Saturday, January 24, 2009

Navajo Food and Old Seeds

Blue corn is a common Native American (by American i do not mean from the USA but refer to the American Continent as a whole) food. In Central Mexico, it is eaten steamed with just some lime and salt or made into dough with which blue tortillas, and other wonderful delicacies, are made.

Recently, Education Curator Char Kruger showed how to make Navajo blue corn mush at the
Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, Arizona (read more here). It reminds me very much of traditional corn dishes made in Mexico. So, I went searching for more traditional Native American recipes and found a nice site. Check it out here.

With so many foods being replaced by industrial products it is good to know that some people out there still are interested in traditional cooking and unadulterated ingredients. I have just read an interesting article in Swedish Svenska Dagbladet on the increasing popularity of 'old' vegetable seeds. It seems that many Foodies are trying their green thumbs out and are planting their very own organic greens and maintaining biodiversity as well. For more info (in Swedish) visit this website. Or go to the Bioheritage information page in English.

I have spent the last two seasons learning how to grow food. This year we succeeded with broccoli, spinach, zucchini, lots of different herbs (mint, lemon balm, cilantro), and actually were able to pick a few raspberries. I will return to the topic as soon as I decide what to plant this year.

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