Interview with Sioux Chef Sean Sherman about Native foods

Q: What are our local native foods?

A: You can’t really get more Minnesotan than what is here, so you have the wild rice, the maple syrups, the blueberries, all the berries that grow throughout the season, all the fish that’s in the lakes, the walleyes, the northerns and white fish, the wild turkeys, duck, venison, rabbit. All this food was here forever. Corn, squash, beans. I might use a little more wild flavors, but those flavors have been around us all the time, too, the tree foods, the cedar, sumac, balsam fir, pine spruce.

Q: Is this the time for native food?

A: Some people are interested in the foraging knowledge that I’m utilizing. Some people are interested in the seed savers and heirloom variety side of what I’m doing. Of course, there are other people interested in hunting and fishing. Some people are interested in history. Some people are on special diets where this diet fits in perfectly. There are lots of wild organic kinds of ingredients, and everything is so locally and regionally based. Some people are interested in the economic development side of it, of being able to utilize a lot of these Native-produced pieces on a larger scale.

So the interest is hitting quite a few different points. The biggest one is really just showing people there is a Native American food culture out there and it’s always been there. It just hasn’t been utilized for a long time. It’s kind of silly because you can find any cuisine in the world in the city, but not the one that came from under your feet.