Native American Foods: Technology and Food Sources: Seasonal Dishes

The Native American calendar was marked by a succession of seasonal foods. Although the basic cooking techniques remained the same, availability determined the combinations of foods that were possible. For example, winter succotash was made by the Cherokee from dried corn, beans, and sometimes dried pumpkin, but summer succotash was made with juicy green corn and soft, immature beans and was more likely to be flavored with fresh garden vegetables or meat. On the northwestern coast, salmon and camas root (genus Camassia) available at the same time in spring, were cooked together for major feasts. The highly valued combination of dried chokecherries (Prunus virginiana) and deer liver was a favorite of the Paiute in winter. The dried fruit was a favored travel food and was at hand at the time of a kill to flavor the perishable and cherished liver, which was usually eaten immediately.