tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52191210344715164182024-03-12T20:40:52.917-07:00Apaches in the Kitchennephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-9180123025756138082015-11-22T13:59:00.000-08:002015-11-28T11:31:34.136-08:00Ancestral Justice through Indigenous Foods<div style="text-align: justify;">
I learned many things from my late father. Often many things he taught me return unexpectedly. As chefs, we cook for years rarely creating something uniquely our own. This is a dish that I know is something I created. This is special and there is a spiritual and cosmic story behind this delectable activation of Ancestral Memory in cuisine.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Western Apache Seed Mix by Chef Nephi Craig</td></tr>
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This is a dish that evolved over time. The core element is the Pre-Reservation Western Apache Seed Mix. This mixture of seeds has many diverse combinations which can include the seeds of squash, tree nuts of the region, sunflowers, oak, grasses, corn, and other wild edibles. </div>
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This mixture of seeds is gathered all spring, summer, and fall and stored for winter. It is appropriate to serve this dish in the late autumn and winter. In the spirit of oral story telling this dish has a deep story to tell that I will share with you in what this dish represents and how it is a cosmic message from my ancestors, my father, our sacred memory and our profound era of Indigenous resurgence in Turtle Island. Food is a powerful element of that history and is edible education.</div>
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This seed mix would have been stored for winter consumption, given to travelers, and also favored by the renowned Apache Scouts for its light weight transport of nutrition, just like the Ninjas of Iga, Japan had power-foods, Western Apaches are just as tactful in warfare and love for our Ancestral Landscape. My introduction to this seed mix changed my life as a chef forever. It solidified the truth of Ancestral Taste and Ancestral Memory for me. The enjoyable bitter flavors and light sweetness of dried fruit speak to an age before refined sugars and salty foods. This is the evidence of our plant based pre-reservation diet and speaks volumes to Ancestral Health before our current age of public health epidemic as a result of conquest, colonization and the wide spread fall out affects of Historical Trauma across Indigenous communities. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vincent Craig 1950-2010</td></tr>
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The man to the left is my late father. His name is Vincent Craig. To quote the Wu-Tang Clan member the GZA's album Liquid Swords, <i>"When I was little, my father was famous. He was the greatest Samurai in the empire. He was the Shogun's decapitator. He cut off the heads of 131 lords. It was a bad time for the empire...my father would come home, he would forget about the killings. He wasn't scared of the Shogun, but the Shogun was scared of him." </i>My father was not a Samurai per se, and I quote that album because, if you have heard that particular track on the album, that is the sentiment instilled in me about my father. He was a great man. A United States Marine Corps Sergeant, a former police office for the Navajo Nation, the Salt River Tribe, and the White Mountain Apache Tribe. He was a sharpshooter in the USMC and he restored and built Viet Nam era Huey Helicopters toward the end of his life. </div>
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As this picture shows, he was most well known as a singer and songwriter and to quote my dad, "Laughter is the best medicine"...he was a healer in that he used our Dine Bizaad (Navajo Language), our cultural intricacies and his musical ability to create songs and tell stories to our people. In my mind my father was combating and relieving the spiritual and emotional ailments of historical trauma, unresolved grief and damaged psycho self-perceptions of our people because of colonialism by highlighting our strengths and best qualities through 'Gloh' or humor. So yes, my father was "the greatest Samurai in the empire" and he cut off the heads of the many spiritual/psychological monsters of Colonialism with his music. He died 24 years sober, and above all this man was my father, the cool and often goofy ol'man chillin sitting on the floor by the couch in this sleep-pants and white t-shirt enjoying his time in front of the television, often providing commentary for what ever might be on at any given moment. My father taught me about sobriety and a traditional Navajo philosophy that would also change my life early on as a chef. This planning philosophy is what influences the plating design of this dish and is articulated below.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Western Apache Cooking and Cuisine by Nephi Craig </td></tr>
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This is Western Apache Cooking and Cuisine and this dish to the right is one that I feel is truly an original of mine.</div>
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Western Apache Seed Mix Fritter, Honey Braised Butternut Squash, Roasted Butternut Squash chutney, poached Butternut pearls, Pinon Cloud, Chocolate, Agave, Amaranth and Citrus Marigolds.</div>
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Elements of the Dish:</div>
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<b>Chocolate</b> - Represents the ancestral and highly intelligent trade routes from Mesoamerica into my region in northern Arizona aka Western Apacheria.</div>
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<b>Amaranth</b> - Represents the trade routes. It is also used in direct historical/ancestral resistance to/and a middle finger to Hernan Cortes, the Spanish Conquistidor who condemned to death anyone found possessing or cultivating this sacred food. This plant relative is also in our prayer bundles of plants in our region in the Southwest. Amaranth, to me, also represents micro-galaxies and our cosmological relationship with our plant food/medicine relatives.</div>
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<b>Butternut Squash</b> - Seasonal sweet squash is also female, carrying inside the cavity seeds of survivance. Apache and Navajo cultures are matrilineal societies and this squash speaks to that fact. This squash is chosen for it's deep sweet flavor and beautiful color. It is indigenous to the Americas.</div>
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<b>Pinon Cloud</b> - Also known as Pinon Whipped Cream. This is an indigenized ingredient. Dairy from cows are not indigenous to the Americas, however Pinon or pine nuts are. Pinon is an ancestral and widely favored taste. The rich toasted pine nut has a high fat content, so does the heavy cream and they fuse well. I simply toast, crush and steep the pine nuts in heavy cream sweetened with honey and allow to steep over night. The following day, I stir, strain and whip. If you see this anywhere else, it came from 'The Apaches in the Kitchen'.</div>
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<b>Marigolds</b> - These special flowers have been used since time immemorial to remember and honor our ancestors. (My late sister was named 'Flower'.) Aztecs see the marigold as a symbol of invasion of the Spanish and near eradication of an ancestral way of life. In the language of flowers Marigold means, "pain and grief" and signifies a wish to comfort one who is grieving. These are used as a gesture of comfort for our Indigenous people as we engage in social recovery from the damages of shape-shifting colonialism. In remembrance of our ancestors we offer comfort and commitment to live out our Indigenous responsibility of restoration/recovery and therefore achieving Ancestral Justice. </div>
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That is not the extent of the dish. There is tactful storytelling in the plating process. Like sacred sandpainting tells an epic story of healing and self-determination, this plating is an effort to activate the same principles. It was my father, Vincent Craig, who first told me of this Navajo Problem Solver or Planning philosophy, which as my father said to me, was a gift from creator for people to live good lives. This has been in use since time immemorial among the people of Dinetah.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ancestral Justice in Western Apache Cuisine by Chef Nephi Craig (click to enlarge) </td></tr>
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<i>The diagram shows our four sacred mountains in Navajo Land and the Planning Philosophy.</i><br />
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<b>Look at the plate like a compass with the four sacred mountains also on the plate. </b></div>
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<b>Nitsahakees,</b> on the plate, is the birth of an idea and in this conceptual universe nothing is tangible yet. The empty space on the plate is the unseen world of thoughts and ideas.</div>
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<b>Nahat'a,</b> on the plate, is the planning stage or the intangible development of flavors, histories and mise en place. This is still in the realm of the unseen but very powerful thought.</div>
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<b>Iina,</b> on the plate, is doing the plan' or the production phase where the plan or mise en place is built. The dish takes shape.</div>
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<b>Sihasin</b>, on the plate, the outcome/result, and as my father told me a time for reflection and planning to do it all again. Here the fritter is complete and an Indigenous Sensory Experience is created. </div>
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The ultimate goal of the dish is to activate Ancestral Knowledge and create a powerful taste experience. You can see the progression from the void on the plate in the conceptual and planning phase of the Apache Seed Mix to the production of and creation of the entire dish culminating in the north with the Western Apache Seed Mix Fritter sweetened with Agave.</div>
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As the dish flows with various histories of Amaranth, Chocolate, Apache Seed Mix, Indigeneity, Resurgence, and galaxies represented by Amaranth all floating over and under the Pinon Clouds. We offer comfort, beauty and determination with the Marigold petals. </div>
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The combination of nurturing Ancestral Landscape, developing Decolonization Strategies, invigorating Indigenous Food-ways, living a life on the Red Road and caring for our Indigenous Community first is upholding our responsibility to our ancestors so that they did not die in vain. The combination of all these life-ways is ultimately a living example of Ancestral Justice. It happens one person at a time. This is the revolution of our age. </div>
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This is for my wife and kids, for my mother, my father, my sister, my brothers and our ancestors. </div>
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Participate in your own evolution. Wisdom Sits in Places. Life is the Ceremony.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ancestral Justice through Indigenous Foods </td></tr>
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<br />nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-1202029575319871022015-09-30T19:25:00.000-07:002015-09-30T20:20:37.043-07:002015 NACA Indigenous Food Symposium<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>These are the faces of the presenters for this years gathering of Indigenous Food practitioners that will be converging at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, Arizona on November 12 & 13, 2015. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>This is a one of a kind gathering of Indigenous people in the realm of food and health. Each individual brings a unique perspective and voice. Come and join your fellow Indigenous Food & Health Compatriots as we continue to build the foundation for Indigenous health through food-ways across Indigenous communities.</i></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indigenous Presenters for the 2015 NACA Indigenous Food Symposium in Tucson, Arizona</td></tr>
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For more information and registration details visit: <a href="https://www.desertmuseum.org/visit/basketry/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #f1c232;">https://www.desertmuseum.org/visit/basketry/</span></a>nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-12744925378456147702015-09-30T19:14:00.002-07:002015-09-30T19:14:57.826-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The 2015 NACA Indigenous Food Symposium is around the corner. For registration information visit this site:</b></span> <a href="https://www.desertmuseum.org/visit/basketry/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">https://www.desertmuseum.org/visit/basketry/</span></b></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">This will be a one of a kind gathering of Indigenous scholars, cooks, community members and chefs.</span></b></div>
<br />nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-91421503893784032252015-09-30T19:09:00.000-07:002015-09-30T19:34:47.511-07:00Taste of Native Cuisine: Chef Dinner and Reception <br />
In conjunction with the 2015 NACA Indigenous Food Symposium, we are proud to announce this special benefit dinner during the event on November 13, 2015. <br />
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Seating is limited. Make your reservations today at <a href="https://www.desertmuseum.org/visit/basketry/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ffd966;">https://www.desertmuseum.org/visit/basketry/</span></a><br />
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<br />nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-39018237751277909502015-01-25T00:00:00.001-08:002015-01-25T00:16:40.840-08:00Indigenous Culinary Trade Routes and Carriers of KnowledgeWestern Apache Cooking and Cuisine<br />
Pre-Reservation term for this region where our kitchen is located: Dzilgha'a<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pre-Reservation</td></tr>
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On this pre-reservation map of place names, take a look at the portion on the right called 'Dzilgha'a' near Mt. Baldy. That is where our kitchen is located. These mountains are sacred to us since time immemorial. Our entire way of life reflects this landscape and on an even deeper level, before the concentration prison camp that is every "Indian Reservation" in America, this landscape holds a profound form of Ancestral Knowledge. What makes our landscape different from some reservations in the United States, is that we are on our Ancestral Homeland, we did experience some dislocation, relocation and assimilation from Western society, still much of our life ways that were reflective of the land remained intact. This knowledge remains in various carriers of memory.<br />
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The first group of carriers of memory are the plants. The indigenous flora of our homeland hold medicinal and culinary applications that are woven into our clan-system, relationships with bands and routs of trade. Clans are named after places where medicine and food plant relatives grow, or where they choose to live.<br />
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The second is the terrain. In Dzilgha'a we are at 10,000 feet with peaks that still rise above us to 12,000 feet and more. To the lower end of our territory on the east end to an elevation of 4000 ft. We have an amazing array of foods, animals and terrain that carry memory, that carry our identity for us.<br />
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Third is the people, or N'Dee that are also carriers of memory. We also embody knowledge that is carried in our DNA, a spiritual awareness that can be difficult to describe but it is there. Many people embody indigenous principles in different ways, some speak Apache fluently, others are genuinely happy to be cooking and grateful, others are filled with laughter and humor. Some are knowledgeable about the landscape and wild foods that would put trained botanist/linguist and master chefs to the ultimate test.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinetah aka Navajo Nation </td></tr>
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Embodiment of Indigeneity and awareness of what we carry with us, often without knowing, is a powerful element of our collective communities. My late-father is Dineh from the eastern part of the Navajo Nation or Dinetah. I grew up on both reservations and have keen memories of food, ceremony, life, loss and growth on and off the reservations.<br />
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I am Nd'ee and Dineh. My son, my brothers and our boys are sons of sacred mountains, as are all other White Mountain Apaches and Navajo...we are sons of sacred mountains. These towering ancient beings are keepers of knowledge and humble power. There is no other place on earth like this. Despite generations of heartbreak and trauma, our peoples are resilient. In our Dzilgha'a Kitchen we are focusing on the human aspect of food and cooking. When we are in an age where we are starving for knowledge of indigeneity and health, the landscape still holds those messages. The people are conduits for this knowledge. My favorite phrase I learned in sobriety and in adulthood is, "Wisdom Sits in Places" because embodiment requires much more than simply, "understanding", it requires actual footwork, actual journey and conscious choice to seek out lessons and wisdom. This does not come when we want it, but rather when the power/knowledge chooses an individual, that is what I believe. Wisdom Sits in Places and waits for you to be ready.<br />
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That being said, for chefs, "Wisdom Sits in Places" too. There is a culinary program out on the eastern agency of the Navajo Nation, in the very same town that my late-father is from, the same place where I climbed the sandstones, threw rocks at my brothers and picked crystals out of the ground in amazement. The same places where Stinkbug speaks, where Monsters dwell in wait, where the darkness brings coyotes and trickery. This is Crownpoint, New Mexico. I have a working relationship with the culinary program there and we invited chefs to come and be stagiers with us in our Dzilgha'a Kitchen in the spirit of community building and revitalizing trade routes. When people gather, specifically chefs, when we gather our senses collaborate and create memories. These memories are the intangible building blocks of cuisine and indigeneity. These memories are what we create from and carry with us until the end of our lives, speaking of experience and drawing inspiration after moments have past. The intangible become tangible, we create from memory and in the indigenous realm of cooking, just like in ceremony, gathering of people in humility is where growth happens.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Claudia Serrato</td></tr>
