Culinary Ashes

culinary ashes put to good use in various regions and cultures of the world, are made by burning certain bushes or trees until they crumble into ash. Among N. American Indians, Creeks and Seminoles use hickory, and Navajos use primarily juniper branches. Hopis may use various materials, such as spent bean vines and pods or corn cobs, but Hopi women prefer ashes made from green plants, since they are more alkaline. They especially prize the ash from the four-winged saltbush Atriplex canescens, also called chamisa. When burned, green chamisa bushes yield culinary ashes high in mineral content. In explaining all this, Juanita Tiger Kavena (1980) adds:

The Hopi practice of adding culinary ashes to corn dishes therefore raises the already substantial mineral content of these foods. In addition to increasing nutritional value, chamisa ashes enhance the color in blue corn products. When one is using blue cornmeal for any dish, the meal will turn pink when hot water is added, so Hopi women mix chamisa ashes with water to make an ‘ash broth’ which is then strained and added to cornmeal mixtures. The high alkaline content of the chamisa ashes create a distinctly blue-green color, which holds a religious significance for the Hopis.