Native American Foods: Technology and Food Sources: Fermenting

Fermentation was used, but only rarely to make beverages. More likely, fermented liquids were used as a necessary intermediate step in the production of something else. For example, eastern tribes made vinegar, an important flavoring and tenderizing aid, by fermenting maple sap. The Ojibwa cooked meat in combinations of fermented and sweet saps to produce a sweet and sour effect. One version of a Seminole soup is made with fermented sofkee (corn porridge). Certain foods were buried for storage, sometimes for long periods, during which time they fermented. This method was used by the Huron to cache wet corn, by the Sioux to process wild rice in water, and by Indians of the Northwest to preserve salmon roe. The goal appears to have been a combination of preservation and desirable flavor. Although early European visitors rarely found them attractive, these foods were used with great pleasure by Indians.