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The Dineh Stagiers converged in our Dzilgha's Kitchen on January 1st through the 4th, 2015. We also had another guest with us for those same days. We had scholar, stagier and soon to be PhD Claudia Serrato with us in our kitchen. This was how we brought in the new year by celebrating and developing Indigenous foods as carriers/conduits of memory.<br />
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Claudia helped frame the experience and came to learn and to teach. She brought an indigenous skill set of observation and research methods to be employed while cooking with our Dineh and N'Dee chefs in this kitchen. Claudia helped to talk about the framework of mindfulness and sensitivity as we worked. She is studying the transfer of ancestral knowledge and helped us to better see how each chef embodies powerful knowledge that can be drawn on in our individual and collective practice as chefs. There is much to say about what Claudia brought to our kitchen that day and I will share a few images.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tYChe-Nwk6Y/VMSL6UIRkYI/AAAAAAAAAj4/A1Wph5hSY3Y/s1600/Claudia%2Bin%2BDzilgha'a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tYChe-Nwk6Y/VMSL6UIRkYI/AAAAAAAAAj4/A1Wph5hSY3Y/s1600/Claudia%2Bin%2BDzilgha'a.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Claudia Serrato teaching in the Dzilgha'a Kitchen. </td></tr>
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Here is an image that is taken just before dinner service in our kitchen. Claudia prepared and taught us how to make Quinoa Water. Here is the Dineh Stagiers, our Apache chefs and our Apache Waitstaff listening to her brief lecture on the process. They are also anxiously waiting to sample two types of Quinoa Water because after all, this is "edible ancestral knowledge". Above the door beam is one of our kitchen credos, "Participate in your own evolution".<br />
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As Claudia prepared the quinoa water and I was setting up my station on the line, I noticed that the quinoa water produced a froth that held its form for minutes. As a chef, I am not a fan of the trendy foams, nor do I make them on purpose, but this quinoa water produced a clean white froth that I saw and I decided to plate this dish of 'Carrots and Quinoa".<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tE2XU8m7c1M/VMSPNmkSspI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/mrQVsGhji3E/s1600/Quinoa%2Band%2BCarrot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tE2XU8m7c1M/VMSPNmkSspI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/mrQVsGhji3E/s1600/Quinoa%2Band%2BCarrot.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Western Apache. Quinoa and Carrots.</td></tr>
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This dish here is Sioux Maple syrup roasted baby carrot, carrot puree, a single turnip, toasted quinoa topped with the quinoa froth and garnished with carrot tops. This is a cold dish that is sweet and clean.<br />
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Our staff and stagiers enjoyed the quinoa water and we got back to service. As we were plating orders and the chefs were assisting us in the kitchen, we all talked and shared about food. We also prepared for the chef's table that they would observe the following day and at which Claudia would be a diner.<br />
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We talked about plate selection and intention. We talked about personalizing interpretation with indigenous foods and how we carry memory and embody culture.<br />
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Our kitchen days are long and intense. The following day our Apache culinary team and the Navajo chefs collaborated and produced my Chef's Table menu of 14 small courses. This was a plant based menu with only small portions of salmon and rabbit. As every Chef's Table goes, we are always too busy to take any photographs of the process but we did manage to capture a few images from a kitchen perspective and the diners took their own photos as well. Here are a few indigenous sensory collaborative dishes from that day on January 3, 2015.<br />
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Often our Chef's Table dishes are a mixture of Family Style for sharing and plated dishes. We celebrate artistry of plating but also familial sharing of food among diners. Her is a course by course description. The first two courses are not pictured. The next 12 photos were taken by my wife Jandi Craig.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qGaeB-L48ME/VMSSVpuRzQI/AAAAAAAAAl0/fR4dZtZcelU/s1600/CT%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qGaeB-L48ME/VMSSVpuRzQI/AAAAAAAAAl0/fR4dZtZcelU/s1600/CT%2B1.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apache Fries, Smoked Jalapeno, Smoke, citrus and Chive</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BNOxHjxDWIw/VMSSWe8o22I/AAAAAAAAAks/G2JK3ksGruQ/s1600/CT%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BNOxHjxDWIw/VMSSWe8o22I/AAAAAAAAAks/G2JK3ksGruQ/s1600/CT%2B2.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traditional Apache Corn Bread or Nada'Ban. This is made all over the White Mountain Apache Tribe and enjoyed by all. This dish was served to be shared. Delicious. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Yhr5O4P3iVQ/VMSSWvmZlrI/AAAAAAAAAkw/BrTbaFNqCPA/s1600/CT%2B3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Yhr5O4P3iVQ/VMSSWvmZlrI/AAAAAAAAAkw/BrTbaFNqCPA/s1600/CT%2B3.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is our Winter Vegetable Salad made with produce from our our local Apache Farm called, 'The People's Farm in Whiteriver AZ. Beets, Carrot, Kale, Parsnip, Turnip, and Acid</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bV4ZS3I4bz0/VMSSXNGBBxI/AAAAAAAAAk4/WCeMikzuIEQ/s1600/CT%2B4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bV4ZS3I4bz0/VMSSXNGBBxI/AAAAAAAAAk4/WCeMikzuIEQ/s1600/CT%2B4.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is our Dijizhii or Apache Beans and Preserved Summer Corn Soup. This is a very, very typical and traditional dish packed with umami notes because of the long simmer time and deep roasted/preserved corn flavor. This is Western Apache food that also made it into the August 2014 edition of Food and Wine Magazine. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-973350P755c/VMSSXUuwnxI/AAAAAAAAAk8/6sPz65nKIi8/s1600/CT%2B5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-973350P755c/VMSSXUuwnxI/AAAAAAAAAk8/6sPz65nKIi8/s1600/CT%2B5.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a tasting of Autumn Squash and a special kind called Gete-Okosomin Squash. The story goes that this cultivar was reintroduced from an 800 year old seed collection from the midwest tribes. I got a squash from another Native Chef and brought it home. It stayed in my home for months until I cut it open for this Chef's Table for the tasting menu and for the seeds. Here it is paired with our traditional Wild Apache tea from Bear Canyon in Whiteriver, Arizona.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--_X53sDxKT8/VMSSX2oiE2I/AAAAAAAAAlA/KrhMK2fWVGE/s1600/CT%2B6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--_X53sDxKT8/VMSSX2oiE2I/AAAAAAAAAlA/KrhMK2fWVGE/s1600/CT%2B6.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here we honor and acknowledge the Salmon People of the great Pacific Northwest with this tasting of Tribally Caught Nisqually Salmon from the Nisqually Nation. This was roasted on smoky cedar also from Nisqually and served with parsnip puree, Sun Choke and Smoked Fingerling Potatoes and heirloom beans. Also a small side of Three Sisters with Scarlet Runner Beans, Tepary Beans, Appaloosa Beans, Preserved/Fresh corn and Zucchini ribbons. Indigeneity 2015</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1fqc_DJks5s/VMSSYCA7KLI/AAAAAAAAAlE/wVB0M7a8jh8/s1600/CT%2B7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1fqc_DJks5s/VMSSYCA7KLI/AAAAAAAAAlE/wVB0M7a8jh8/s1600/CT%2B7.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This dish is one from Navajo Land. This is traditional Dineh Corn Mush with Stewed Rabbit, Celery, Pinon and Onion/chives. We captured Juniper smoke and placed a dome over and when the lid was removed it released the juniper smoke activating memory and instilling a sense of place.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g8OpY_bpV_0/VMSSYqF2fHI/AAAAAAAAAlI/Y22xP7ZKNss/s1600/CT%2B8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g8OpY_bpV_0/VMSSYqF2fHI/AAAAAAAAAlI/Y22xP7ZKNss/s1600/CT%2B8.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is a side of Roasted Carrots, greens and seeds.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lhk7Dds_Lg0/VMSSYwkt2tI/AAAAAAAAAlM/PwveBxnnct0/s1600/CT%2B9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lhk7Dds_Lg0/VMSSYwkt2tI/AAAAAAAAAlM/PwveBxnnct0/s1600/CT%2B9.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My great Grandfather Joseph Carly Ivans grew pears in the garden I played in as a kid. This is a dish that draws on that pleasant flavor of that time. Honey Poached Pear masked with sacred Amaranth, Roasted Pear Pearls, Raw Pear, Pinon Cream, Cranberries and Arizona honey. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZIqVmwdXKZU/VMSSVvVPR-I/AAAAAAAAAkg/59RvhE-JSos/s1600/CT%2B10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZIqVmwdXKZU/VMSSVvVPR-I/AAAAAAAAAkg/59RvhE-JSos/s1600/CT%2B10.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is a close up of a special dish influenced by our friends out in Hopi Land with ingredients from the Navajo Nation.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GJNVZabbpy8/VMSSVqEXN5I/AAAAAAAAAkc/Soo3GhLnzwE/s1600/CT%2B11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GJNVZabbpy8/VMSSVqEXN5I/AAAAAAAAAkc/Soo3GhLnzwE/s1600/CT%2B11.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a delicious little shot of Watermelon Ice served with the dish. Happiness and clarity.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NmZCPdiYMdw/VMSSWN0dNII/AAAAAAAAAkk/hvnBVWT3q10/s1600/CT%2B12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NmZCPdiYMdw/VMSSWN0dNII/AAAAAAAAAkk/hvnBVWT3q10/s1600/CT%2B12.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the second to last dish. This is Hopi influenced Blue Corn Fritters, with berry preserves, Pinon Whipped Cream, Frozen berries and raw berries, Amaranth and a Apache Trade Route Amaranth Chocolate Truffle mindful of the great trade routes from mesoAmerica to Western Apacheria where we are cooking right now. Ancestral Memory. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plating the dessert. Chef Craig, Chef Terri Ami, Chef Brian Tatsukawa, Chef Daryl Yellowhair</td></tr>
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These dishes are the result of collective indigeneity and an example of what we carry with us. When we frame our work with Ancestral Knowledge and humility great things are possible. This is only the beginning of an exciting evolution...or a continuation of Indigenous Food Ways. Nothing that we do is new...the Ancestral Knowledge and principles of leadership are already in place. Our Plant, Animal, Medicine Food relatives have protected them for us. The Land, Plants, waters and animals are the profound teachers and carriers of identity.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plating the final courses. Chefs Craig and Ami</td></tr>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y78Wmz8LNuM/VMSY9dG3iEI/AAAAAAAAAmU/QAqFSGOOYO8/s1600/Turtle%2BIsland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y78Wmz8LNuM/VMSY9dG3iEI/AAAAAAAAAmU/QAqFSGOOYO8/s1600/Turtle%2BIsland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y78Wmz8LNuM/VMSY9dG3iEI/AAAAAAAAAmU/QAqFSGOOYO8/s1600/Turtle%2BIsland.jpg" height="400" width="325" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">Since
time immemorial, "Wisdom Sits in Places" and cooking with a sense of
place in our Dzilgha'a Kitchen is the continuation of our sophisticated
Indigenous Food-ways. I am excited about the future of Indigenous Foods. In
this age of conceptualization and reclamation of the intelligent Ancestral
Food-ways that revolutionized the cooking and cuisines of the world, from
Argentina to Alaska, we can stand strong with a sense of place and say with
confidence that Indigenous Cuisine of Turtle Island is a Mother Cuisine.</span></div>
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This was an eventful and memorable Chef's Table, the first of the year. I have no doubt that this set the tone for the rest of 2015. Our work ethic, tenacity and courage to continue on this pathway will be strengthened by more collaboration and community building. We ended the Chef's Table with Apache Coffee and Chocolates. In pure spirit of resiliency, the seeds of the 800 year old Gete-Okosomin Squash were saved, just like the memories of sensory collaboration that we created during our time in our kitchen together. I am grateful for the resiliency, survivance and vitality of our indigenous cuisine. These humble foods tell an honest story of who we have been and who we are. Every moment is powerful. Life is a complete spiritual experience. Life is the ceremony. Stand Strong. Nurture our seeds. Tell our Children.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lm-EQFqgC9I/VMSZiHHAMtI/AAAAAAAAAmg/ck-R_w4qisM/s1600/Gete%2BOkosomin%2Bb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lm-EQFqgC9I/VMSZiHHAMtI/AAAAAAAAAmg/ck-R_w4qisM/s1600/Gete%2BOkosomin%2Bb.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gete-Okosomin Squash and Seeds. A Red Onion from our Apache Farm, 'The People's Farm', the hand written Chef's Table menu, notes from a doctorate and a handmade plate from over a decade ago. We are grateful. Western Apache Cooking and Cuisine in the Dzilgha'a Kitchen 2015. </td></tr>
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Thank you for supporting Indigenous Culinary Culture Building!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Dinetah Stagiers</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Purhepecha Stagier Serrato</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Apaches in the Kitchen</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
White Mountain Apache Tribe</div>
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<br />nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-33733268955081420482014-12-16T22:21:00.001-08:002014-12-16T22:24:42.965-08:00Western Apache Cooking and CuisineWestern Apache Cooking and Cuisine are not new terms. The food and cooking of our Apache people has sustained us for generations. Western Apache Cooking and Cuisine have continued to evolve throughout the generations from pre-colonization and era before the "Indian Reservation" borders that crossed our lands. The cooking evolved with violent military contact and the suppression of food-ways that are about a coexistence between people, land, waters and the entire universe.<br />
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Reconnecting with the landscape and activating ancestral knowledge is the strongest, most tangible pathway toward decolonization and a healthy return to indigeneity. We adapt and move forward, constantly. This is a timeless trait in our shared resiliency.<br />
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This is a brief description of our culinary evolution and how a kitchen forces people to change in a positive way. We have turned our work space into an exhibition kitchen. Here are images from the process.<br />
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The pictures speak volumes about our time together as Apaches in the Kitchen.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-97IZR3n4w8I/VJEFQ7IzxvI/AAAAAAAAAdY/1pNEC4IHwYk/s1600/2011-12-29%2B23.39.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-97IZR3n4w8I/VJEFQ7IzxvI/AAAAAAAAAdY/1pNEC4IHwYk/s1600/2011-12-29%2B23.39.05.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Dzilgha'a Kitchen in 2009</td></tr>
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These signs have been up for years. It is about understanding and belief. We always stress that 'Mise en Place' is not only physical, that it is also about mental organization or 'Mental Mise en Place'.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xEmK5h4WJXk/VJEFUF9RqCI/AAAAAAAAAdg/GVh_2EApYbQ/s1600/IMG_20140805_124258.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xEmK5h4WJXk/VJEFUF9RqCI/AAAAAAAAAdg/GVh_2EApYbQ/s1600/IMG_20140805_124258.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Empty Kitchen in 2010. People bring all kitchens to life.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tQjg-0x27kA/VJEMW45dvKI/AAAAAAAAAic/wOAu80Wm620/s1600/On%2Bthe%2BLine.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tQjg-0x27kA/VJEMW45dvKI/AAAAAAAAAic/wOAu80Wm620/s1600/On%2Bthe%2BLine.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An action shot when we were going full speed for dinner service and cooking for a Chef's Table in the background. The Chefs table will now be visible to guests that are entering the restaurant dining room entrance. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sous Chef Vincent Way aka Vinny, dusting before painting. Chef de partie Randall Cosen looks on. This image was taken a few weeks ago in 2014. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chef Randall Cosen carefully painting around our signage. Randal is transitioning to the saute station this year after working the meat station on the grill. His work ethic, demonstration and mise en place indicated that he was ready to change stations to learn more skills. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chef Juwon Hendricks painting the area that used to be his station.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Kitchen all taped and prepped for painting. We did all this work ourselves. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A delivery of epic proportions. Up until this point we have served thousands of meals with only a six (6) burner range that had no ovens. The procurement of this range changes everything...it even transforms the culinary team. </td></tr>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o0lFDCd85a8/VJEG4GDtNrI/AAAAAAAAAeM/kpyaOcbAzak/s1600/20141110_161721.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UWzSZoXMR3U/VJEG9G-HXwI/AAAAAAAAAeU/dX2v1zRSAdQ/s1600/20141110_152523.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Out of the box, onto the truck and into the building. David assists.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Randall, Juwon and David begin installation.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Building the shelf.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--ltCXen9e7U/VJEKO10PxkI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/9vk1snEXhmI/s1600/IMG_20141025_140201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--ltCXen9e7U/VJEKO10PxkI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/9vk1snEXhmI/s1600/IMG_20141025_140201.