How do Native American foods factor into the Locavore Challenge?
This past Sunday, I had the pleasure to pop over to Longview Market in order to attend a demonstration about what the winter Native American foods were in the Philadelphia region. Harmony had a wonderful layout to show us what the Lenape tribe would have prepared and the results were delicious!
We started with sassafras root beer. Harmony had foraged for the sassafras root and prepared the syrup herself. She mixed it with some seltzer water and served it cold. Next up was Blue Corn Frybread. The market carries a great Native Blue Corn Meal that is milled locally. Harmony added some corn kernels to the frybread mixture and then we ate it with some maple syrup. It was a wonderful stick-to-your-ribs winter meal.
Finally, we had some venison and winter vegetables. Harmony had also foraged for the black walnuts in this recipe and the resulting dish was excellent! She did a great job of explaining why certain foods were saved for winter consumption and where the foods could still be found today.
Disclosure: I am working with Longview to help promote their Locavore Challenge. Any opinion are my own.
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This post is making me hungry!! Time for breakfast!
I definitely need to make the blue corn cakes one morning.
Very cool! I remember having sassafras root beer as a kid. Let me know when the next cooking demonstration is; I’ll see if I can join you.
I will keep you posted, Barb!
That all sounds so delicious! And I love that they are using blue corn since it’s non-gmo!
Yes, Chrystal. They are doing a lot in the market to sell non-GMO products.
Wow! What a fantastic resource!
It’s so nice to have another local option that is working to educate folks about being local throughout the year.