What do you know about Native American Cuisine?

American food culture

Most of us have a preconceived view of what American food is - Tex-Mex, chowder, burgers and so on – and whilst these are typical of foods Stateside, the US is also a true melting pot of cuisines from around the World. What many people don’t know is that there were established food cultures there well before any European settlers arrived on the East Coast. Those food cultures are what is now referred to as Native American cuisine, and they were following the principles of sustainability and seasonality well before the rest of us! 

Three Maize Indian Corn Cob Ears 

Native American influence on cuisine

Native American cuisine has also played a part in shaping today’s American cuisine. Lots of Tex-Mex dishes have their origins in Native American cooking, and the cuisine can be split into 3 broad styles: 

Northern/Eastern Woodlands – staple ingredients from this region included the ‘3 sisters’ of maize/corn, beans and squash, plus quinoa, maple syrup and cranberries. 

Did you know?

The ‘3 sisters’ are interdependent. The maize/corn grows tall, the beans use the corn plants as bean stalks, and the squash provides ground cover, helping keep the soil moist and the weeds under control.

The Great Plains – dishes included local ingredients such as bison, the ‘3 sisters’, turnips, sweet potatoes, onions, wild rice, fruits and berries. Bison was usually roasted, preserved as jerky or dried and mixed with tallow and other ingredients to flavour it.

The North West Coast – the diet was made up of salmon, other fish and seafood, berries, mushrooms, venison, duck and rabbit.

Corn, in its many varieties, was the staple of many Indian tribes’ diets and play a big part in native American food such as  soups, breads, salads and fried foods. Another staple was the ‘fry bread’ – a dough made today with flour, baking powder, salt and warm water, and made into flat rounds with a hole in the middle. These are shallow fried and used like a taco base for other toppings.

The Mitsitam Cafe cookbook

Where can I try Native American cuisine?

One of the best places to try contemporary Native American cuisine is the Mitsitam Café in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC – a must-visit café in DC! The Mitsitam Café Cookbook (ISBN 978-1555917470 and available in the UK online) has some mouth watering traditional dishes and modern interpretations that are well worth a try. For example:

· Cedar plank roasted salmon with wild berry glaze

· Home ground buffalo and duck burger with smoked tomatoes and squash slaw

· Dried hominy (maize) and venison stew with toasted pumpkin seeds

· Smoked trout and new potato chowder

· Cranberry braised winter greens 

· Chipotle chilli chicken taco

· Barley and dried fruit salad

· Wild rice and watercress salad

Other sources of information for Native American cuisine are:

www.tahtonka.com/food.html

www.auntiesfrybread.com

If you have any comments about food you've tried or would like to try then please leave us a comment in the box below.

Foodie predictions for 2013

At the beginning of each year I get those stares across the office floor, which I know are the prelude to that annual question - “what’s hot and what’s not?” I feel slightly ‘Mayan’ in so much as it’s like trying to predict the end of the world and you look a bit daft if you don’t get it right - but I’ve got my crystal ball out and so here goes for 2013…

Healthier dining out 

In our efforts to find new and interesting ingredients chefs will work to make our meals healthier by using new found ingredients and eastern influences. I predict they will see the opportunity they present and add the healthier tag to their menus.

Asian cuisine

Asian foods & flavours

Thai, Vietnamese and Korean flavours will work their way into our lives. Even on our deli bars won’t escape. The Bánh Mì Vietnamese sandwich, a remnant of the French colonial, is already on our doorstep.

Sour foods, pickles & fermented ingredients

With the growth in Asian foods will also come a taste for ‘sour’ - sharp, tart bitter flavours - from well-known favourites such as sauerkraut to fermented cherry juice and vinegars.

I predict beetroot will
be big in 2013

Vegetables as main courses 

Not that we’re all turning into vegetarians, but with the increased prices in meat options, cauliflower steaks and squash noodles are beginning to make their way onto our menus. It’s good for our wallets as well as our hearts.  Keep an eye out for the return of the humble vegetable as producers join the ‘heritage’ bandwagon. I’m predicting beetroots, leeks, kale and cauliflowers… they’re packed with goodness, so get them onto your plates folks!