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is an early photo, but it is here to illustrate the tape that had been in place more than once over the years.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">White Mountain Apache construction team begins. The red line indicates the location of the header.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OM80VEBGozo/VJEHeg6RjwI/AAAAAAAAAe0/HugaciiVXm0/s1600/20141118_154222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OM80VEBGozo/VJEHeg6RjwI/AAAAAAAAAe0/HugaciiVXm0/s1600/20141118_154222.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first cut to remove the dry wall. This was a structural cut to see what was in the wall. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wD6-MmQ3wQk/VJEHiGpo_JI/AAAAAAAAAe8/YuXYErK1a8s/s1600/20141118_154543.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wD6-MmQ3wQk/VJEHiGpo_JI/AAAAAAAAAe8/YuXYErK1a8s/s1600/20141118_154543.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We uncover old unused outlets. No power. We cut and capped a water line with the permission of upper management and our Apache Fire Chief. This authorization took a few steps and days. Unforeseen obstacle that we got past.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mxvzAmu97aE/VJEHlGNWbmI/AAAAAAAAAfE/3V-O-9CdyJg/s1600/20141201_100908.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mxvzAmu97aE/VJEHlGNWbmI/AAAAAAAAAfE/3V-O-9CdyJg/s1600/20141201_100908.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Team returns after we weld the line and continue the work.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J6eez9cwlA4/VJEHpKbSxAI/AAAAAAAAAfM/zvJyKiBuF4g/s1600/20141201_100940.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J6eez9cwlA4/VJEHpKbSxAI/AAAAAAAAAfM/zvJyKiBuF4g/s1600/20141201_100940.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cutting the wall. This is from outside in the dining room. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--ELoF_vVvlo/VJEHySkRCkI/AAAAAAAAAfU/jft9FEl-0U0/s1600/20141201_100951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--ELoF_vVvlo/VJEHySkRCkI/AAAAAAAAAfU/jft9FEl-0U0/s1600/20141201_100951.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Construction continues.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CGH_NQxSXdE/VJEH0Hn_pgI/AAAAAAAAAfc/UU2nM-MzlvU/s1600/20141201_101058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CGH_NQxSXdE/VJEH0Hn_pgI/AAAAAAAAAfc/UU2nM-MzlvU/s1600/20141201_101058.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">December 2014</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ip7CmaJxHBA/VJEH9kcniGI/AAAAAAAAAfk/mlzGCUcU_C4/s1600/20141201_112952.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ip7CmaJxHBA/VJEH9kcniGI/AAAAAAAAAfk/mlzGCUcU_C4/s1600/20141201_112952.jpg" height="640" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The window opens up for the first time.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3yuFYfnsDrw/VJEIA3Bn96I/AAAAAAAAAf0/cqEpz6Grzlw/s1600/20141201_113045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3yuFYfnsDrw/VJEIA3Bn96I/AAAAAAAAAf0/cqEpz6Grzlw/s1600/20141201_113045.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My first look into the soon to be window, I realize how things are going to change. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Process 2014</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apaches building this Kitchen</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ry1pxrt9ysw/VJEIUXeMIYI/AAAAAAAAAgM/r_sf8dw2-As/s1600/IMG_20141202_131802.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ry1pxrt9ysw/VJEIUXeMIYI/AAAAAAAAAgM/r_sf8dw2-As/s1600/IMG_20141202_131802.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first look with the finished frame from the inside. This was an amazing thing to see for the first time.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-egLVvWhkX7U/VJEIVi53XqI/AAAAAAAAAgU/yQa7By-Qs68/s1600/IMG_20141202_140324.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-egLVvWhkX7U/VJEIVi53XqI/AAAAAAAAAgU/yQa7By-Qs68/s1600/IMG_20141202_140324.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First look at the frame from the dining room entrance.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My reminder to support the exchange of knowledge from my collection.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p5kpBU42dp8/VJEIsavXq6I/AAAAAAAAAgs/Z1rPPu2tjUI/s1600/DSCN5816.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p5kpBU42dp8/VJEIsavXq6I/AAAAAAAAAgs/Z1rPPu2tjUI/s1600/DSCN5816.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chef Nephi Craig and the finished frame. I removed the drop cloth and began the clean up. Many hours late into the night after the office work is done and the kitchen is quiet. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--B0fF5eFdoo/VJEIvdIjatI/AAAAAAAAAg0/3JkWkn-IXHs/s1600/DSCN5818.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--B0fF5eFdoo/VJEIvdIjatI/AAAAAAAAAg0/3JkWkn-IXHs/s1600/DSCN5818.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My wife Jandi took this image of me cleaning the kitchen solo.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clean and almost ready. Signage to be placed back in a vantage point for all to see 'Perfection is a Direction, not an end'. Pots hang, and this kitchen rests. This kitchen has grown and trained so many indigenous chefs and it has also saved my life.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is organic beauty. I am eternally grateful and ready to participate in our own evolution. The kitchen gods are pleased as we await tempered glass.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tempered glass arrives days later and our Apache construction team make the installation while I take photos to document this important event.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first look with the glass installed. Painters tape applied for finishing.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Progress not Perfection. Decolonization in process. Evolution in the moment. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sealing up before stain.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Closer and closer.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The construction team taking photos to report. As they take photos I talk with them and they are very proud of their work. They ask me about the menu and ask if there are good steaks, I gladly tell them, "Yes". I also tell them about our culinary team being all Apaches in the Kitchen, they visibly appreciate it saying they are proud to have been a part of this positive change in our humble kitchen.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Decolonization and Self-Determination live here. Dzilgha'a Kitchen 2014. 10,000 feet in our sacred mountains on the White Mountain Apache Tribe. We are grateful.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo from Feb. 15, 2014 the night of an important Chef's Table with a young stagier and member of our indigenous posterity. Left to right. Randall Cosen, Vincent Way, my son Ari Carter Craig, Myself (Nephi Craig) and Juwon Hendricks. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Power. Purpose. Discipline. Technique. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">White Mountain Apache Culinary Team in 2013 when we cooked a five course dinner for 500 people for the Phoenix Indian Center at Talking Stick Resort in their massive banquet kitchens. Left to right: Stephanie Dosela, Nancy James, Juwon Hendricks, Vina Reidhead, Herman Skidmore, Chef Nephi Craig, Randall Cosen, Tamara Gatewood, Vincent Way<br />
This would not have been possible with out these chefs. It is all about the team. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">White Mountain Apache Chefs at the 1st Annual ROOTS Conference in Huron, Ohio at the renown place of power called The Chef's Garden. It was such an honor to be here. The changes in our kitchen are justified. In my six, going on 7 years as head chef, the most important lesson I have learned in this kitchen on the White Mountain Apache Reservation has been resilient patience. </td></tr>
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Western Apache Cooking and Cuisine continues to evolve and shape our lives. We hope that it inspires you and someday you will have the chance to join us at a Chef's Table. This is Decolonization in action. This is a deliberate return to Apache Principles of Leadership as we work to remain in our ancestral homelands while revitalizing the sacred relationship with the landscape and one another as Apaches in the Kitchen.<br />
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Thank you for supporting Native American Culinary Culture Building 2015!<br />
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White Mountain Apache Culinary Staff!<br />
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Chef Nephi Craig, NACA Chef Founder<br />
Dzilgha'a Kitchen, December 16, 2014<br />
11:20 pm after service<br />
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<br />nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-54094451168741653572014-11-05T11:36:00.000-08:002014-11-05T11:36:19.482-08:00Interception<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Land Advocacy & Ancestral Memory</td></tr>
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Food ways are important to me. Food ways are the language that I understand. I am not a fluent speaker of the N'Dee (Apache) or Dineh (navajo) languages. I am a fluent speaker in the language of the colonizer, English. Over time I have shed elements of its destructive potential through understanding the vocabulary of violence. My deliberate steps toward the vocabulary of affection have allowed me <span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">to become fluent or at least begin to understand another language--Food ways. In taking small steps to use our language in my cooking style, I have been shown elements of this profound conceptual universe that is still wide open and unknown to me. This unknown is an exciting frontier to me as a cook that searches for mental, emotional and intellectual nourishment. I am fortunate to be a chef that is mindful of oppression and keen to colonization, while cooking with decolonization in mind. The language of Food ways speaks to me and I listen...at times it is not easy because I too, live in this age of distraction, fast food and disease. </span></div>
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<span style="color: red;">When sticking to what cultural protocol I know about food preparation and consumption, the western term 'Chef' is or has become today, a direct contradiction to what food and the preparation of food means to us in our indigenous homes and community. I struggle with this fact. I do my best to find balance with what the word 'chef' means in the colonial world that has been build up around us as indigenous peoples and what I understand from personal experience about indigenous cooks in my life. The commonality is humility, vitality and diligence...universal principles. I have been doing my best to allow my cooking to be a balance that is unapologetic about indigenous foods. I believe that in conceptualizing a cuisine in the shadows of colonialism, imperialism, capitalism and the many guises of self-government, at least I can allow the foods to be themselves in the hope that others hear/understand the language of Food ways. I enjoy the world of culinary arts, because it teaches me so much about the forces that animate my world as an indigenous person. Falsehoods of luxury built on the appropriation of indigenous food ways is the equivalent of imperial slumming and often comical from an indigenous person's perspective. </span></div>
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<span style="color: red;">So this is the final frontier. The last life saving and life giving element of our indigenous vitality...Food ways. The culture of cuisine that we build as indigenous peoples of all demographics can be revitalized to reflect 'at-will' not 'at-risk'. I will not accommodate modernity in the pursuit of Ancestral Knowledge, because to do so would only aid and abet the final colonization and recolonization of Indigenous Food ways and Indigeneity. Decolonization is a right, not an intellectual privilege. Lets make it happen. Stand Strong. Perpetuate Good. </span></div>
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nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-42193458221311900082014-09-05T23:22:00.000-07:002014-09-05T23:22:16.049-07:00Culinary Culture Building and Routes of Trade We are up against many elements as we push to develop Native American Cuisine. Even the term Native American Cuisine is too broad of a term. Foods and regions of the Americas are extremely diverse and varied and to give an culinary observer a reference I often reference the gastronomic diversity of Asia and India and the ancient civilizations there. Indigenous Food-ways thrived among the people and complex trade routes that we revitalize through community building. <div>
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In our region of the Americas, withing the borders of the United States, within the state of Arizona our was historically referred to as Apacheria...and more specifically our region in the White Mountain Apache Tribe is classified as Western Apacheria. To give an example of the diversity, right now in my kitchen I sit at 10,000 feet elevation surrounded by mixed conifer stands of Ponderosa Pine, Spruce, Oak and Aspen trees. Down at the western edge of the White Mountain Apache tribe at approximately 2000 feet it is in the desert regions of Arizona where there are an abundance of reptiles, cactus, agave, century plants and other wild desert flora. This image here speaks to our indigenous Apache resiliency over centuries of warfare and oppression in all forms.</div>
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Our indigenous neighbors to the east are the Zuni people, to the northwest is the Hopi, and farther northeast is the vast Dineh Nation. Before the reservation system was created these entire lands kept intricate routes of trade, commerce and exchange of technology and foodways. This diversity of hunting, agriculture and even fishing was the cultural currency of the time. Western Apache leaders were often chosen for their ability to feed their families and for intimate knowledge of the land's caloric and aquatic resources. The calorie rich landscape of our ancestors still exists, it is the value system based on a food/water based economy that has vanished during this age of fast food and disease...the vanishing of a food/water based value system has produced the violence and despondency in our indigenous communities.</div>
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We have in place intimate knowledge of our landscape when we live on our homelands. It is not just our elders that hold the keys to the past, granted their deep intimate lifelong indigenous experience, we as a new generation hold the keys of our indigeneity...our language, our clan system, our traditions and the landscape. These elements are the pieces of the cultural indigenous jig-saw puzzle that we as cooks are able to piece together with delicious and decolonized results. The culinary revitalization of our food-ways satisfies many dimensions of appetite. Imagine the hunger you might have felt early in life to know your culture. Recall the turmoil and fear of our youth coupled with the hunger to find a spiritual way of life that brings peace and security in our own adult sense of self. Imagine the deep desire to listen to your body and eat seasonally and how the simple act of planting or gathering and consuming wild foods satisfies not just the pallet but also a genetic, atomic and cosmic appetite within us all. </div>
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Remember that if you are Native and have lifelong memories of indigeneity with your family, you have a supplemental form of intelligence/education. Your life experience as an indigenous person and cook is Ethnographic and your personal decisions to cook Native Foods at any level is Ethno-Poetry...meaning like music, art and ceremony it needs no interpretation...it just is. Ethnopoetics are simply experienced and that is exactly what we strive to accomplish when we cook...we want to provide and create an experience. </div>
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So when our Grandmother prepares a traditional stew, roasted potatoes and frybread, she is providing an ethnographic and anthropological culinary experience that can not be found anywhere else on the planet. She is exercising her deep life knowledge of nurturing the body, mind and spirit...she is creating a masterful experience of edible Ancestral Knowledge and ethnopoetry. Grandmothers cooking is a culinary history lesson in cultural oppression, resiliency, humility and nurturing. When we grow up around that we have that experience as part of our culinary genetic and atomic memory. This is the supplemental culinary education that can never be taught in culinary schools or any other university...this is the power of the humble indigenous experience in our current Indigenous or Native American gastronomy as we develop it. Our food-ways need us...needs us to return to our homes and visit with our families that live on the rez. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indigenous Culinary Decolonization </td></tr>
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So in our efforts to "develop" and revitalize our food-ways as Native Chefs, I believe that we must shift our value system and discard the western gastronomic lens that we often view our own communities through. I know this is a difficult concept to understand, but make it simple I'll reference something you already know...its is cool because Decolonization is really like <i>"taking the Red Pill and finding out how far the rabbit hole goes."</i> </div>
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When <b><i>Culinary Decolonization</i></b> is the Red Pill, we are understanding the Western Culinary Traditions that we may learn in western institutions and culinary school or on television, but we make a conscious decision to shift our value system to a lens of humility and clarity. This is often scary because it challenges the established notion of "cuisine" and strikes at the heart of culinary imperialism and colonization. The choice to delve into our gastronomic indigeneity and listen to the sacred atoms that speak to us in prayer and give us chills when we hear our own truths is where the power is at. There is little to no power in seeking the Western Validation of our own indigenous food-ways, but rather indigenous epistemology is validating western science/medicine. </div>
