cover image Enduring Harvests: Native American Foods and Festivals for Every Season

Enduring Harvests: Native American Foods and Festivals for Every Season

E. Barrie Kavasch. Globe Pequot Press, $14.95 (352pp) ISBN 978-1-56440-737-5

Food historian and native plants expert Kavasch (Native Harvests) describes more than 70 time-honored festivals celebrated by Native Americans, lacing the narrative with 150-plus recipes for dishes traditionally served at these events. Beginning with September feasts, she offers an eclectic, somewhat rambling look at cultures and corresponding festivals many readers may know little about. Celebrations include Schemitzun, the feast of green corn celebrated in Connecticut by the Mashantucket Pequot Indians, with Savory Venison Stew and Algonquian Three Sisters Rice; the O'Odham Tash Days in mid-February in the dry Southwest, with Barbecued Pork Spareribs; the Buffalo Days Pow Wow in July in Alberta, Canada, with Grilled Rack of Buffalo Ribs. Such recipes as Grape Dumplings, Halibut Steaks with Raspberry-Juniper Sauce and Seminole Pumpkin Fry Bread will likely be new to many. Kavasch's short, colorful accounts of the festivities are informative and engaging; a resource directory is provided. (Nov.)