Popcorn

Sales of popcorn grew over 21% last year and they are healthier than crisps. I’m already seeing it used in many more creative ways - like toppings for ice cream, desserts and even salads. It’s also creeping onto the breakfast menu as a granola replacement for breakfast.

Local chefs and local food heroes

Pop-Up Chef - 

Chef Celia Brooks joins
 us in our restaurant

With the glut of celebrity chefs I think we’re going to be looking at who’s cooking our food and indeed creating our food more locally. We’ve created ‘Pop-Up Chef’ - a concept that invites local chefs and food makers to come into our restaurants to showcase themselves and their ingredients.

  

Éclairs

Yes that bastion of 1970’s dining is back with a bang. It’s all part of this massive baking trend that’s going on and looks set to stay for a while (thank goodness). These Parisian bad boys are about to hit the big-time, so get ready for brightly coloured toppings, butterscotch fillings and loads of sprinkles everywhere. Fruit toppings, bitter, sweet icings and butter cream and creams in abundance.

Eggs

As our love affair with chicken continues, I predict we will see a growth in eggs as a great source of protein. The sales of breakfasts looks set to continue and so combining all these factors together it seems only logical that the humble egg will have a place on my food trends list for 2013.

Right on trend -
hot dogs

  

The hot dog

Have we all gone barking mad? Actually at bartlett mitchell I think we’re bang on trend as we’ve already created a great hot dog concept, but its going to ride the wave this year. The rise of street food and ‘dude food’ has meant that the humble hot dog has had the gourmet makeover, so the once nasty market food stall is now a foodie trend. Look out for ingredients and meats like duck or pork, turning this simple street food into real posh nosh.

A new ingredient

Teff: the next quinoa grain. In Ethiopia they’ve used an ingredient called ‘Teff’ (sounds Welsh I know!) where for thousands of years it has been the staple ingredient of their fabulous flatbread, known as injera. Why so popular? Well it’s gluten-free and, of course, it’s high in those all-important essentials such as protein, calcium and fiber.

Top tip for next year

Keep an eye out for the all-new donut as I have a feeling if they don’t hit this year they definitely will the next!

So those are my top tips for 2013, if you have anything you think should be on the list that I’ve left off let me know.

Delicious regards

David James

Director of Food Services

What do Tapas have in common with men?

Some of the best seafood in the world

Our annual foodie weekend was so good last year that we decided to return to the same place again, Santiago de Compostella in Northern Spain. We love Galician food, it really does have some of the best seafood in the world and you can visit the incredible cathedral.

Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

As we pondered over yet another bottle of fine Spanish wine (favourites are from the region of Ribera del Duero and in particular the Cristobel Lopez) we decided that Tapas are like men; there is a wide variety, they come in all shapes and sizes, there’s one to suit everyone and you don't have to commit to just one course, you can try a few!

Origins of Tapas

There are rumoured to be 138,000 bars in Spain, this is as many as the rest of Western Europe put together. Tapas literally means ‘topping’ and was originally invented to keep the flies out of drinks. The word ‘tapas’ is derived from the Spanish verb tapas, ‘to cover’. 

According to ‘The Joy of Cooking’, the original tapas were the slices of bread or meat which sherry drinkers in Andalusia taverns used to cover their glasses between sips. This was a practical measure meant to prevent fruit flies from hovering over the sweet sherry. The meat used to cover the sherry was normally ham or chorizo, which are both very salty and activate thirst. Because of this, bartenders and restaurant owners began creating a variety of snacks to serve with sherry, thus increasing their alcohol sales. The tapas eventually became as important as the sherry and the rest is history.

Social

There's something about a Tapas bar that is extremely convivial. A few more glasses and we decided It is because of the shared experience. After we each tasted the tapas we discussed them in great detail, deciding whether to order more, move on to the next tapas bar or just choose another one from the menu.

Tapas bars are part of the Spanish psyche of being together and tapas as a social eating experience provides this. Tapas are served in a wide range of bars; we ate in everything from the most basic, described by David James as, "Like eating in a men's urinal!" through to top-end award wining tapas bar, worthy of a Michelin star.

