Whatever you do, you should probably jump on tickets now.
The founder of Taste of Native Cuisine (no website, just tons of national press), M. Karlos Baca is teaming up with Brian Yazzie (Sioux Chef) for a pop-up dinner on October 3 at Han Oak. It’ll feature Modern Indigenous cooking and the stories behind the dishes.
At $100 a head, the seven-course, prix fixe menu will offer a sample of Indigenous culinary traditions from across the United States. Chef Baca tells Eater he’s utilizing all-Indigenous-grown and harvested ingredients — including many that do not exist in the Pacific Northwest.
“I’m using a corn grown by Rowen White [of the Haudenosaunee Nation of Akwesasne],” says Baca, “to make Pueblo concho corn pudding. The reason I do it is it’s a traditional dish, eaten in fall and winter for hunting trips. You just put it in your hip pack and went on your way.”
Describing his cooking as New Indigenous, Baca says he’ll modernize the dish so it “hits all the senses: sour, sweet, earthy, and nutty.” The final plate will feature corn pudding with bear root, sumac, pine needle syrup, and pickled amaranth flowers.
“‘New Indigenous’ is like ‘New American,’” he says.
Chef Baca spends much of his time sharing Indigenous culinary knowledge with kids, communities, and industry kitchens, so just the fact he’s breaking out the knives is exciting. Further, he’s never brought the Flavors of Resilience; An Indigenous Foods Celebration Pop-up pop-up to the Pacific Northwest before. At last check-in, about half of the tickets had been snatched up.
- Flavors of Resilience; An Indigenous Foods Celebration Pop-up [Official Event Page]