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Remember that Colonialism has an appetite too..."colonialism has a vicious appetite for violence and oppression." Indigenous Foods and methodologies to not feed colonialism, they starve it....the wholesome and generous spirit of native food-ways are the antidote to violence and fear at the most intimate level...at home and within ourselves.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GttXopXW0MQ/VAqUEsfbFnI/AAAAAAAAAbk/Vt7y6oRaZ_Q/s1600/Pre%2BReservation%2BApache%2BGroups.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GttXopXW0MQ/VAqUEsfbFnI/AAAAAAAAAbk/Vt7y6oRaZ_Q/s1600/Pre%2BReservation%2BApache%2BGroups.jpg" height="640" width="360" /></a>Lets shift our value system from the lucrative notions of property, power and prestige that is what dominant culinary culture is about right now. Lets stay ahead of the curve and utilize indigenous foods to satisfy the forgotten dimensions of appetite and strengthen our emotional intelligence in our kitchens and homes. In this shifting of value to our Ancestral Knowledge and each other, we Apaches in the Kitchen are accepting interns and stagiers and if you have taken the time to read this far into my post, we want the young culinary student, the established cook and the chef to reach out to us and engage in community building. It will be the working relationships that will be the most important developments in indigenous food ways, because I dont know about you, but my kitchen is old, beat up, in need of repair and equipment BUT our most prized and valuable pieces of the kitchen are 'The People'. Even our cultural self-descriptions in the Apache language speak to this truth...the terms "N'Dee" in Apache and "Dineh" in Navajo both mean 'The People'. </div>
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Both pre-Reservation terms, <i>N'Dee and Dineh,</i> that we have called ourselves since time-immemorial speak to the ingelligent nature of our value system. If we want to break it down into western terms that are less than 100 years old, we could call that "Industrial Psychology", where essentially it is building people BEFORE building capital/resources in a business...that is nothing new to our indigeneity and our very language holds keys to the emotional intelligence that is still with us. Ancestral Knowledge.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dineh stagier, Daryl Yellowhair in white with Apaches in the kitchen. </td></tr>
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We recently had Dineh Stagiers come and be with us in Dzil'gha'a, in the area in the map above where our kitchen is at Sunrise Park Resort. These Dineh stagiers came with a determined spirit to learn and see our common indigenous reality. We shared that our reality in our kitchen is not a glamorous one, that we make it happen with what we have. We wanted to share that the most powerful element in indigenous foods is the sharing and individual articulation of the gastronomic experience. The Navajo men came from Crownpoint, New Mexico on the eastern agency of vast Dinetah (navajoland) to cook with us for an event for the Apache youth where we prepared healthful interpretations of indigenous foods.</div>
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In looking within for inspiration and development we reach out to each other and exercise our Shared Resiliency in cooking. This is a great stride forward that chefs in training want to come and be with us to stage. We open our doors for the sake of Community Building through cuisine...we call it Native American Culinary Culture Building, taking principles of community building.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kLFGisHI6zs/VAqaSHW2D2I/AAAAAAAAAb8/Jza_Luh56IM/s1600/Apache%2BChefs%2Bat%2BFt.%2BApache.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kLFGisHI6zs/VAqaSHW2D2I/AAAAAAAAAb8/Jza_Luh56IM/s1600/Apache%2BChefs%2Bat%2BFt.%2BApache.jpg" height="355" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left to right: Stagier Darin Joe, Chef Nephi Craig, Randal Cosen, Juwon Hendricks, Vincent Way. Stagier Daryl Yellowhair can not be seen but is right behind me.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dineh Stagier: Darin Joe</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Participant Observation: Dineh Stagier Daryl Yellowhair </td></tr>
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We are on a pathway of inter-tribal development to revitalize the complex and ancient Trade Routes of the American Southwest and our revitalization is through Native American Cuisine. Our belief is that by making our culinary development relevant and attainable at the grassroots level, this is what will promote change. Creating the opportunity to offer stagier positions in a Native Kitchen is mind blowing considering that 75-100 years ago there were severe penalties for even talking like this. I could have benefited from greatly 16 years ago when I was a young line cook by staging with other Native Chefs, that is why we open the doors. So in the spirit of reciprocity and social recovery, we honor the phrase, "We cannot keep what we have unless we give it away." </div>
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This is a life long continual culinary evolution. Sure there are many great kitchens to stage in, and we encourage you to seek them out in your path to understand, "the riddle of steel" that is a line-cook's life. Know that we, Apaches in the Kitchen, are out there and you are welcome to come with a sense of respect and humility to our ancestral homeland to stage, please understand that your are in our home. Leave the western lens at the border of the Rez and bring a sense of diligence and understanding, while building community and revitalizing our ancient, sophisticated life blood that is our Trade Routes. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trade Route to our Dzilgha'a Kitchen </td></tr>
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<b><i>"Food and cooking are the tools, Ancestral Knowledge is the technology."</i></b></div>
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<i>Than you for supporting Native American Culinary Culture Building 2014! </i></div>
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nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-45102604591984987682014-05-25T00:25:00.000-07:002014-05-25T00:25:36.440-07:00Rations for all. <div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Topic: Native American Cuisine</div>
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Region specific: Western Apache Cooking and Cuisine</div>
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Micro-Regional Definition: White Mountain Apache Cuisine of Dzilgha'a</div>
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<i><b>Question: "Why haven't I heard of Native American Cuisine?"</b></i></div>
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To attempt to answer, as a Native person and a chef myself...</div>
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It is very important to remember that what is perceived as Native American Cuisine, even to ourselves, is really not indigenous at all. This fact is becoming more widely accepted, but we have a long way to go. As we move forward as Native American People in the year 2014 we are still confronted by misconceptions on our collective pathway toward <b><i>Social Recovery</i></b> and <b><i>Recovery from Colonialism.</i></b> As we Acknowledge, Consider, Explore, Embrace and Maintain Life in a colonial reality, a form of intellectual and spiritual decolonization begins to take place. One of the most important elements of our lives is the decolonial cooking and cuisine.</div>
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What is Native American Cuisine? One might rush to say, "Frybread!" This crispy, delicious, deep-fried concoction that has both sweet and savory applications in the kitchen, is in fact NOT indigenous cooking. </div>
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To be very critical, with public health in mind, Frybread is really a taste of American Colonialism. Frybread is a taste of confinement and oppression. This deceptively delicious food that I also grew up eating and have many fond memories attached to it has a harsh reality. Frybread and other dishes have brought on a public health epidemic of epic proportions throughout Native America. This health epidemic is not only physical, it is also mental, emotional, spiritual and it is the violence in our communities. A major piece of our "social issues", as some would call it, is really a result of this image here, which is a U.S. Military Food Ration Ticket.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HK5Obu1vkWA/U4F3RqoqXtI/AAAAAAAAAWw/fiOycuayVvU/s1600/nsn-rationcards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HK5Obu1vkWA/U4F3RqoqXtI/AAAAAAAAAWw/fiOycuayVvU/s1600/nsn-rationcards.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indian Ration Card</td></tr>
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As the California Gold Rush and Manifest Destiny took root in Native America, many forms of warfare were employed by American settlers, the military, and enforced by the government in the name of progress. Biological and Spiritual Warfare consumed Native peoples and once all Native Peoples, were "confined" or "pacified" on the Prison Camps called Reservations, a new wave of warfare would be waged on the children of prisoners of war in the first United States Indian Boarding Schools like this one here in Carlisle Pennsylvania. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VOU0GbHqt_M/U4F_p-i1JuI/AAAAAAAAAXA/kO0KiZrcC20/s1600/PrattPupilsinFrontofPratts'QuartersCarlisleIndianSchool1885L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VOU0GbHqt_M/U4F_p-i1JuI/AAAAAAAAAXA/kO0KiZrcC20/s1600/PrattPupilsinFrontofPratts'QuartersCarlisleIndianSchool1885L.jpg" height="369" width="640" /></a></div>
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In understanding and articulating Native American Cuisine, I use the terms <b><i>Culinary Imperialism</i></b> and <b><i>Violent Appropriation of Food-ways.</i></b> The brutal decimation of the American Bison, the Plains Indians and the imposition of non-Native foods and the deliberate creation of dependency is evidence of Culinary Warfare in our culinary history.</div>
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Below is a stark example of <b><i>Culinary Warfare</i></b> and <b><i>Created Dependency</i></b>. Look at the countless Dakota Peoples during the 1830's receiving Military Food Rations. The control of the food supply and distribution of unhealthy foods is a spirit crushing event to indigenous peoples.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RsYEAyCogP0/U4GAtNijSUI/AAAAAAAAAXM/dnN1ahU1n9U/s1600/Rations+to+Dakota+1830's.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RsYEAyCogP0/U4GAtNijSUI/AAAAAAAAAXM/dnN1ahU1n9U/s1600/Rations+to+Dakota+1830's.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Military Food Rations being distributed to the Dakota Natives during the 1830's</td></tr>
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Regardless of climate, region and culinary heritage, Military Food Rations were issued. This photo below is taken on the San Carlos Apache Reservation, one of the worst Prison Camps in the for all bands of Apaches in 1892. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xo7meCa-RgI/U4GBsm_a65I/AAAAAAAAAXY/waCyqw2BmFs/s1600/Receiving-Rations-at-San-Carlos-Agency-AZ-circa-1892-courtesy-National-Park-Service-300x172.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xo7meCa-RgI/U4GBsm_a65I/AAAAAAAAAXY/waCyqw2BmFs/s1600/Receiving-Rations-at-San-Carlos-Agency-AZ-circa-1892-courtesy-National-Park-Service-300x172.jpg" height="366" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Receiving Food Rations at San Carlos Agency 1892</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waiting for Rations in 1905, Indiana (note the Calvary)<br /><br /><br /><br /></td></tr>
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The illustration below is of the distribution of food rations to the "Indians" at Medicine Bluff Creek in 1869.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traditional Basketry brought to Ft. Gaston will carry non native foods. 1877</td></tr>
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This is a photo from Ft. Gaston in Northern California in 1877. Again Native women most likely from the Hoopa Nation bring their traditional food baskets to carry a new foreign food that would eventually contribute to the public health epidemic among their posterity. </div>
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Rations for all 1905. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Rations for all 1905" A Library of Congress photo.</td></tr>
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What these images illustrate is a wide spread form of culinary warfare on all parts of Native America...all parts of Indian Country. It did not matter what "Reservation" you were from or what tribe you represented, you got the same Food Rations. Together we grew up with a common trauma at the deepest level. Our grandmothers, aunts and mothers employed humble culinary ingenuity and as a result, we grew up with foods like Frybread. I believe that the reason there is so much nostalgia, love and humor attached to Frybread is because it is a coping mechanism for the harsh reality...the harsh origin of a widely accepted food staple that has contributed to our current health epidemic across Native America. Look at this Bureau of Indian Affairs map of Indian Reservations in the United States and remember that Military Food Rations and the Boarding School System was employed on every remaining piece of Native Territory.</div>
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From 1491 to 1991 in America we see and experience a great interruption of all forms of culture including cuisine. The complex trade routes that enabled the sharing of food, culture and technology are halted or wiped out completely. 500 years of warfare and oppression is a critical piece of our Indigenous Culinary History in the American historical landscape that is not talked about. This conversation has begun and it requires a courageous dialog. </div>
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<b><i>Native American Cuisine, for me, is about resiliency...Our Shared Resiliency as Native peoples.</i></b> My interpretation of Native American Cuisine is also about responsibility...responsibility to move forward in light of this history with a healthy work ethic, beyond the stage of resistance and into the threshold of real tangible change because of resiliency.</div>
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This image is of two White Mountain Apache Scouts on horseback. My White Mountain Apache and Dineh Ancestors literally saw the world end during the 1800's, so I am writing this as a post-apocalyptic Western Apache/Dineh Chef in this new reality. What we are left with is our language, our landscape, our waters and food relatives. We are left with the pieces of our Indigeneity to piece our identity back together. This is how powerful our Western Apache "Terrior" is today for us as we practice Native cooking and articulate cuisine. </div>
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This Culinary History is <b>THE REASON</b> that Native American Cuisine is not "considered" to be a cuisine at all. Native/Indigenous American Cuisine of Turtle Island is a Mother Cuisine. Despite this bloody history of conquest, colonization and imperialism, the people, plants, water and the land are communicating this message of indigenous ingenuity and shared resiliency in culture/cuisine. It is powerful moment in time and by all means necessary the dialog must continue. In our region we push onward with a sense of responsibility to our land and we call it <b><i>Land Advocacy</i></b>. As stewards of the landscape in this new reality, we are able to piece together an intimate portrayal of who we are today. We are able to weave a tapestry of gastronomic history that contributes to our Social Recovery. As a mentor of mine once said, "Disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed." -D.Nunez</div>
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<b>Restoring Balance through Indigenous Food</b></div>
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<b><i>Thank you for supporting Native American Culinary Culture Building!</i></b></div>
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nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-19486668261184670152014-01-09T12:22:00.001-08:002014-01-09T12:29:40.223-08:00A place in history<div style="text-align: justify;">
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This image is of pre-reservation Western Apache bands. We are cooking in the area known as <span style="text-align: center;">Dziłgha’á on this map. The high mountains is where we have been working together for the past 5 years with me at the helm as head chef. This has been life changing for me as a chef.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">The work that we have done in our community has taken time. Places like Cibecue or the group known as </span><span style="text-align: center;">Dził T'aadn have taught lessons and created anchor points for our style of cooking by lending wisdom and opening portals to our Apache Universe through food. The harvesting of juniper berries, juniper, grasses, wild carrots, wild potatoes and other wild edibles that we preserved have provided us with an plethora of taste, flavor and texture. These ingredients we harvested our selves are now being used on our chefs table this winter season.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">The Chefs Table at Sunrise Park Resort, which is located in the region of </span><span style="text-align: center;">Dziłgha’á on the map here, is a very special occurrence in our history. This group of White Mountain Apaches, our crew has taken Western Apache food ideologies and adapted them to the world around us. As you read this, continue to look back and forth at the map because this is the land of our ancestors and our culinary work with Western Apache Food is decolonization in action. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">It has been the mountains and landscape that have given the most inspiration to our style of cooking. The Chef's Table has been where we utilize the foods from a Chef's perspective. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">More importantly we have been able to share and Re-Member our wild foods with our Apache youth through Science and Cooking workshops where we delve into Western realizations of the natural world that are also articulated in Apache and Navajo. Photosynthesis and energy transfer for example are both described philosophically in life models that are cosmic. By integrating science and cooking with our Western Apache wild foods with youth and adults we get to explore energy transfer in the cooking process and understand the denaturing of proteins in cooking by applying energy on both sides of the spectrum, hot and cold...fire and ice. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">By integrating Indigenous philosophy with science, we gain a understanding of our world that is empowering. We also begin to realize that much of Western Science is catching up to Indigenous models of life that integrate science in a natural way. These indigenous science and cooking workshops integrate wild foods and require a botanical knowledge, an Ancestral Knowledge that many of our community members possess. The application of heat/energy, minerals like salt/sugar, acid and smoke to our indigenous foods causes us to interact and revitalize the intimate relationship with our foods...it activates a relationship and interaction with our own Terrior. This is the remedy to violence and a movement toward using the vocabulary of affection in our homes and in our minds. The feeling of being "lost" or the despondency felt when identity is lost or not valued is remedied by finding identity through cultural and Ancestral Knowledge. It illustrates the keen intelligent nature of our ancestors and the keen intelligence we possess today. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Western Apache Food and Identity System is cosmic</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: center;">We also make our Ancestral Knowledge relevant for our generation. When too many people look at the black and white images of Native American history as ages ago, but in reality the black and white images of the past are a mere 3 generations back. Our living history begins to speak and the food is the anchor point in our lifetime, our shared history informs our practice and our shared resilience will ensure the future. </span></div>