Provenance

The Tapas on offer typically reflect the region's culinary traditions, agricultural and fishing. The North Western coast of Spain has a long fishing tradition and we visited the local Fish market at Mercado de Abastos  to get a closer look at what was on offer. The abundance of fish staggering, from tiny chanquetes (White Bait), through to centurion crabs, octopus and very expensive and hard to come-by, percebes (gooseneck barnacles). Every palate was catered for and we could tell how fresh it was because there was no fishy smell just a salty taste. 

Galicians or Gallegos as they are called in Spanish are not rich people and because of the rugged landscape and rough weather, they use every bit of what they grow or catch, including using shells as fertiliser for the soil. In the market we saw stands selling every type of meat you could imagine and absolutely nothing was wasted, even the piggy’s ears were for sale. Each stall had something special to offer and we left with great memories of fresh seafood- reputedly some of the best in the world. 

If you are planning a trip to Santiago then make sure you let us know, we have some great Tapas bars we can recommend.

Written by Wendy Bartlett, Managing Director; David James, Food Service Director and Lin Dickens, Marketing Director.

Fish... To buy, or not to buy? That is the question.

Don Seller, Purchasing Director and I attended the Sustainable Fish Forum at Fishmongers Hall last week to discuss sustainable fishing methods and the nuances of sourcing farmed fish (aka aquaculture). We also met with like-minded caterers to discuss the impact of wild fish capture and aquaculture within the catering industry, practical engagement initiatives for clients, customers and team members and have also pledged to support the ‘No to Bluefin Tuna’ fish campaign: it was a busy day!

How can bartlett mitchell use more sustainable fish?
1. We need to continue to influence demand for the Top 5 Fish (Cod, Haddock, Tuna, Salmon and Prawns) by buying fish caught or farmed in a sustainable way from recognised or accredited sources. An important comment came from a round table of restaurateurs: stating that our fish comes fresh from Billingsgate is not the right answer. The devil is in the detail!

2. There’s a new accreditation that sits alongside Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified fish - it’s the Aquaculture Stewardship Council certification recognising sustainable fish farms.  Tilapia and Pangasius farms became accredited in the first wave of certifications and they’re hoping to certify a number of salmon farms in 2013. Aquaculture, or intensive fish farming, has had negative press over the years - this certification seeks to enlighten fish farms and make positive changes to core standards. If you see a turquoise version of the MSC’s dark blue logo, that’s them! 

3. Mackerel is off the Marine Conservations Society’s (MCS) “Fish to Eat” list – and has moved to the “Fish to Eat Occasionally”.  This is because of a deadlock over mackerel quotas in the North-East Atlantic. The MCS & SRA have made recommendations to chefs to consider the following three key criteria before ordering mackerel for the menu:

Seasonality (July-February)

Location (local inshore waters)

Fishing method (in this case hand-line caught).

4. ASC-certified tilapia with chilli salsa is rather delicious – thank you Regal Springs, the Fishmongers Hall catering team & Sustainable Fish City.

Recommendations are for chefs to consider replacing it with sustainable alternatives like sardines, pilchards or herring. Line-caught inshore MSC-certified mackerel can still be offered on menus. How will our chefs know what to buy? By referencing MCS resource fishonline.org, which hosts the buyer’s guide to sustainable seafood, as well as keeping the 'Pocket Good Fish Guide' to hand.

Which fish are sustainable?
Recommendations are for chefs to consider replacing it with sustainable alternatives like sardines, pilchards or herring.  Line caught, inshore MSC-certified mackerel can still be offered on menus. How will our chefs know what to buy? By referencing MCS resource fishonline.org, which hosts the buyer’s guide to sustainable seafood, as well as keeping the Pocket Good Fish Guide to hand.

Find out more about sustainable fish

If you’d like to know more about the situation, BBC have a great video explaining the problem: Click here to watch it!

The BBC also have a topical fish quiz, click here for “7 Questions on Sustainable Fish” – what’s your score? 

2013 'Sustainable Fish Campaign'

In response to this enlightening forum we’ve contacted our fish suppliers to reaffirm our sourcing commitments and are planning a 2013 'Sustainable Fish Campaign' to build on our ‘Fish Source’ menu feature. In fact, we'll post a blog about it to share our progress!

Hannah Carmichael
Business Development Coordinator & Green Bee