleu culinary arts program. Jason has three years of experience working for Walt Disney World as a culinary professional. Champagne’s unique combination of the culinary arts and dietetics produce a unique approach to health conscious foods to combat diabetes.

April Adams

April “Bleu” Adams, Owner/Operator at Black Sheep Café

Bio:   April is Navajo, Hidatsa and Mandan descent originally from Provo, Utah.  April started in the food business selling homemade Navajo foods at countless pow wow’s and events over the years. On September 1, 2011 April her husband, family and sister signed a lease for 19 N University in Provo. Utah. This is the location of Black Sheep Café, of which April Adams is owner and operator of this successful independent restaurant. 

  

Mark Mason

Mark Daniel Mason, Executive Chef of Black Sheep Café

Bio: Mark is Navajo, Hidatsa and Mandan descent originally from Morenci, AZ.  Mark Mason has been cooking since age 8. Chef Mark lists his mother and great grandmother as early influences. Mark has experience working at Marcellino’s Ristorante in Scottsdale, AZ working under the tutelage of Master Chef Marcellino Verzino. Chef Mark Mason is currently the Executive Chef of Black Sheep Café in Provo, Utah.

(Photo of Vanya unavailable)

Vanya Szabo, MS 

Bio: Vanya Szabo is from Bulgaria and currently works as a Program Coordinator with Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health at the Center’s Whiteriver, Arizona office. Her work has focused primarily on implementing Edible School garden curriculum and building a school garden at Cibecue Schools, coordinating Traditional Apache Plants program, helping families start their own gardens and starting the first Farmers Market on White Mountain Apache reservation.

(Photo unavailable)

Andrea Beatty, White Mountain Apache Wild Foods Specialist

Bio: Andrea Beatty is a member of the White Mountain Apache Tribe, born and raised in Cibecue, Arizona. She is currently working with Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health on developing and implementing the Traditional Apache Plants curriculum. She is knowledgeable in indigenous plants and foods, skillful crafter in making cradle boards, coil and burden baskets, water tus, and moccasins. She enjoys gardening and cooking traditional Apache meals.

Loretta Barrett Oden

Loretta Barrett Oden, Chef/TV host/Lecturer

Bio: Loretta owned Native Foods Restaurant called Corn Dance Café in Santa Fe, New Mexico for 10 years. She is the host of the Emmy Award Winning TV series “Seasoned with Spirit, A Native Chef’s Journey.” She has been featured on “Good Morning America,” “The Today Show,” “In Food Today” and “Cooking Live” and in numerous publications including the New York Times.

Arlie Doxtator

Arlie Doxtator, Oneida Executive Chef of Bear Paw Cafe

Bio: Arlie Doxtator has 27 years of professional culinary experience as a First Nations Chef in Hotel/Casino, independent, private resort and corporate food service. Chef Arlie has been featured in numerous publications including Native People's Magzine. Chef Doxtator specializes in the research and study of the indigenous foods of the Lotinishoni--People of the Long House, and their importance of their existence in the future. 

Nephi Craig

Nephi Craig, Chef/Founder of NACA and Executive Chef

Bio: Nephi Craig is the Chef and Founder of The Native American Culinary Association or NACA. Chef Craig has 14 years of professional experience as a Native Chef. Chef Craig has cooked all over the world in Germany, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Japan specializing in Native American Cuisine. Chef Craig is the creator of the Apaches in the Kitchen blog. Craig currently serves as Executive Chef for the Sunrise Park Resort Hotel on the White Mountain Apache Tribe.

These short biographies do not do these individuals justice. You can do you own independent research and learn more about these individuals. Come and join us at Sunrise Park Resort, on the White Mountain Apache Tribe!

For more information contact naculinaryassoc@gmail.com 

or call the Sunrise Park Resort Hotel at (928)-735-7669. Space is limited!

Kitchen Photographs

The work we have chosen to engage in is satisfying. Cooking on the White Mountain Apache Tribe as a Native Chef is one of the most important moments in my pathway, and hopefully it is just as important for my crew of APACHES IN THE KITCHEN. We push onward, experiencing the growing pains of an evolving kitchen. This is a humble kitchen, yet this kitchen is providing me with some of the most important culinary, cultural and personal experiences of my life as a chef. 

There is so much to write about but I decided to share some photos with you. Enjoy!

Chef's Table Course: Salmon, three sisters, sauce N'Dee

On this day in July, sous chef Vincent Way, line cook Michael Ivans jr, went outside in the forest and picked Wild Lambs Quarters for our menu. They are pictured here picking the leaves and cleaning the plants. 