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As a part of <span style="text-align: center;">Dziłgha’á, our culinary work is community based and focused on the empowerment of people through sensory experience and participant observation. The late anthropologist Keith Basso has a book titled, "Wisdom Sits in Places" and this is true. The lessons we learned only came from visiting the places where the wild food grew. The lessons came from visiting the landscape where the place-names originated. The anchor points for identity came from cultivating a relationship with self and our land. This Re-Membering of our food traditions inform our practice on the Chef's Table and we produce dishes that are world class, place-based and executed with humility. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Western Apache 2014</td></tr>
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This is one of our dishes Gah (or rabbit) with Onion, Root Vegetables and Sauce Nana. Plated with river stones from the Salt River Canyon. "The Land has Power", we capture this sentiment/fact by bringing in </div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">This is a Venison course with pickled onions from </span><span style="text-align: center;">Dził T'aadn</span><span style="text-align: center;"> or Cibecue, dried squash and our crushed Apache Trail Mix. It is garnished with Wild Carrots also from </span><span style="text-align: center;">Dził T'aadn. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">This is a winter vegetable course inspired by Grace in Chicago where I went to be a stagier this year, two days after they were awarded two Michelin Stars. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Winter root vegetables are the inspiration here, there is an animal power linked to root vegetables in our Apache universe that is also cosmic. Here we use Amaranth to honor the complex civilizations of all of the Americas.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Roasted Parsnip, Charred Turnip, Braised Radish, Braised Carrot, Charred Sweet Parsnip, Raw Brussels Sprouts with Acid, Raw Radish, Confit Tomato and Baby Kale. We liken being a stagier to an Apache Raiding Campaign in history, where we travel to access tools, technology, foods, gain intelligence and resources to bring them home, adapting them to our own ideals and making them our own. Thank you to Chef Curtis and the Grace team!</span></div>
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This image below is one way that we capture "Identity, Time and Place" in our cuisine. Pictured to the left is an image of the ribs of an Apache dwelling or wickiup. In the Apache language the wickiup is called Gowah or Home. To the right is a dish that evolved on our Chef's Table using pears.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Western Apache Cooking and Cuisine</td></tr>
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This dish is translated to <i style="text-align: center;">Masáána bik’os ndeezi bigową</i> or "The Long-Neck Apple's House" in Apache. There is pears in various forms and a delicious pinon cloud, the spun sugar is the Gowah and 6 different cooking techniques are applied to the pear and served here. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joseph C. Ivans, 1899-1992</td></tr>
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We chose pears, although not indigenous to the Americas, because my great-grandfather Joseph C. Ivans grew pears in his garden and as a kid, we used to climb those pear trees. My great-grandfather was born in 1899 at the end of the Apache world and on the brink of our Western Apache Revolution that created the world we exist in today. My grandpa Ivans was put on a train in Holbrook, Arizona as a child and sent across the United States to be a student at the Carlisle Indian School, which was the military model for all other boarding schools in the United States. My grandpa Joseph Ivans lived through the next assault on Indigenous existence in America which was a form of psychological warfare on entire generation of Native children under the guise of education in the boarding school system, children who had families then living as prisoners of war on "Reservations". My grandfather represents and embodies Indigenous Resiliency and it was his garden that first introduced me to agriculture and fresh food that he grew for his family in poverty. </div>
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The black and white images are not so far away. This is our living history told through cooking and cuisine. We stand strong in our fields of shared resiliency honoring our culinary traditions while creating decolonial pathways toward solutions. <span style="text-align: center;">We are conscious of our place in culinary history and as a Chef, I watch other chefs activate similar forms of Ancestral Knowledge based on their own terrior and it is inspiring to see across the world as we enter an age of responsibility in food culture. </span>Our shared recovery from colonialism is indeed gastronomic, scientific, biological, cosmic and spiritual. </div>
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This is how we are activating Ancestral Knowledge in Western Apacheria. We are grateful that food has been the medium to communicate themes of empowerment, revitalization, decolonization and indigenous health to all people. In the sacred high mountains of <span style="text-align: center;">Dziłgha’á or the Eastern White Mountains, the land is speaking and we are conduits for the messages in the plants, land, animals, waters...Land Advocates for our Western Apache terrior. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Balance</td></tr>
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nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-67863140263614136632013-11-23T22:50:00.006-08:002014-01-10T16:49:51.857-08:00NACA's 2013 Indigenous Food Symposium: Celebrating People, Land and Food<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The Native American Culinary Association, Tohono O'odham Community Action and the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum are proud to present and bring the following symposium presenters to Tucson, Arizona for this unique indigenous food culture event. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: red;">Register online here:</span> <span style="color: #f1c232;">http://www.tocaonline.org/celebration-registration.html</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>NACA Symposium Presenters</u></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Arlie Doxtator, Oneida Executive Chef</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Bio: </b>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 Magazine, Chef’s Magazine and the Green Bay Press Gazette. 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. Chef Doxtator specializes in Indigenous Culinary Linguistics
developing and promoting Indigenous foodways on a national, inter-generational
and community level for wellness throughout Native America. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bleu Adams,
Owner/Operator at Black Sheep Café </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Owner, Black Sheep Cafe, Blue Pablano,
Board Member of Local First Provo: <span style="font-size: 11pt;">Member, Native American Culinary
Association (NACA), SLC Kitchen Collective</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Bio: </b>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 <b><i>Black
Sheep Café</i></b>, of which April Adams is owner and operator of this
successful independent restaurant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="apple-style-span"><b>Mark Daniel Mason.</b></span><span class="apple-style-span"> ”I
am Hidatsa/Mandan and Dine'. I started cooking at the age age of 8. My earliest
culinary memories are from waking in my Great Grandmothers hogan to the smell
and tastes of coffee, bacon and blue corn mush. I have lived in Santa Fe, New
Mexico and fell in love with the chiles, flavors and bold cuisine of the
southwest. I self-trained throughout the 90's in French and Italian cooking
techniques. I continued my training in restaurant kitchens of the American
southwest region in Scottsdale Arizona. In Scottsdale I trained in the kitchen
of Marcellino Ristorante under master chef Marcellino Verzino. I am currently
Chef/ partner of Black Sheep Cafe and Blue Pablano Taqueria in Provo, Utah. At
Black Sheep Cafe we offer cuisine inspired by not only the southwest but all
North America utilizing corn, squashes, beans to rabbit, quail, venison and bison.
We offer frybread in desserts and tacos with slow braised pork and beef under
scratch made salsa verde and roja!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JC1EYeVfers/UIQdw51Qb1I/AAAAAAAAALM/HGsozgkOy3I/s1600/Claudia+Serrato.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JC1EYeVfers/UIQdw51Qb1I/AAAAAAAAALM/HGsozgkOy3I/s400/Claudia+Serrato.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Claudia Serrato, MA </b></div>
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<b>Bio: </b>Offering critical Indigenous critiques and perspectives while engaging a decolonizing approach, doctoral student of sociocultural anthropology, Claudia Serrato, creates a space to explore and re-member Indigenous food cosmologies through sensory and memory work, while addressing Indigenous health and health outcomes. Her most recent project weaves Indigenous and queer knowledge's with womb ecology as a decolonizing practice centered around Indigenous gastronomy and healing. As a community chef, Claudia prepares meals for cultural gatherings, facilitates cooking workshops, and speaks on cultural nutrition as practice of accountability to all of our relations. She can be found at <a href="http://www.claudiaserrato.net/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">www.claudiaserrato.net</a></div>
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<b style="font-family: inherit;">Neftalí Durán</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> was born and raised in Oaxaca, Mexico, but it wasn’t
until he moved to a close knit Mexican community in West Los Angeles in 1997
that he began to understand the importance of Oaxacan culture and its infinite
gastronomy. After working in restaurant kitchens in LA for 7 years, Neftali
moved to Western Massachusetts to learn the craft of baking bread in a
wood-fired oven. Since 2003, he has been running El Jardin Bakery, an artisanal
bread bakery and cafe in South Deerfield, Massachusetts. After years of living
on the East Coast, Nef has dedicated himself to researching all aspects of Oaxacan
culture and cuisine. When he’s not busy sourcing the best Mexican ingredients
available in New England, you can find Nef baking bread in a wood-fired oven,
roasting whole animals in a fire pit, or catering elaborate meals. His work has
been featured on Food52.com and on Man Fire Food on The Cooking Channel.</span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Valerie Segrest</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> is a native nutrition
educator who specializes in local and traditional foods. She received a Bachelor
of Science in Nutrition from Bastyr University in 2009 and a Masters Degree in
Environment and Community from Antioch University. As an enrolled member of the
Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, she serves her community as the coordinator of the
Muckleshoot Food Sovereignty Project and also works for the Northwest Indian
College’s Traditional Plants Program as a nutrition educator. In 2010, she
co-authored the book “Feeding the People, Feeding the Spirit: Revitalizing
Northwest Coastal Indian Food Culture”. She is a fellow for the Institute of
Agriculture and Trade Policy. Valerie hopes to inspire and enlighten others
about the importance of a nutrient-dense diet through a simple, common sense
approach to eating.</span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Ofelia Zepeda</b> (Tohono O'odham) AILDI
director, is a Regents' professor of linguistics and affiliate faculty in
American Indian Studies and Language, Reading and Culture at the University of
Arizona. She teaches Tohono O'odham language courses and survey courses on American
Indian languages. Her research areas include language variation, language
policy, and issues of endangered languages. She has published numerous articles
in these areas. She is also author of The Tohono O'odham Grammar and of two
books of poetry, much of it written in the O'odham language. Dr. Zepeda
is also the recipient of a MacArthur fellowship for her work on Indigenous
languages. She has served on numerous boards and is currently a trustee of the
Tohono O'odham Community College. Dr. Zepeda has been involved in AILDI
practically since its inception as an instructor and founding co-director. Her
breadth of experience in the field of language revitalization continues to
guide the institution.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Chris Rodriguez, Chef/Scholar </span></b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Bio: </b>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. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><b><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Samantha Antone, </b></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;"><b>Tewa/Hopi</b> from the Village of Tewa in First Mesa. Samantha is the Program Manager of the Natwani Coalition serving as a facilitator for the planning, organizing, and implementation of community-based and culturally relevant agricultural initiatives. She is also the content developer for the Hopi Natwani for Youth Project (HNYP) farming curriculum. </span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Lois Ellen Frank, Ph.D. </span></b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Bio: </b>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.</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Walter Whitewater, Chef/Author</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Bio: </b>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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt;"><b>Jandi Hernandez</b> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt;">is a member of the White Mountain Apache Tribe. Jandi is of the Dishchiidn clan, born for Nakaiye'. She is the Co-Founder and CEO of <b><i>Western Apache Center for Food & Agriculture (WACFA)</i></b> and works to educate adults and children about restorative indigenous practices, wellness, and capacity building. Jandi is currently serving as a board member for First Things First White Mountain Apache Regional Council and holds a Firestarter certification through the White Bison Wellbriety Movement. She helps to develop and facilitate wellness programs with traditional Apache curriculum for Apache Behavioral Health Services (ABHS) in Whiteriver and First Things First San Carlos Apache Parenting Program.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vVX-yzMrzEU/UIQmV6tE6LI/AAAAAAAAAMM/k5D326IDb-I/s1600/Kyle+Knox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vVX-yzMrzEU/UIQmV6tE6LI/AAAAAAAAAMM/k5D326IDb-I/s400/Kyle+Knox.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Kyle Knox, Farmer at Natwani
Coalition </span></b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Bio: </b>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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Chef Sean Sherman,</b> Oglala Lakota Sioux, born in Pine Ridge, SD, has
been cooking in MN, SD & MT for the last 25 years. He is currently the <b><i>Executive
Chef of Common Roots Cafe</i></b> and Catering in Minneapolis, MN which
features local and organic foods and an organic urban garden. Chef Sherman’s
main culinary focus has been the “pre-reservation” indigenous knowledge of wild
foods. His studies have taken him to the Crow tribes of the Bighorn and
Beartooth Mountain Ranges in Wyoming and Montana, the Sioux plains in the Dakotas,
the Ojibwe forests and lakes throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin. Chef Sherman
has been readying his own concept of Modern & Traditional Native American
Foods of these Northern Tribes to bring to the public by opening his vision of
indigenous foods in the form of a restaurant, learning center and meeting
grounds in MN by early Fall of 2014.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ibB2aEpfvQE/UpG7Dkd8GxI/AAAAAAAAAUI/JtXkyoRBtko/s1600/San_Carlos_Apache.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ibB2aEpfvQE/UpG7Dkd8GxI/AAAAAAAAAUI/JtXkyoRBtko/s400/San_Carlos_Apache.jpg" height="240" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Seth Pilsk,</span></b></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> is a Botanist, and has worked for the
San Carlos Apache Tribe’s Department of Forest Resources for over twenty
years. He has worked directly with elders from the Arizona Apache tribes
on a number of cultural preservation projects focused on the traditional Apache
relationship with the natural world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rDX9qnHxeq8/UpGest7zgAI/AAAAAAAAATg/cs9TOTK9DuI/s1600/1184940_10151943493617289_1496729887_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rDX9qnHxeq8/UpGest7zgAI/AAAAAAAAATg/cs9TOTK9DuI/s400/1184940_10151943493617289_1496729887_n.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Nephi Craig,
Chef/Founder of NACA and Executive Chef </span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Bio: </b>Nephi Craig is the
Chef and Founder of <b><i>The Native American Culinary Association </i></b>or <b><i>NACA</i></b>.
