Description
Sean Sherman, Oglala Lakota, born in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, has been cooking across the United States and world for the past thirty years. His main culinary focus has been the revitalization and awareness of Indigenous foods systems in a modern culinary context. Sean Sherman is a leading figure in the Indigenous food movement, and has been named a TIME 100 honoree, is a recipient of the Julia Child Award, and is a three-time James Beard Award winner. Sean has built deep connections with Indigenous communities, academic institutions, and culinary leaders. Turtle Island highlights community leaders who are contributing to the revival of Indigenous food systems including Joseph Shawana, Shane M. Chartrand, Tawnya Bryant, Trudy Metcalfe-Coe, and Julian Brave NoiseCat.
Uncover the stories behind the foods that have linked the natural environments, traditions, and histories of Indigenous peoples across North America for millennia through more than 150 ancestral and modern recipes from three-time James Beard Award–winning Oglala Lakota chef Sean Sherman.
Growing up on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation, Oglala Lakota chef Sean Sherman understood that his people’s food was rich in flavor, heritage, and connection to the land. It was in the midst of a successful restaurant career mainly cooking European cuisines that he realized the lack of understanding about Native American foodways—a revelation that sent him on a journey to learn more about how Indigenous communities have preserved and evolved their cuisines through the centuries. Now a leading figure in the Indigenous food movement, he guides readers through the unique and diverse Native foodways of North America, sharing both traditional and modern recipes made with ingredients that have nourished Indigenous peoples physically, spiritually, and culturally for generations.
Organized by region, this book delves into the rich culinary landscapes of Turtle Island—as many Indigenous cultures call this continent. Learn to eat with the land that surrounds you, focus on plant-forward dishes, and discover how to better feed yourself. Alongside delicious recipes like Smoked Bison Ribeye, Wild-Rice Crusted Walleye Cakes, Charred Rainbow Trout with Grilled Ramps, Sweet Potato Soup with Dried Venison and Chile Oil, Sunflower Seed “Risotto,” and Sweet Corn Pudding with Woodland Berry Sauce (and so much more), you’ll see the inspiring Indigenous food scene through Sean’s eyes.
Exemplifying how Native foodways can teach us all to connect with the natural world around us, Turtle Island features rich narrative histories and spotlights the communities producing, gathering, and cooking these foods, including remarkable stories of ingenuity and adaptation that capture the resilience of Indigenous communities.