‘Seasoned With Spirit’

Chef Loretta Barrett Oden (Citizen Potawatomi Nation) cooks up a frybread alternative

Kitty Leaken

Loretta Barrett Oden (Citizen Potawatomi Nation) is a woman of great charm and spirit. As chef/owner of the Corn Dance Café in Santa Fe, New Mexico, , she was among the first restaurateurs to showcase the Indigenous foods of the Americas. She has appeared often as a guest on national television programs and written and hosted her own Emmy Award–winning five-part PBS series, Seasoned with Spirit: A Native Cook’s Journey.

Born and raised in Shawnee, Oklahoma, Oden has been cooking since she was a little girl, standing on a chair to reach the kitchen counter. All the women in her family were good cooks and gardeners. They also knew about wild foods. In the springtime, accompanied by the children, they gathered tender young lamb’s quarters, wild onions and poke sallet, and when the sand plums ripened in early summer they were harvested and made into a beautiful, sweet, clear jelly that tasted delicious when slathered on cornbread.

Oden spent much of her adult life raising her children and indulging another great passion: horses. She was a busy Future Farmers of America and rodeo mom, and an enthusiastic barrel racer. During all those years she still enjoyed cooking, but after the children were grown, she found more time to travel and explore her lifelong interest in food and Native American culture.

Having grown up in Oklahoma, where there are more than 40 federally recognized tribes, Oden knew a lot about Native culture, but as she traveled to reservations across North America, learning about cooking traditions, even she was amazed by the diversity of delicious and healthful indigenous foods.

One of Oden’s pet peeves is that with so many great Native American culinary options, people still tell her that their favorite Native American food is frybread. Frybread and Indian tacos, she is quick to point out, are not Native foods. “They are purely a product of the government’s commodity program, beginning in the mid-1800s when white flour and lard were given to the Indian people. Like the ‘funnel cakes’ people enjoy at state fairs, frybread has gained popularity because of the powwow and Indian rodeo circuits. It tastes good, but eating it often is bad for your health and rough on your figure.”

The “frybread question” inspired Oden to come up with some healthier and Indigenous versions of the Indian taco. Her “Little Big Pies,” inspired in name by the film Little Big Man, are baked, not fried, and the crusts contain flour made from indigenous foods like corn, acorns, wild rice and quinoa. For toppings she has found inspiration in the buffalo of the Great Plains, the alder-smoked salmon of the Pacific Northwest, venison from the Eastern Woodlands and crayfish from the bayous of Louisiana.

Oden’s Tatonka Little Big Pies are tasty. The crust is kind of puffy, like frybread, and chewy, like a pizza. Kids seem to love the topping and, though the dough does require time to rise, it is easy to make. To make it in advance, mix the dough as directed in the recipe and form it into rounds. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Before topping and baking, let dough come to room temperature.

Loretta Oden’s Tatonka Little Big Pies

Makes 6

For the corn dough:

2 1/4 cups bread flour, or all-purpose flour

½ cup yellow cornmeal

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/4-ounce package active dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

3/4 cup warm (110ºF) water

1 tablespoon organic corn oil or sunflower seed oil, plus enough for oiling the bowl and baking sheet

For the Tatonka topping:

1 tablespoon organic corn or sunflower seed oil

1 1/4 pounds ground buffalo (bison) or lean beef

1/3 cup chopped red onion

½ cup fresh, frozen or canned (well-drained) corn niblets

½ cup diced red, green, orange or yellow mini sweet bell peppers

2 tablespoons chili powder, plus more for garnish

Salt to taste

6 fresh rosemary sprigs, and ½ cup fresh pomegranate seeds (optional garnish)

In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal and salt. In a small bowl, stir together yeast, sugar and 1/4 cup of the warm water. Set yeast mixture aside for about 15 minutes, until it triples in volume. Stir the yeast, remaining ½ cup water and 1 tablespoon of oil into the flour. With an electric mixer with a dough hook, or by hand, mix and knead dough for 5 to 10 minutes, until it’s soft and smooth.

On a floured surface, knead the dough briefly and form it into a ball. Place the dough into a clean, oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel or plastic wrap. Place in a warm, draft-free area for about 45 minutes, until doubled in volume.

While the dough is rising, prepare the buffalo meat topping. Lightly oil a large nonstick skillet and place over medium-high heat. Add ground meat and brown lightly, add chopped onion and continue to cook until meat is well browned and onion is beginning to soften. Stir in corn, peppers and chili powder and continue to cook until heated through. Season to taste with salt.

Preheat oven to 475ºF.

When the dough has risen, punch it down and divide it into 6 equal portions. Form each portion into a ball and roll or pat it into a 6-inch round. Place rounds on an oiled baking sheet and brush the top of each round lightly with oil.

With a slotted spoon, spread buffalo-meat topping evenly over the dough rounds, leaving a 1-inch border uncovered. Bake the Little Big Pies on the middle shelf of the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until dough is golden brown and topping is hot. Sprinkle the pies lightly with chili powder. Garnish with rosemary sprigs and pomegranate seeds and serve.