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 <b><i>Apaches
in the Kitchen </i></b>blog. <span class="apple-style-span"><b><i>Nephi Craig</i></b></span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span">is also the
co-founder and CEO of</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><b><i>The
Western Apache Center for Food and Agriculture or WACFA</i></b></span><span class="apple-style-span">, a
not-for-profit organization dedicated the protection of land, food, people and
water rights in Western Apacheria. Executive Chef Craig, lends his
international experience, vision and expertise in</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><b><i>Restorative
Indigenous Culinary Practices</i></b></span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span">to the
development of</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><b><i>WACFA</i></b></span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span">in order to
empower local communities through indigenous food and agriculture.</span>
Craig currently serves as <b><i>Executive Chef for the Sunrise Park Resort
Hotel</i></b> on the White Mountain Apache Tribe.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y5_3-gdzYhM/UpGI2IobxLI/AAAAAAAAAR8/5t8yeOyAVPw/s1600/Symp+Fly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y5_3-gdzYhM/UpGI2IobxLI/AAAAAAAAAR8/5t8yeOyAVPw/s640/Symp+Fly.jpg" height="476" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="color: yellow;"> Register Today! <a href="http://www.tocaonline.org/celebration-registration.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">http://www.tocaonline.org/celebration-registration.html</span></a></span></span></div>
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nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-16636100704610515262013-07-13T13:56:00.001-07:002013-07-13T13:56:50.898-07:00NACA Executive Chef and Founder, Nephi Craig<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Executive
Chef Nephi Craig Bio<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oMGsErv7cZs/UeG-UGO6s9I/AAAAAAAAAQ8/D1cr5IA4mvg/s1600/Nephi+Craig+Mug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oMGsErv7cZs/UeG-UGO6s9I/AAAAAAAAAQ8/D1cr5IA4mvg/s320/Nephi+Craig+Mug.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exec. Chef Nephi Craig</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Nephi Craig </span></i></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">is an enrolled member of
the White Mountain Apache Tribe. Craig is also half Navajo on his late-father’s
side. Chef Craig is also the chef and founder of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Native American Culinary
Association (NACA) </i></b>is an organization/network that is dedicated to the
research, refinement, and development of Native American Cuisine. NACA has been
developed to provide authentic, quality representation of Native Peoples in
professional cookery. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Native American Culinary Association </i></b>also
serves as a networking tool for professional Native Chefs and emerging culinary
talent. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chef and</i></b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">NACA</i></b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Founder Nephi Craig </i></b>provides
training, workshops and lecture sessions on Native American Cuisine to schools,
restaurants and tribal entities from across America and abroad. A highlight of his
work with NACA is when Nephi was able to help prepare a Native American themed menu
for the renowned <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">James Beard Foundation </i></b>at the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">James Beard House in New</i></b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">York
City</i></b>. This was Craig’s second <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">James Beard Dinner </i></b>in two years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">NACA Chef Nephi Craig </span></i></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">has
served as head chef for four international tasting dinners.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">These culinary events were held
in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">London,
UK; Cologne, Germany; and Osaka, Japan. Chef Craig </i></b>has also served as
head chef in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sao Paulo, Brazil </i></b>working for the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">United States<o:p></o:p></i></b></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Consulate and Senac College </span></i></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">providing
training, workshops, and various tasting dinners<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">showcasing <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Native American Cuisine </i></b>during
the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shared
Indigenous Heritage Festival<o:p></o:p></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">in April 2007<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.<o:p></o:p></i></b></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Nephi Craig</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"> is also the co-founder
and CEO of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Western Apache Center for Food and Agriculture or WACFA</i></b>, a
not-for-profit organization dedicated the protection of land, food, people and
water rights in Western Apacheria. Executive Chef Craig, lends his
international experience, vision and expertise in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Restorative Indigenous Culinary
Practices</i></b> to the development of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">WACFA</i></b> in order to empower local
communities through indigenous food and agriculture. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Craig is also a published
author. Craig has written pieces for the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">National Museum of the American Indian in
Washington D.C.</i></b> and the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Center for American Indian Elderly.</i></b>
Craig writes about the current state and evolution of Native American culinary
traditions affected by hunting, fishing and agricultural rights, as well as
United States and Indian relations in Native American History.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Chef Nephi Craig</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"> is
currently the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Executive Chef at the Sunrise Park Resort Hotel</i></b> on the White
Mountain Apache Tribe<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i></b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-56012203796690986702013-03-09T08:18:00.003-08:002013-03-09T08:33:38.608-08:00"Silver and Turquoise Ball" at Talking Stick Resort April 13, 2013Our 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.<br />
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<b>Here is a clip promoting the event.</b></div>
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nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-56496210056268552992013-01-26T12:06:00.000-08:002013-01-26T12:06:06.944-08:00Indigenous Culinary Culture Building 2013<div style="text-align: justify;">
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. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">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</td></tr>
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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.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NACA Conference: Left to right: Chris Rodriguez, Valerie Segrest, Vincent Way, Nephi Craig, Walter Whitewater, Lois Ellen Frank, Arlie Doxtator, Jason Champagne</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Native Chefs Feeding the Apache Community: Vincent Way, <br />Walter Whitewater, Arlie Doxtator, Mark Mason, Jason Champagne, Nephi Craig,</td></tr>
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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. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gathering River Stones at the bottom<br />of the Salt River Canyon: Ari Carter Craig /Nephi Craig</td></tr>
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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. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First Course: Chefs Table, Capturing time and place</td></tr>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunrise Park Resort: White Mountain Apache Tribe 2013</td></tr>
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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. </div>
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Stay tuned!</div>
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nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-14185081715828381512012-10-21T11:41:00.000-07:002012-10-22T07:12:50.527-07:00NACA Indigenous Food Culture Conference Presenters<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xId4rcRXYYo/UIVT8y6ERHI/AAAAAAAAAOc/3nuoVG4YGho/s1600/NACA+LOGO+FOLDERS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xId4rcRXYYo/UIVT8y6ERHI/AAAAAAAAAOc/3nuoVG4YGho/s640/NACA+LOGO+FOLDERS.jpg" width="640" /></a>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, <b><i>Apaches in the Kitchen,</i></b> details our collective journey and now is beginning to involve the pathway of others. In the beginning we, the culinary staff at <i>Sunrise Park Resort</i>, 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<b><i> Apaches in the Kitchen</i></b> are making that vision a reality, together.<br />
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ABOUT PRESENTERS:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Claudia Serrato</td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Claudia Serrato,
MA</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bio:</b> Foundress
of Sac(RED) (WOMB)yn, Doctoral Student of Medical Anthropology, co-author of
Decolonial Food<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Thought blog,
alternative Cocinera and Womb Ecologist, and co-president of the Native
Organization of Indigenous Scholars (NOIS) at the University of Washington. <o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Valerie Segrest</td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Valerie Segrest,
Author, Scholar and Nutrition Educator <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bio:</b> 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.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chris Rodriguez</td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chris Rodriguez,
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bio:</b> 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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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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.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bio:</b> 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.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kyle Knox</td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kyle Knox, Farmer
at Natwani Coalition<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bio:</b> 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. <o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jason Champagne</td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jason Champagne,
MA student in Public Health and Dietetics<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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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. <o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">April Adams</td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">April “Bleu” Adams,
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</span>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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Black Sheep Café</i></b>, of which April
Adams is owner and operator of this successful independent restaurant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xqOYtX93Hd8/UIQrOEe-_rI/AAAAAAAAAM4/YsZ1Wc_V2P4/s1600/Mark+Mason.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xqOYtX93Hd8/UIQrOEe-_rI/AAAAAAAAAM4/YsZ1Wc_V2P4/s400/Mark+Mason.jpg" width="301" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mark Mason</td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Mark Daniel Mason,
Executive Chef of Black Sheep Café<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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Navajo, Hidatsa and Mandan descent originally from<span style="font-size: 8.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Morenci, AZ</span></span>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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 <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Black Sheep Café</i></b> in Provo, Utah.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nmGgouB3c_Q/UIQsYIWWK6I/AAAAAAAAANA/QfyeltPkeVg/s1600/Johns+Hopkins.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="289" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nmGgouB3c_Q/UIQsYIWWK6I/AAAAAAAAANA/QfyeltPkeVg/s320/Johns+Hopkins.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Photo of Vanya unavailable)</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Vanya Szabo, MS</span></b></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Bio:</span></b></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
Vanya Szabo </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">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</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Schools, coordinating Traditional Apache Plants
program, helping families start their own gardens and starting the first
Farmers Market on White Mountain Apache reservation.</span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Andrea Beatty,
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bio:</b><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Andrea Beatty</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">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.</span></span></span>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loretta Barrett Oden</td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Loretta Barrett
Oden, Chef/TV host/Lecturer</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bio:</b> 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. <o:p></o:p><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><b>Arlie Doxtator, Oneida
Executive Chef of Bear Paw Cafe</b></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Bio: </span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">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.</span></span><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nephi Craig</td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nephi Craig,
Chef/Founder of NACA and Executive Chef</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bio:</b> Nephi
Craig is the Chef and Founder of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Native American Culinary Association</i></b>
or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">NACA</i></b>.
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 <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Apaches
in the Kitchen</i></b> blog. Craig currently serves as Executive Chef for the
Sunrise Park Resort Hotel on the White Mountain Apache Tribe.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<b><i>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!</i></b></div>
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<b><i>For more information contact naculinaryassoc@gmail.com </i></b></div>
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<b><i>or call the Sunrise Park Resort Hotel at (928)-735-7669. Space is limited!</i></b></div>
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<br />nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-75348972284956431372012-09-02T20:35:00.000-07:002012-09-02T20:37:30.362-07:00Kitchen Photographs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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. </div>
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There is so much to write about but I decided to share some photos with you. Enjoy!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chef's Table Course: Salmon, three sisters, sauce N'Dee</td></tr>
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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. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chefs picking White Mountain Apache Lambs Quarters<br />
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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.<br />
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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.</div>
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Salmon Roasted and resting on Cedar Planks. Delicious!<br />
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Here is Kitchen Porter, Herman Skidmore doing a bit of quality control. Note the sign above the door way.<br />
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Apache humor is a constant. You can only understand it by living it. What a life in cuisine we share!<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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!<br />
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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.<br />
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This beautiful dish continues to amaze and evolve. Roasted Marrow Bones with Frybread. What an Apache Delicacy!<br />
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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!<br />
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APACHES IN THE KITCHEN WINTER CREW 2011-2012</div>
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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, </div>
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Deron Lee aka 'Skip'/Apprentice. </div>
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PARTICIPATE IN YOUR OWN EVOLUTION.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo courtesy of the Navajo Times</td></tr>
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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!<br />
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Water is life. It is always an amazing experience to work vigilantly with clarity as a friend.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exec Chef Nephi Craig on the line.</td></tr>
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This is the humble kitchen where we work day and night. Without people, without our crew, it is just an old empty kitchen.<br />
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Come and visit us at Sunrise Park Resort! </div>
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nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-80514659071708890052012-08-17T18:55:00.002-07:002012-08-17T19:17:07.115-07:00NDEE BIKIYAA or "The People's Farm"<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The People's Farm Logo</td></tr>
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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.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We planted onions in May that we now use in our kitchen.</td></tr>
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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.</div>
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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. </div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The People's Farm Produce ready to be prepared for the Farmer's Chef Table</td></tr>
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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. </div>
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Meat Course:</div>
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Roasted Venison Loin, The People's Farm Smoked Potatoes, Wild Lambs Quarters, Pinons and Sauce Nana.</div>
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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.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy Farmers Clayton and Darlene with Apaches in the Kitchen Crew after the Farmer's Chef Table on August 10, 2012</td></tr>
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<b>Native American Culinary Culture Building 2012</b></div>
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<b>SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL FARMER! </b></div>
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nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-78873551923635124162012-08-17T08:45:00.000-07:002012-08-17T08:47:53.443-07:00NACA Indigenous Food Culture ConferenceThe 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!<br />
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Here is a general information flyer. There will be more information coming very soon!<br />