Chefs picking White Mountain Apache Lambs Quarters

Cedar Planked Salmon. An homage to the Pacific Northwest Salmon People. This method is recognized right away by our staff as a Native Technique. We have had many creative conversations about this technique.

Pictured here are two members of the 'Apaches in the Kitchen'. Lead Line Cook, Nancy James and Kitchen Porter, Noreen Wool. They are preparing a White Mountain Apache favorite, Western Apache Racket Bread. You can see that they are clearly enjoying the practice.

Salmon Roasted and resting on Cedar Planks. Delicious!

Here is Kitchen Porter, Herman Skidmore doing a bit of quality control. Note the sign above the door way.

Apache humor is a constant. You can only understand it by living it. What a life in cuisine we share!

 This is Clayton Harvey, he is the farmer at the People's Farm in Whiteriver. The Peoples Farm is a very important project. This was on a day where I invited him and another farmer Darlene to a "Farmer's Chef Table" in our kitchen. They had an amazing time and enjoyed seeing their food put to use.

 Here is the crew after the Farmers Chef Table. At Sunrise Park Resort, we are in the sacred high mountains. This is an appropriate place for the evolution, study and practice of our form of Native American Cuisine in this era.

This image is of kids from the White Mountain Apache Head Start during a Sledding and Culinary Excursion in 2012. We did a cooking demonstration for them and prepared fresh pasta by hand. They were amazed!

Here the Kitchen Staff gets their first sight and taste of a Pacific Northwest delicacy, A Whole Roasted Salmon Head with herbs. This was also instantly recognized as a very special Native Technique. I explained that it is often reserved for the Elders of a family.

This beautiful dish continues to amaze and evolve. Roasted Marrow Bones with Frybread. What an Apache Delicacy!

This is a amazing dish. Western Apache Acorn Stew with Dumplings, Western Apache Racket Bread and Bone Marrow. This is a spectacular homage to our Apache history. So much history, culture and sense of place is in this beautiful dish. I am positive our ancestors are proud of this one!

APACHES IN THE KITCHEN WINTER CREW 2011-2012

Many of these young men have grown and moved into other kitchens with the training received in our kitchen. It has been an honor to work with you all Chefs! Pictured left to right: William Hawkins/Garde Manger, Michael Ivans jr/Apprentice, Vincent Way/sous chef in training, Marques Hinton/Saute Station, Nephi Craig/Exec Chef, Ivoury Thompson/Waitstaff, Sean Johnson/Grill Station, 

Deron Lee aka 'Skip'/Apprentice. 

PARTICIPATE IN YOUR OWN EVOLUTION.

photo courtesy of the Navajo Times

In this photo a special family friend and photographer, Mr. Bill Hess joined us in the kitchen and preserved an important night for us all. It was a busy dinner service and we had a Chef's Table going in the background. Thank you Bill!

Water is life. It is always an amazing experience to work vigilantly with clarity as a friend.

Exec Chef Nephi Craig on the line.

 This is the humble kitchen where we work day and night. Without people, without our crew, it is just an old empty kitchen.

Come and visit us at Sunrise Park Resort! 

NDEE BIKIYAA or "The People's Farm"

The People's Farm Logo

The People's Farm is in Whiteriver, Arizona in a part of the community we call Canyon Day. It is situated on what used to be a farm that I remember seeing when I was just a kid about the same age as my son or younger. As a chef and community member this farm is indeed something special. We have had the time to develop working relationships with the farmers and I can say that they have the best interests of the people in mind. These farm workers understand the 'cosmological relationship' with our food relatives and with our Mother Earth. Sitting down to a conversation with the farmers is very interesting. They speak of the foods with a special fondness, the nurturing element is heard loud and clear. The way they speak about agriculture is very much like I speak about cooking.

We planted onions in May that we now use in our kitchen.

In this photo (left) as the Farm Manager, Mike Henry, planted onions with us, he told stories that had been passed to him from elders. He spoke of the time before vehicles and tractors to plow fields. He talked about work ethic in the Apache way, that despite the lack of modern equipment, the fields still were plowed and the cattle still tended. The moral of the story that day was that there was no excuse for us to be lazy today, that our elders possessed the tenacity and work ethic then and we have no excuses today.

What a profound story that resounded with me because I tell similar stories in our kitchen. We constantly reinforce Apache values like tenacity, work ethic and working together. I knew from this first day I volunteered at the farm to help plant onions, that this group of people were as passionate and serious about their work as I was about being a Chef. It was a powerful realization to know that and understand what they were talking about, their struggles with social misunderstanding were very similar to ours as Apaches in the Kitchen. 

