"The meals we prepare nourish not just our bodies but also our spirits and our connections to our heritage." In Turtle Island: Foods and Traditions of the Indigenous Peoples of North America, James Beard Award-winning Oglala Lakota chef Sean Sherman does just that by inviting readers on an evocative culinary journey along the traditional Native foodways of North America.
In 416 pages filled with photos, Sherman (The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen) showcases the diverse recipes, heritage, and food culture of Turtle Island, what many Indigenous people call North America.
The chapters are organized by region, from Southern Mexico up to Northern Alaska. To remove Eurocentric influences, dairy, wheat, cane sugar, and some meats are replaced by heirloom ingredients and foraged wild foods. The mouthwatering recipes, such as elk sausage with chiles, wild grape dumplings, and mixed seaweed salad are easy to follow, and Sherman further encourages home cooks to make dishes with ingredients that are familiar.
In Turtle Island, Sherman has gathered a "celebration of the past, a recognition of the present, and a hopeful vision for the future." --Grace Rajendran, freelance reviewer