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Native American Culinary Culture Building 2012<br />
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<br />nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-18333535102478841222012-04-27T10:20:00.001-07:002012-05-16T13:57:20.089-07:00Community Culinary Culture Building Workshop 5-18-12<h2>
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I am pleased to announce our Culinary Culture Building Workshop at the </div>
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Sunrise Park Resort Hotel</div>
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DATE: Friday, May 18, 2012</div>
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TIME: 9:30 am through 2:30 pm</div>
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Price: Sixty Five ($65) dollars per person</div>
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Come and support the development of culinary culture and food systems on the White Mountain Apache Tribe!</div>
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Contact</div>
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Executive Chef Nephi Craig</div>
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Phone: (928)-735-7669 ext.2288</div>
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Email: hotel@sunriseskipark.com</div>
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<br />nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-63693696046086741002012-03-09T19:22:00.001-08:002013-03-09T08:25:56.838-08:00Native American Cuisine: Chef Nephi Craig<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xaTs9Po_MBQ?fs=1" width="480"></iframe>nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-63322522900438638492012-02-16T23:53:00.000-08:002012-02-17T00:13:37.951-08:00Action Oriented Culinary Development and Cultural Understanding<div><div style="text-align: justify;">When I cook and utilize age old classical French techniques, I feel connected to Old World. Cooking is an excellent medium to reach into history and bring it to this reality. Roasting veal or chicken bones for demi, for example is an age old technique. The scent of roasting veal bones early in the morning instantly takes me to various parts of my life as a cook learning to be a chef. The smell of roasting veal bones also transports me into history because I imagine how many hundreds of thousands of Chefs throughout history have done the very same thing early in the morning and how the distinct aroma is the same for me as it was for them. Great Chefs like Fernand Point at Le Pyramide who trained other great Chefs like Jean and Peirre Troisgros at Les Freres Troigros in Roanne and Alain Chapel at Mionnay have all utilized these fundamentals that we too, use on a daily basis and more.</div></div><div><br />
</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"The duty of a good cusinier is to transmit to the next generation everything he has learned and experienced"</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><b><i>Fernand Point</i>, 1897 - 1955</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xyjFTz-yV08/Tz3ylL9TmeI/AAAAAAAAAEs/7BP2rcnTSH8/s1600/F_point2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xyjFTz-yV08/Tz3ylL9TmeI/AAAAAAAAAEs/7BP2rcnTSH8/s1600/F_point2.jpg" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: x-small;">French Chef born Louhans 1897; Master of la grand cuisine and "Father of Novelle Cuisine". Fernand Point was one of the greatest chefs that ever lived. His culinary teaching and mentorship left a legacy of world renowned chefs that carry his torch. They include Paul Bocuse, Alain Chapel, Francois Bise, Louis Outhier, and Jean and Pierre Froisgros. Chef Points leadership and reputation as a young turk helped him establish Restaurant de la Pyramide as an international gastronomic mecca, which he opened at age 26. His restaurant is named after a nearby Roman Pyramid that marked the turn of a chariot racetrack. He is best remembered for his culinary philosophy, the generosity he displayed towards his staff and the public; feeding people more than they'll ever expect and making it a way of life. He was also a very strong believer in the use of regional ingredients of the season.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: x-small;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thomas Keller (above) was born on Camp Pendelton USMC</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><div style="text-align: justify;">One of the worlds best chefs, Thomas Keller (right), of the French Laundry in Yountville CA and Per Se in Manhattan speaks of Fernand Point and refers to his books as a major influence in his life. Thomas Keller has also trained a generation of great chefs and changed the culinary world because of his commitment and generosity just like Point. I have never worked at or even been to the French Laundry but I was fortunate enough to have worked with a chef that spent two years at "the Laundry" and that alone was life changing. It was my introduction to real discipline, culinary philosophy and the intense desire to relentlessly pursue perfection--even when we all know it doesn't exist.</div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-size: small;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X7HxztpdWgo/Tz33NPAqVCI/AAAAAAAAAE8/6mW-VB1cYQg/s1600/800px-French_Laundry_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X7HxztpdWgo/Tz33NPAqVCI/AAAAAAAAAE8/6mW-VB1cYQg/s320/800px-French_Laundry_01.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The French Laundry in Yountville Ca. "Mecca"</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-size: small;">The generational impact of cooking and culinary culture from places like The French Laundry and La Pyramide is amazing to me. I realize that I am no Thomas Keller or Fernand Point, not even close, but I do have a sense of foresight that comes from my father. I would like to think that what we do in our humble kitchen here in the White Mountains of Arizona, in the land of my/our ancestors the White Mountain Apaches is something similar. I would like to think it is a beautiful occurrence that sprang up organically and that is pursued by a group of young chefs that can feel the relentless desire to produce great food within our own abilities while honoring those that came before us.</span></span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7OhWDlO9ZWU/Tz4BU5TdBdI/AAAAAAAAAFU/2VMSSY9BvNw/s1600/IMG_0768.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7OhWDlO9ZWU/Tz4BU5TdBdI/AAAAAAAAAFU/2VMSSY9BvNw/s400/IMG_0768.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-size: small;">I think the beauty of cuisine is that it reflects a specific culture. It is difficult for an outsider to see, but as the chef working with my crew on a daily basis, I can see the technical ability and strong desire of my crew to learn and get better. I see the growth and how that culinary enlightenment and character translates onto a plate. This photo at the right is of a Chef's Table Course to share, "Bone Marrow and Frybread", a real Native delicacy that is a thing of beauty to us and our families.</span></span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x2BKdPvio8A/Tz3-X7pBhUI/AAAAAAAAAFE/uwLOhhDrRNs/s1600/800px-Apache_Scouts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x2BKdPvio8A/Tz3-X7pBhUI/AAAAAAAAAFE/uwLOhhDrRNs/s400/800px-Apache_Scouts.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">I mentioned in a previous blog that in this region (a region that used to be referred to as "Apacheria" and still is by a few), the influence of warfare and conflict is profound. We have, throughout history, encountered the Spanish, Mexican and American Military, not to mention warfare with the Dineh(Navajo) and other tribes in our region. I think these facts make what we do even more beautiful and amazing because our history reads like a tragedy for the amusement and storytelling of millions yet we utilize these elements in the development of a distinctive cuisine--the Apache way of creating something out of nothing.</div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-size: small;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CTesehTq1lk/Tz4JMnDcBXI/AAAAAAAAAFk/ZP0G34X6_K8/s1600/053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CTesehTq1lk/Tz4JMnDcBXI/AAAAAAAAAFk/ZP0G34X6_K8/s400/053.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Culinary Workshop and Sledding Excursion 2-3-12</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-size: small;">In our effort to develop Native American Cuisine in this country today, we honor these classical culinary traditions of the Old World while utilizing ancient culinary traditions and schools of thought of the indigenous, namely the White Mountain Apache people. I believe that as White Mountain Apaches we have always possessed a keen foresight and realized the importance of our posterity. This is true even in our cuisine and this photo is evidence of that fact.</span></span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-size: small;"></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-size: small;"></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cooking and cuisine are excellent mediums to communicate. By using classical cooking techniques and indigenous culinary ingenuity we create something unique for the professional, something educational the student and something powerful for the most important part of our culture- our posterity. We can, if we choose, affect change from a position of integrity and that, I believe, is the one of the most important elements of cuisine in our world.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apache Head Start Culinary Demonstration and Tasting 2-3-12</td></tr>
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</div></div>nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-58877891414895269982012-02-04T16:00:00.000-08:002012-02-04T16:08:35.303-08:00Valentine's Day Dinner Menu<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b><i>We are pleased to present an intimate Valentine's Day dinner menu for couples at Sunrise Park Resort. Reservations are strongly recommended. </i></b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b><i>Call 1-(928)-735-7669 extension 2288, to reserve your table.</i></b></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bGntLBEhLCk/Ty3HbuZBpaI/AAAAAAAAAEc/dA5zEJioTsM/s1600/sunriselogo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bGntLBEhLCk/Ty3HbuZBpaI/AAAAAAAAAEc/dA5zEJioTsM/s1600/sunriselogo.gif" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Valentine’s Day Dinner Menu</span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Sunrise Park Resort Hotel</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">February 14, 2012</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">An Intimate Dinner Event</span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">$45.00 per person</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Includes a glass of Champagne with Dessert</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Menu</span></i></b></u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">First</span></u></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Choice of</span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Herb Risotto Cakes stuffed with Mozzarella Cheese and Parmesan</span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">or</span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Roasted Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp with a Lemon Herb Dipping Sauce</span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Second</span></u></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Soup or Salad</span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Hearty Sunrise Clam Chowder</span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">with Bacon and Scallions</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Caesar Salad</span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Cured Tomato and Pesto Crostini with a Tangy Caesar Dressing and Parmesan</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Third</span></u></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Choice of Entrée</span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Steak and Shrimp</span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Thick Cut 8 oz. New York Strip Steak and Jumbo Grilled Shrimp, Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Chef’s Vegetable Medley and a Peppered Cabernet Red Wine Sauce</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">---</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Seafood Pasta</span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Pan Roasted Bay Scallops and Shrimp, Tomato Basil Cream over Fettuccini Pasta</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Grilled Pesto Crouton</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">---</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Fowl Course</span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Pan Roasted Airline Chicken Breast</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Lemon Herb Risotto, Grilled Scallions and Vegetables</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Lemon Butter</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Final</span></u></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Dessert for Two</span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Chocolate Mousse Cake with Ganache</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Strawberries and Champagne</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
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</span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Thank you for supporting White Mountain Apache Culinary Culture</span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Happy Valentine’s Day from Sunrise Park Resort!</span></i></b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MGqtMGwR2WM/Ty3HjqbVjVI/AAAAAAAAAEk/YhtMsB7xplI/s1600/grseal1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MGqtMGwR2WM/Ty3HjqbVjVI/AAAAAAAAAEk/YhtMsB7xplI/s200/grseal1.gif" width="200" /></a></div><b><i><br />
</i></b></div>nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-21562510386635761222012-01-31T02:23:00.000-08:002012-01-31T02:32:16.303-08:00Our Chef's Table: White Mountain Apache CookeryOur Chef's Table seats four people and is right inside the kitchen. The purpose of a Chef's Table is to offer the guest a complete kitchen experience. It affords the diner the opportunity to chat with us about our food, our culinary traditions and our approach to Native American Cuisine. I start the diners off by introducing them to the other Native Chefs and their stations in our kitchen.<br />
<div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UMesSIBOPrQ/Tyeg8L1uYhI/AAAAAAAAAEE/4lMkm1ur8JU/s1600/IMG_0724.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UMesSIBOPrQ/Tyeg8L1uYhI/AAAAAAAAAEE/4lMkm1ur8JU/s400/IMG_0724.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">In this photo is Sean Johnson who works the Grill Station, next to him is Marques Hinton on the Saute Station and next to Marques is Deron Lee aka 'Skip' filling in for William Hawkins in this photo. This is a busy line and the guys work very well together. Once Chef's Table patron said the kitchen, "was like a well oiled machine." We like to think the same thing.</div></div><div><br />
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</div><div>After introductions the guests are seated and the meal begins. It is important to keep in mind that each Chef's Table is different, meaning that the menu changes and so does the plating schemes. </div><div><br />
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</div><div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CShGy9LlUlE/TyeZI-GvHRI/AAAAAAAAAD0/wSHs6Y-Al6Q/s1600/Trail+Mix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CShGy9LlUlE/TyeZI-GvHRI/AAAAAAAAAD0/wSHs6Y-Al6Q/s400/Trail+Mix.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;">In this photo above is a "classic" mixture of Roasted Dry Corn, Black Walnuts and Acorns, commonly called, "Apache Trail Mix". Each time this is served to our chef's table diners who happen to be White Mountain Apaches, it sparks intense sensory experiences from each individual. This classic and humble combination becomes an important conversational dish. Memories are shared of growing up on the White Mountain Apache Reservation and collecting the three ingredients separately while receiving strict instructions to not eat them because they are only for winter food storage. It is quite appropriate that we are serving this as a first course. It also sets the tone for the rest of the meal that this is White Mountain Apache cooking, or cuisine prepared by chefs that understand our own intimate culinary traditions. Serving this simple combination is a powerful example of where food takes us emotionally and spiritually while we are rooted in the physical present day. </div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-palS5F3hK10/TyeXlKX01EI/AAAAAAAAAC0/zLskW4qIE-A/s1600/Fritters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-palS5F3hK10/TyeXlKX01EI/AAAAAAAAAC0/zLskW4qIE-A/s400/Fritters.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Pictured here is a Three Sisters Corn Fritters course served with a preserved lemon dipping sauce(this comes off William Hawkins' station). We individually cook White Navy Beans, Anasazi Beans and Tepary beans. We roast corn in the husks and cut it off the cob. Zucchini and yellow squash is grated on a box grater and all the ingredients are stirred into a thick fritter batter that is seasoned with parsley, thyme, lemon, salt and pepper. Delicious.</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aidYgB0t6JE/TyeXvO-7kkI/AAAAAAAAAC8/4nm5A_1AnA0/s1600/shooter+trail+mix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aidYgB0t6JE/TyeXvO-7kkI/AAAAAAAAAC8/4nm5A_1AnA0/s640/shooter+trail+mix.jpg" width="356" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;">This course is a Roasted Butternut Squash Soup Shooter with Bruniose Butternut, Brown Butter and Sage to garnish. The soup is very luxurious in texture and flavor because it has been strained four to five times through a fine strainer.</div></div><div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We do a number of soups and choosing a favorite one for the chef's table is difficult because all the soups are delicious. When we develop the courses for the Chef's Table we work toward using ingredients that are indigenous to the Americas and also have some sort of important culinary history behind them be it scientific, agricultural, nutritional, historical and even spiritual.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">We have a strict respect for the classical French culinary method. However, we have taken elements of the classical culinary model of hierarchy and amended it to fit a model that fits ideals of Apache leadership and caring for the group/band. We utilize elements of our history to push our cuisine even further giving our style of cookery depth, giving it soul.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vPR1KtH-vZU/TyeX0cHfnaI/AAAAAAAAADE/p3wFAswPTTU/s1600/Ravioli.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vPR1KtH-vZU/TyeX0cHfnaI/AAAAAAAAADE/p3wFAswPTTU/s400/Ravioli.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The next course here is a Shrimp Ravioli, Roasted Bay Scallops, Tomato Basil Cream and Tomato Confit. As we focus on training in our kitchen, handmade pasta is a very important technique that is learned and repeated over and over because like our kitchen signage reads, "Perfection is a direction, not an end." We are influenced by many great chefs of our generation like Daniel Boulud and Thomas Keller (just to name two).</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8q6EBXT3t2A/TyeX4e61lWI/AAAAAAAAADM/KIiNGmXQt_o/s1600/Softie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8q6EBXT3t2A/TyeX4e61lWI/AAAAAAAAADM/KIiNGmXQt_o/s400/Softie.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><b>Na'ithl'tlool'le hik'e Nk'oozhi' (Tarantula and Lemon) </b><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">This is a simple Soft Shell Crab with a roasted garlic aioli and a lemon wrap. A small amount of chiffinod of iceberg and romaine lettuce to add freshness but it is really about the Soft Shell Crab and lemon.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I wrote in a previous entry about when we got the crabs in and some of our staff tasted this delicacy for the first time. Well, the soft shell crab is now a kitchen favorite and will continue to work its way into our menu and onto our Chef's Table. I suppose we could call it "Ch'oosh" or bug OR "Na'ithl'tloo'le" or tarantula in the Apache Language. "Nk'oozhi" meaning lemon in Apache...