Native American cooking fuels local chef's passion

North Bay chef John Farais asks us if we know what "California Spaghetti" is.

We haven't a clue.

"It's worms," he says with a laugh, "That's what its called now, but back then it was survival.  The Native Americans would eat anything that was available; worms, insects.  They would cook the worms and mash them with beans."

Luckily for us, Farais--who has developed hundreds of recipes using indigenous ingredients--hasn't made "California Spaghetti" the centerpiece of his repertoire.  In fact, he's never even tried worms.

But he has made mesquite-seared rabbit, corn fritters with Inca berry (gooseberry) dipping sauce and prickly pear ice-cream. 

Ok, we could go for that.

Farais has been a chef for nearly a decade, specializing in all types of cuisines.  He pays the bills by working with as a chef for various North Bay catering companies, but his passion is Native American cooking. 

Why Native American cuisine?

"It's a very creative process being a chef and working with food.  And that whole process is kind of creative because you constantly check what's available and what can go together.  Along the way I kind of decided I wanted to do Native American food because its our history and I realized that there's a food here that is untapped.  We have a lot native foods that are being ignored."

Because he wanted the recipes to be as authentic as possible, Farais spends a lot of time researching the ingredients, and recipes.  Although it's generally known that grains, nuts, plants, berries and seeds were the mainstay of a Native American's diet, Farais is determined to find out which varieties were original, and not introduced. 

"Traditional is food that has been used by a culture for a long time," he says while pulling ingredients out for us to look at, "So traditional is what I concentrate on rather than heirloom, or introduced."

He uses the Latin name in order to determine the foods origin, and then figures out which are native to North America. In addition, Farais pores through cookbooks and historical recipes, looking at Native American recipes and weeding out those that don't use traditional ingredients. An example are modern cookbooks that feature Native American cooking.

"A lot of them are non-traditional the way they ask for wheat.  Wheat is introduced, almost all the grains are introduced," says Farais. "So I try to stay away from it, like fry-bread which is a considered native food, but it wasn't what they were using traditionally."

Instead of wheat, they used amaranth flour or acorn flour.  Or even mesquite flour- a package of which Farais is tearing open. He offers us a taste.

It is incredibly flavorful, sweet and almost like cocoa.

Some indigenous ingredients can be found pretty easily; strawberries, cranberries, tomatoes, corn, and squash, but Farais has to cast his net wide to locate more exotic ingredients.

He will travel to the East Bay to Korean grocers to find acorn flour and seaweed.  At Berkeley Bowl--also in the East Bay--he'll pick up arrowroot bulbs and at Whole Foods they will sometimes stock sun-chokes, and yucca root.  Mexican grocery stores are a good source for cactus leaf and prickly pear.  For bison, elk or venison, Farais will head into San Francisco to Polarica, a specialty store for game meat.

Farais is mindful that even though he may be using traditional foodstuffs, he's not cooking over a traditional open fire.  And when he can't find the exact ingredient, he'll adapt.

"Whenever I can do a traditional method, or do it in a traditional way, I will," he says, "But of course it's using modern ingredients and modern kitchen.  In adapting recipes, I look at recipes that are out there and look interesting, and then I see if I can adapt it to Native American."

He does take us out back to show us something he's making using a traditional ingredient--corn--in a traditional method--a Mexican crock.  It's a fermented corn drink called Tiswin, which is basically corn fermenting in water.  Farais lifts the lid to check on its progress.

Not quite ready, he says sniffing, but give it a few days.

As a parallel to the locavore movement, Farais has also begun to grow his own indigenous produce.  One of the catering companies he works with, has allowed him to farm on some very fertile soil in Sonoma County.  

"There are the "three sisters", he says pointing to a grove of impossibly tall cornstalks that tower over the 6' 2" chef.

"Three sisters" refers to the Native American practice of growing corn, beans and squash together--the corn stalks provide a trellis for the beans and the squash provides a low cover that keeps the beans and corn roots cool.  In Farais' case, he's growing Aztec multi-colored corn, Anasazi beans and Lakota squash.

He's also planted elderberry, Jerusalem artichokes--which Farais points out are neither from Jerusalem nor artichoke and whose traditional native name is Huitz la coche.  He has planted Hidatsu sunflower for seeds, and amaranth for flour.

"For me, I feel like I need to re-introduce these things to people, to the mainstream, so that maybe we can get more farmers interested in growing things that are native. I mean what's more local than native?"

Farais' push for awareness of indigenous food is beginning to take root.

He's held workshops for Slow Food U.S.A., and also works closely with California Native Garden Foundation down in Los Gatos.  He's also working on some ideas for a cookbook.

Farais is also frequently hired to cook special occasion Native American feasts.  One he's doing this weekend--a Heritage Dinner benefit for Marin Museum of the American Indian in Novato--has an amazing menu-

It starts with rabbit with hazel nuts, mesquite and amaranth flours served on acorn cornmeal and sage cake. That is followed by a salad composed of native and naturalized greens with pine nuts, sunflower sprouts and flowers.  The main coarse is bison encrusted in mushroom dust and toasted Pepitos, topped with a relish of sun-choke, rosehip, and dried elderberries on a bed of wild rice with native corn and squash pilaf.

Finally, dessert will be mint custard tart and the aforementioned prickly pear ice cream.

We wager it will be way better than "California Spaghetti."

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Here is Chef John Farais' Popped Wild Rice with Cranberries and Pine Nuts.  He actually made a batch for us while we were there, and it is truly delicious.

(All the ingredients can be purchased at Trader Joe's)

• Ingredients- wild rice, orange-flavored cranberries, pine nuts (buy them pre-toasted), olive oil, salt
• Heat a large, heavy, flat bottom frying pan over med-high heat.  (no oil in the pan)
• Throw enough rice so that it is a single layer on the bottom of the pan. 
• Cook for a few minutes, stirring the rice until you see it begin to pop and crackle. Don't let it burn.
• Empty the rice into a large bowl. 
• Throw another handful of rice in the pan, and repeat the steps.  Throw in a third handful of rice and repeat the steps again.
  
• Mix the cooked rice with just enough oil to dress lightly. 
• Toss in a handful of cranberries and toasted pine nuts and mix.  Eat while warm. 

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Chef John Farais has a product for resale, called Indi-O, a snack bar with three ingredients native to America--sunflowers, mesquite pods and seeds and honey. You can order them here.

He is available to cater special dinners featuring Native American cuisine.  Check out this website to contact Chef Farais.

If you want to attend the August 29, Heritage Dinner benefit at the Marin Museum for the American Indian, please go to their website. 

To find out more information about California Native Garden Foundation, check here. 

Slow Food East Bay website is here.

Comments

[Jodie Schmeltz]

John Farais is fabulous. I have known him for over 10 years. He truly loves what he does and it comes across in the final product.

[Patrick Wilson]

How Does Fry Bread fit it to your offerings? if so, how do you make it?

[MoreMarin]

Hi Patrick
Although John mentioned frybread, he said it's not a traditionally native food although many people think it is.

I don't believe it's one of the things John cooks but perhaps he has altered the recipe to use traditional ingredients.