By Nina FriendFeatures correspondent
GMVozd/Getty Images(Credit: GMVozd/Getty Images)For a new approach to Thanksgiving, look deeper into the past. Recipes for berry slump, cider brined turkey and kanuchi showcase richly different slices of Native American culture.
Across cultures, fall is a time for celebrating the bounty of hearty food, gathering with family and feasting together. While November is often tied to Thanksgiving in the larger US culture, the fraught narrative that has long fuelled the holiday is a reminder to look deeper. For many of the Indigenous peoples who have generations of roots on this land, Thanksgiving represents something much different than a table full of turkey and pie.
Take chef Loretta Barrett Oden, who recently published her first cookbook, Corn Dance: Inspired First American Cuisine. Oden, whose lineage is with the Citizen Potawatomi Nation in Oklahoma, grew up celebrating Thanksgiving and still feasts with family on that day. But when she owned a restaurant in Santa Fe, New Mexico, she highlighted indigenous ingredients by putting turkey and stuffing on the menu, thereby treating every day like it was Thanksgiving. Here, Oden shares her recipe for kanuchi, a rich, creamy soup made of ground nuts and maple syrup.
Sara Calvosa Olson, who comes from the California-based Karuk tribe of Native Americans, doesn't celebrate the Americanised version of Thanksgiving, opting instead to focus her festive meals on the Karuk New Year. Without fail, Olson always makes her apple cider brined turkey with apple brandy acorn gravy. She shares the recipe here, along with background on the importance of acorn flour to this dish and her culture.
The Rhode Island chef Sherry Pocknett, who became the first Indigenous woman to win a James Beard Foundation Award in 2023, doesn't save her gratitude-giving for one day. Instead, she celebrates each harvest, giving thanks for cranberries in the fall and strawberries in the summer. Pocknett's food has received national acclaim, and people go wild for her wild blueberry slump. In her recipe, frozen blueberries (and the addition of cranberries) are a great swap when making this outside of blueberry season, yielding a dessert that's sweet, juicy, and the perfect way to finish any meal.
Between berry slump, apple cider brined turkey and kanuchi nut soup, these three recipes showcase vastly different slices of Native American culture. They also bring festive flavours and communal vibes to any fall harvest table. Read on to learn more about the ingredients, histories and people behind each of these recipes.
Heyday(Credit: Heyday)By Sara Calvosa Olson
In her new cookbook, Chími Nu'am, Sara Calvosa Olson celebrates Indigenous American ingredients and seasonal flavours, like roasted turkey with apple brandy acorn gravy.
---
Metta Nielsen(Credit: Metta Nielsen)By Loretta Barrett Oden
Loretta Barrett Oden celebrates the diversity of Native American recipes – including a warm, nutty soup called kanuchi – in her new cookbook, Corn Dance.
---
BBC World's TableBerry slump is chef Sherry Pocknett's most sought-after dessert (Credit: BBC World's Table)By Sherry Pocknett
Award-winning Indigenous chef Sherry Pocknett shares her most sought-after dessert – one that reminds her to pause and give thanks all year round.
---
BBC.com's World's Table "smashes the kitchen ceiling" by changing the way the world thinks about food, through the past, present and future.
---
Join more than three million BBC Travel fans by liking us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
BBC in other languagesInnovationncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o67CZ5qopV%2Bpv6LCxKVmmqqknrCtsY5rZ2trYWZ%2BdXnToamenV2jrrW11Z5kmqWVp7akrc1mm6KrmJrAbsDOZpqepJWXv6LAxGadmqSc