Historically Apaches have not been "chefs" so to speak but we have been cooking since time immemorial, well this also applies to Apache Agriculture in my opinion. The perception of Apache as farmers in the past may not strike someone as being historically accurate but in reality agriculture has also been a part of our lives and culture since time immemorial. So we push forward with work that we believe is extremely important. I think we recognize that our culture and the entire world suffer from a profound disconnection with the land and where our food comes from and who nurtures it. Food does not just appear, someone in the field has planted, been in the dirt, devoted their time and labor to the care of crops. Someone has cultivated an intimate understanding with the land, wind, water and seasons to bring healthy and fresh food to you and your family. I think the gift of agriculture that it is something that teaches many life lessons, and I have adopted a belief from one of our NACA Indigenous Food Culture Conference presenters that, "Plants and Trees are our first teachers." What a profound statement that speaks to humility and understanding the world in such an interconnected way. They have this mindset in place at The People's Farm in Whiteriver.

This image to the right of the farm staff planting onions was taken months ago. Today, the onions are being sold to the community at a local Farmers Market and now we 'Apaches in the Kitchen' are fortunate to be cooking dishes with their foods. Today the farm has corn about 6 feet tall and sunflowers that tower at similar heights. There are vines filled with scallop squash, patty pans, zucchini and yellow squash. Green beans, chilies, tomatoes, lettuce, melons, potatoes, and asparagus in its first year all are nurtured daily by the staff. I ensured them that we would take care of "their babies" in our kitchen.

In conversations with the farm staff they spoke of "talking to the plants" revisiting them and saying "hello" each day. They poked fun at themselves saying that they never thought they would be talking to plants. "They are really like our babies", one farmer said. That's when I told them that I would make the circle complete by feeding them in our restaurant with their own vegetables. They accepted and came to our kitchen and I treated them to a "Farmers Chef Table" in our kitchen, but first we had to pick our own vegetables.

Ari and Nephi Craig

This is an image (left) taken during the second week of August. My son Ari and I picked vegetables for a filmed pilot project on Native American Cuisine and Apaches in the Kitchen. I was adamant about bringing attention to the farm so we went there. The dialog with the farm staff was great. I had not been back there since I volunteered in May so to see the growth was a treat. I picked some of the same onions I planted. What a treat.

The People's Farm is an amazing place and coming from a Chef's perspective, it is such an honor and blessing to be able to support this farm and in turn they support us. By using the produce from the People's Farm it makes our cooking more unique and I know exactly who is growing our food and where it comes from. Simply knowing that we are cooking at a high level with vegetables grown by Apaches, for Apaches in the sacred soil on the White Mountain Apache Tribe produces a gratifying feeling I have not yet experienced in my pathway as a cook.

The People's Farm Produce ready to be prepared for the Farmer's Chef Table

This is a photo during our "Farmer's Chef Table" in our kitchen after picking our own produce. I'm explaining the dish we created in this photo. 

Meat Course:

Roasted Venison Loin, The People's Farm Smoked Potatoes, Wild Lambs Quarters, Pinons and Sauce Nana.

It was such an honor to be able to host the farmers in our kitchen and cook for them dishes that had evolved over time, dishes that reflected our White Mountain Apache Tribe, culture, heritage while expressing hopes for our collective posterity. We served them 5 courses and I personally invited them back for a much more in depth "Tour of Native America through Cuisine". They gladly accepted and we are excited to host them again.

Happy Farmers Clayton and Darlene with Apaches in the Kitchen Crew after the Farmer's Chef Table on August 10, 2012

Native American Culinary Culture Building 2012

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL FARMER! 

NACA Indigenous Food Culture Conference

The Native American Culinary Association is hosting an Indigenous Food Culture Conference in November. The NACA Planning Group has selected a stellar line up of Native/Indigenous Food Professionals for this unique community oriented conference on The White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona. This will be here at the Sunrise Park Resort Hotel, this site was chosen because of this APACHES IN THE KITCHEN blog, the people that make our restaurant/kitchen what it is and also our readers. Thank you!

Here is a general information flyer. There will be more information coming very soon!

Native American Culinary Culture Building 2012

Community Culinary Culture Building Workshop 5-18-12

I am pleased to announce our Culinary Culture Building Workshop at the 

Sunrise Park Resort Hotel

DATE: Friday, May 18, 2012

TIME: 9:30 am through 2:30 pm

Price: Sixty Five ($65) dollars per person

Come and support the development of culinary culture and food systems on the White Mountain Apache Tribe!

Contact

Executive Chef Nephi Craig

Phone: (928)-735-7669 ext.2288

Email: hotel@sunriseskipark.com