Mom’s iron skillet that she fried potatoes and chicken in was a cinch to wash. Instead of dunking it in dishwater, you just wiped it clean to retain the “curing.” Now I throw soup makings into my crock pot instead of the iron Dutch oven lurking in my “never-used” cabinet. Plus, fried anything seldom makes my menu, unless it’s the guilt-ridden pleasure of a late night drive-through at In-N-Out Burger.
What made me think of Mom’s iron skillet was a passage I read about how Hopi women make piki. In Helen Sekaquaptewa’s autobiography, Me and Mine, she describes the process. If you’ve never tasted the airy delight (Think tortilla but 5 times as thin and rolled up.), you’re in for a treat. First locate a suitable flat stone about 2 feet wide and a couple inches thick, grind it smooth to a polish, fire it all day, then cure it with the oil from melon seeds. Now you’re ready. (You still with me?)
Mix a liquidy ground corn mixture and tint bowls of it with bright colors like you do when dying Easter eggs. Pour the batter onto your pre-heated piki stone. When it’s cooked just enough, roll it up with your hands without getting burned. See how easy that was?
It reminds me of the Alice B. Toklas Cookbook. (Oh, you didn’t know Gertrude Stein’s lover cooked?) Alice says that to cook a fish you begin by walking down to the dock to see what the fishermen are catching that day.
This food talk makes me hungry for lunch. Think I’ll sign off and microwave my Lean Cuisine of the day.
Delicious with watermelon!
ReplyDeleteI thought the women also smoothed the batter over the hot rock to make sure it was extra thin. At least, I think that's what I've seen at demonstrations. What a fun blog to read! Are you going to teach us more southwest archaeology stuff?
ReplyDeleteLeslie's note to you about spelling went over my head. I never got the memo to drop the "a" first time around.
Lucky you re your job, Leslie. I'd love to take you to coffee sometime and just talk. My email address is skbrems@cox.net. Email me for my phone number.
ReplyDeleteSharon, you're absolutely right about spreading the piki gruel over the stone. Being a new blogger, I'm not sure how much detail to include. I think it's interesting that the women also add a bit of ash to the batter before cooking.I'd love to know the practical reason for doing that. Anybody out there know? I used to take charcoal pills for my stomach. They looked like tiny charcoal bickettes. Maybe ash is good for you somehow or helps piki to cook better. Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteCulinary Ash
ReplyDeleteCulinary ash is made from burning the wood of certain trees until there is only ash left.
Many types of trees and bushes found in the Southwest can be used; the Navajos use juniper primarily and the Hopis use green plants such as suwvi or chamisa (rabbitbrush) bushes.
The green twigs, when burned, produce an ash with a high mineral content.When used in cooking, it increases the food's nutritional value.When culinary ash is mixed with boiling water and corn,the alkaline level in the ash reacts with the corn and changes it to a more intense color.After the water has cooled, the corn changes again - to something close to its original color.If you live in an area where culinary ash is difficult to obtain, baking soda can be used as a substitute, although it doesn't have the high nutritional content of ash. Substitute 2 tablespoons baking soda for 1 cup ash.
~Lois Ellen Frank, "Native American Cooking".
Wow! Thanks, Lois. That was really interesting to the cook in me! Why doesn't it rise, like baking soda causes food to do? Piki stays flat. Keep it coming! I love this stuff!
ReplyDeleteBaking soda causes food to rise when there is a carbon dioxide producing reaction between the baking soda (alkaline) and an acidic ingredient...think science fair volcano. Since corn is already a (slightly) alkaline food, it won't cause that reaction.
ReplyDelete