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I am learning to read, write and speak my Apache Language even as I write this blog. It is a powerful experience to learn the Apache Language through food and also in my adulthood. For me, Apache is a second language, nevertheless I am very determined to learn. The Apache Language is a very important element of our particular style of cooking and articulating our culinary traditions in the language is a long term goal of mine. Many, but not all of cooks in our kitchen can speak fluently in Apache, hence the Apache Culinary Translation Project. We recognize that it is a paramount and fundamental practice that must be incorporated into our culinary philosophy and into our daily lives as White Mountain Apache Chefs.</div><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3ssUS88QWVc/TyeX9GNC6MI/AAAAAAAAADU/i9Vw12cLctk/s1600/Salmon+Crisp+Skin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3ssUS88QWVc/TyeX9GNC6MI/AAAAAAAAADU/i9Vw12cLctk/s400/Salmon+Crisp+Skin.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">In this course here is our homage to the "Salmon People" of the great Pacific Northwest with Crispy Skin Salmon, Three Sisters and Sauce N'dee(Apache). Marques Hinton on the Saute Station has mastered this sauce and executing crispy skin every time by "squeegeeing" the excess water out of the skin with the blade of his knife before putting it in the pan. Beautiful.</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7U0uOcvsbSk/TyeYA7dPfTI/AAAAAAAAADc/96rUZCJAKHU/s1600/Acorn+Stew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7U0uOcvsbSk/TyeYA7dPfTI/AAAAAAAAADc/96rUZCJAKHU/s400/Acorn+Stew.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Western Apache Acorn Stew, in my mind is linked to many elements of Apache history. I have written about the long military presence in our region or "Apacheria" as it was once called, this dish to me is connected to years of starvation and survival. It is connected to humility and the bounty of an appreciated harvest of foraged White Oak Acorns that Apache Grandmothers, Mothers, Daughters and children would collect in the fall. Combine this with meat(beef, venison, horse etc,) that was hunted by the patriarchs of the family unit and this humble, historical and delicious dish comes into our world. Along with bleached white flour that could have come from the military food rations to create the dumplings and the delicious, charred, crispy yet soft Western Apache Racket Bread and when all the ingredients are combined something very regional and very Apache is served. We simply add another humble "delicacy" of bone marrow, because bone marrow was and still is only served or reserved for a special few. It is such an honor to serve this dish as we have here. I feel like we have reached directly into our history, made a connection and brought generations of taste and appreciation to our time. I feel like my ancestors are happy with this beautiful dish we present here on our Chef's Table.</div><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--oI8cCVo4Rw/TyeYEsIsz3I/AAAAAAAAADk/VasG6AM6U1A/s1600/Duck+Duo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--oI8cCVo4Rw/TyeYEsIsz3I/AAAAAAAAADk/VasG6AM6U1A/s400/Duck+Duo.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Here is our homage to classical French technique and culinary tradition. This is "Duck Two Ways", on the left is a classically salt cured/seasoned Crispy Skin Duck Confit over Braised Lettuce with a honey duck gastrique. On the right is a Sliced Crispy Skin Duck Breast glazed with fennel, coriander, orange and honey, it is served over Butter Braised Fennel with Orange Segments and Duck Jus Bruniose. ("Perfectly Executed French Laundry Style Bruniose")</div><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x8M1dONYIPE/TyeYi3koVxI/AAAAAAAAADs/csL6miZPdsQ/s1600/IMG_0842.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x8M1dONYIPE/TyeYi3koVxI/AAAAAAAAADs/csL6miZPdsQ/s400/IMG_0842.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> This final Meat Course off Sean Johnson's Grill Station is a Charred New York Strip over Truffled Yukon Potato Puree, Zucchini Ribbons, Pearls, Braised Radish and Pearl Onions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is served with the vibrant green Sauce Nana. We named the vibrant green sauce after a historical figure in Apache history named NANA. Below is a photograph of this figure in our recent history.</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rp-odrUxfp4/Tye3tdr2UBI/AAAAAAAAAEM/GkC5C0uy-nE/s1600/NANA+Photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rp-odrUxfp4/Tye3tdr2UBI/AAAAAAAAAEM/GkC5C0uy-nE/s320/NANA+Photo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">As we continue to push forward as a group of White Mountain Apache Chefs in our kitchen, I feel that we are directly connected to a powerful history. I have mentioned before and will continue to say it, that we, as 'Apaches in the Kitchen' are a part of something special in Indian Country. We are forging a path in the culinary arts based on a very real and historical foundation of Apache truths and values.</div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Apache food has become a living connection to the past. Native Foods has linked us to the past while providing a pathway to the future, a pathway that can enrich an entire generation of Native and Non-Native Chefs alike. It is a grass roots effort to create something out of nothing, because our minds are powerful. It is with Apache ingenuity that we collect elements that have been in place in our culture since time immemorial and apply them to something that is very difficult to do--professional cooking and becoming chefs. I feel like we are contributing to our community from a position of integrity. I feel that cooking and cuisine has enabled us to become the change that we want to see in our community.</div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H2pWgaQgDac/Tye-lr3qMGI/AAAAAAAAAEU/hbKiKbLFJWM/s1600/IMG_0874.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H2pWgaQgDac/Tye-lr3qMGI/AAAAAAAAAEU/hbKiKbLFJWM/s640/IMG_0874.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">left to right: <b>Michael Ivans Jr</b> of CBQ(Stabbs), <b>Deron Lee</b> of CBQ(Stabbs), <b>Chef Nephi Craig of Whiteriver</b><br />
<b>Marques Hinton</b> of McNary, <b>Sean Johnson</b> of McNary (Not Pictured <b>William Hawkins</b>)<br />
<i><b>Sunrise Park Resort Hotel 2011-2012 Winter Ski Season</b></i></td></tr>
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</div></div></div></div>nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-81625483344019177812012-01-19T11:45:00.000-08:002012-01-23T21:50:37.271-08:00Participant Observation<div style="text-align: justify;">Our culinary staff has experienced tremendous growth this season here at the Sunrise Park Resort Hotel. We began this season with an intensive two day training where we covered professional culinary culture in the world today as well as other renown chefs/restaurants in America and abroad. We also examined the evolution, state of and future of Native American Cuisine in this country. We reinforced the fact that although we draw inspiration from other chefs and their restaurants respectfully, we are not trying to be like anybody else but ourselves. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vFyJLqthddQ/TxhuF57ga4I/AAAAAAAAACc/Euh92fWGF6s/s1600/2012-01-13+18.41.42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vFyJLqthddQ/TxhuF57ga4I/AAAAAAAAACc/Euh92fWGF6s/s400/2012-01-13+18.41.42.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This image to the left is of Sean Johnson on the grill station and Marques Hinton(wiping plate) on the saute station in between preparing courses for the Chef's Table in the background on 1-13-12.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Our chefs here are participating in a culinary evolution in Native American Cuisine in Indian Country. They are participating in their own culinary evolution while learning from each other. There was little to no culinary culture here in the White Mountains, so we simply created it for ourselves.</div><br />
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This is a re-post of something I wrote that quickly sums up how I see what we are experiencing.<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Laying a solid foundation for Native American Cuisine in our region is a daunting task. We cannot rush to produce very intricate dishes without risking simply becoming another bastardized version of "fusion cuisine". We move forward working to understand the history of our culinary culture and people while methodically cataloging "classics" in our culture, Western Apache Acorn Stew w/ Racket Bread</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"> is an example of a classic that can become an inspiration for other versions.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">My perspective is that what is happening for Native American Cuisine in our subculture of American culture is somewhat like what happened in France among chefs like Fernand Point, Alain Chapel, Michel Guerard, Jacques Pic, Jean and Pierre Troisgros, etc.. and all that occured with Haute Cuisine, Nouvelle Cuisine and how that has affected "Avant Garde" Cuisine to this day.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Our progress must be meticulous, calculated and deliberate. As a young line cook, I wanted to rush to the "mountain top" and quickly produce a 5-star Native American Cuisine restaurant. Although I know it is very possible to do, I am learning patience. I look at the evolution of cuisine in France like I mentioned above, and the growth and development has been gradual and generational. My foresight allows me to understand that it will be the same way for Native American Cuisine. It is important for me to not loose sight of humility, patience and historical perspective, because I feel like I am part of something great in Indian Country.</span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Signage in our kitchen at Sunrise Park Resort</span></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">There are many things that are out of our control, yet the most important thing we have absolute control over is our minds. So by creating an environment that places a high value on training and mentorship we sharpen each individual by allowing them to fill 'roles' as students and teachers within the our kitchen. We sharpen the mind to enhance and strengthen our individual work ethic and character.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The cooks/chefs in our kitchen are strong kinesthetic learners and have learned many classical culinary fundamentals in a short time frame while operating a business. This is "Character Driven Cuisine" as we like to call it, because none of my cooks have been to culinary school and the culinary students that we did hire jeopardized their own opportunity and quit for whatever reason. I stress that culinary school is very valuable but not a requirement to becoming solid cooks/chefs--it all boils down to individual character and desire to succeed. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ihPJj5P-MHc/Txhoz89UxtI/AAAAAAAAACM/oN_D9i7yacw/s1600/2012-01-13+16.43.18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ihPJj5P-MHc/Txhoz89UxtI/AAAAAAAAACM/oN_D9i7yacw/s400/2012-01-13+16.43.18.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I tell my cooks/chefs that, "Your mind is the sharpest knife that you can ever have. You can choose to maintain your knife and treat it with respect, keep it sharp, protect it and use it properly for good and it will take you far...OR you can neglect your knife(mind) let it get dull, misplace it, misuse it and disrespect it and it can become a very dangerous weapon that can destroy. The choice is yours to use your mind and skill so that it enables you to succeed..." </div><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We reinforce the historical and cultural idea of "Apache Power" in our kitchen..."Each individual has a certain 'power' in the kitchen, a certain role that is essential to one another. Each individuals 'power' enables the 'band'/kitchen to function and thrive. For example, one person is good a fresh pasta making, another at cooking meat, another at prep, another fills the role of porter and server. Our roles or 'powers' are interconnected and our restaurant cannot function with out people and the talents they have individually, so respect for each other's 'power'/role is critical and also a very age old White Mountain Apache way of life. It applies to our cooking and professional cooking in general." That is one example of how we look at our work and how it connects us to history, place, identity, culture and world gastronomy. "Apaches are powerful people", is the "famous" and known statement, we do acknowledge it with humility and respect. For me, as the chef, it is amazing to see the growth among our crew.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Participant Observation is a key element that I reinforce in our pre-shift meetings daily. We dont just get lost in our work, we watch others as they lead by example. It is important to observe while you participate because it is possible to not observe while you participate. So by simply being aware of the work of others, one can increase the learning experience by making a simple conscious choice. This is very important in our work.</div><br />
More signage we believe in...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i3KaqVG9zGc/TxhthX5kX-I/AAAAAAAAACU/QdYrvk6vXCU/s1600/2011-12-30+20.24.27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i3KaqVG9zGc/TxhthX5kX-I/AAAAAAAAACU/QdYrvk6vXCU/s400/2011-12-30+20.24.27.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I am waiting on more images of our Chef's Table. I will write another entry about the chef's table, the dishes, sauces, and other elements that push us in a creative direction. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So stay tuned for more information here in "APACHES IN THE KITCHEN".</div><br />
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</span></span>nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5219121034471516418.post-19821832677908424732011-12-16T23:33:00.000-08:002011-12-17T08:43:32.008-08:00Cultural Identity in Cuisine<div style="text-align: justify;">It is a late night after service, my crew has all clocked out and left the property. I am in my office working on the schedule and specials for tomorrow. We got some soft shell crabs in today and we are thinking of doing a sandwich with them at the Sunset Grill and maybe as a "Day App" in our restaurant. I simply breaded the soft shell crabs with panko bread crumbs to "test" and give some of our crew their first taste of this delicacy. Good stuff, they all lit up with delight at the texture and flavor of the fried soft shells. We talked about what we can do with them. It was a brief creative discussion and it was back to breaking down the kitchen, the daily deep clean.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Somebody asked about our menu. There are a lot of different influences in our menu. Since historically in Apacheria there has been a strong military, Spanish, Mexican and American influence, our menu reflects that fact. We have a Hominy Stew on the menu that we consider "A Raiding Campaign Recipe" because we "raided" in New Mexico and got the recipe from eastern Dinetah/Pueblos, did some changes in flavor, technique and made it ours, made it a recipe only produced by White Mountain Apaches in the Kitchen.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wg13-4t5Qy0/TuwrJ0V87vI/AAAAAAAAABc/OViqmw-THIo/s1600/Coronado_expedition.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="276" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wg13-4t5Qy0/TuwrJ0V87vI/AAAAAAAAABc/OViqmw-THIo/s640/Coronado_expedition.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">The Three Sisters make appearances in various forms as well. (The "3 Sisters Corn Fritters are tasty.) We pay homage to South America with a Quinoa "the super-food" and Chimichurri. We also pay homage to Eurasia and classical French Traditions with fundamental culinary technique, but have amended the classical French Brigade Model to one that runs parallel with traditional Apache values and group structures of leadership.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We focus on the fundamentals. We are not a pretentious restaurant. We are a humble kitchen. We focus on training and we value strong work ethic. Our style has many solid influences and we are not trying to be like anybody but ourselves. We utilize elements of classical cuisine that we feel fit into the model we have created for ourselves. One of the basic and most important classical terms is "Mise En Place", which is a French phrase that translates into, "things in place". This is a physical method of organization, however it is even more importantly an intellectual pathway..."Mental Mise En Place". Simply put, it is having all ingredients, tools, knowledge and skill to execute a certain dish or operation. This is a phrase that we have translated into the Apache language and will soon be posted in our kitchen. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J-rNp4nDIlg/TuwuH_gR0lI/AAAAAAAAABk/-IfTbfVWZGo/s1600/Standards+Planning+MEEZ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J-rNp4nDIlg/TuwuH_gR0lI/AAAAAAAAABk/-IfTbfVWZGo/s400/Standards+Planning+MEEZ.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> As individual members of the crew get stronger because of their own hard work and experiences, we all get stronger as a group. We talk about how we are kinesthetic learners relying on daily powerful sensory experiences with food. It is my hope that these powerful sensory experiences are carried like tools to rely on as our apprentices and mentors alike continue in their paths as cooks/chefs. I know that for me, this is an amazing opportunity to utilize years of physical and intellectual training in the development of our own style of cooking, our own regional cuisine.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">If there are any experienced cooks and chefs that may be reading this blog, I assume they will know what we are dealing with. I hope that historians, educators, artists, nutritionists and anthropologists find this blog in cyberspace because it concerns us all. Even if you don't want to come and try our cooking, it is still a unique occurrence in cultural preservation and development. We utilize terms like Participant Observation and Sensory Experience to describe our work and how we learn. We draw on elements that have been in place since time immemorial to do something very "modern and cutting edge". We acknowledge the fact that those who came before us in our White Mountain Apache history have helped make this possible. I personally feel like food has become a living link between "worlds" or "realms" because how food communicates with me and how I communicate with and through food. It is a very personal interpretation that has taken my entire lifetime to develop. Since I feel that is true for me, I cannot keep what I have so I give it away freely to my staff. It is connected to my understanding of the word, duty.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d_eihmYOgQ0/Tuw2pZOUu1I/AAAAAAAAABs/6LTZi3A5xnQ/s1600/Bakers+PHX+NDN+School.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d_eihmYOgQ0/Tuw2pZOUu1I/AAAAAAAAABs/6LTZi3A5xnQ/s400/Bakers+PHX+NDN+School.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is also important to note that we are not the first to do this. I think change is a constant. This black and white image is of Natives at the Phoenix Indian boarding School in the early 1900's. This image is one example of those who have come before us as 'Apaches in the Kitchen'. It is also an example of another wave, a culture shift or shift in consciousness in Native America. Looking at this image here, I wonder where the children of these young men are today because in the early 1900's my great grandfather Joseph C. Ivans was a child. So although this image is old, it is very recent in the living family bloodlines and history of our Native Peoples.<br />
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So with all this history and cultural influence in mind, we push onward in the culinary arts. We send this blog as a message to the world from high in the White Mountains in Arizona, from a place that is sacred to us as White Mountain Apaches. I am very grateful for this opportunity to work and train with our staff as we work toward a common goal to produce great food and provide quality service. There will be bumps in the road but we can work through them as a group. Be on the look out for images of our Chef's Table that we will soon be doing in our kitchen. The Chef's Table will be inside the kitchen and seat four people so they have the interactive experience of seeing our culinary staff working to produce all that I attempt to describe here in this blog.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We are diligent and grateful...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dg6qF8XEFX0/TuxDcRGPjHI/AAAAAAAAAB8/90OVe7FiMsw/s1600/ndee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dg6qF8XEFX0/TuxDcRGPjHI/AAAAAAAAAB8/90OVe7FiMsw/s400/ndee.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">WHITE MOUNTAIN APACHE CULINARY CULTURE BUILDING</div>nephi_craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830334924568321438noreply@blogger.com0