Toasted Sister Podcast

This podcast episode is a 20-minute preview of “Indigenous Roots: Exploring the Crossroads of African American and Indigenous American Cuisine,” an online two-part event hosted by the Museum of Food and Drink on Aug. 5 and 6. Guest chefs, Yusuf Bin-Rella of Trade Roots Culinary Collective, Elena Terry (Ho-Chunk), executive chef and founder of Wild Bearies, and chef Dave Smoke-McCluskey (Mohawk), w...

When I visited Paul Natrall (Suquamish) in his Mr. Bannock food truck in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, I wasn’t expecting to get a taste of some of the most delicious pizza I ever had. I did and that was also my first taste of bannock, an Indigenous flour-based bread (kind of like frybread). In this episode, I talk with chef Paul about bannock, how he got hooked on culinary arts and a new I...

In this special episode, I talk with seven Indigenous people working in the food industry about how they are being affected by COVID-19. On the show: Nico Albert, executive chef of Duet Restaurant Crystal Wahpepah, owner of Wahpepah’s Kitchen Spring Alaska, owner of Sakari Farms Inez Cook, owner of Salmon n’ Bannock Zach Johnston, writer and editor at Uproxx Kelsey Ducheneaux, owner of DX Beef Mic...

In this special episode, I visit with Chef Maria Parra Cano in her food truck, Sana Sana. We share a nice, plant-based dinner and then we talk about labels, her mom’s recipes and food as medicine. Recipe below. Verde smoothie 1 cup nopales, diced 1 cup pineapple, diced ¼ cup cilantro, diced 2 tablespoons chia seeds ½ cup water 1 cup raw spinach Agave and ice to taste Add everything to a blender an...

In this special episode, I take you through the 4th annual Red Lake Nation Food Summit in Minnesota. Doug DesJarlait talks about walleye, Deb Smith talks about ancestral seeds, Veronica Kingbird-Bratvold talks about plant relatives, Dan Kimewon talks about corn and Kevin Finney talks about basket making.

March 2020: COVID-19 hit the fan and is affecting all in the restaurant industry, including Salmon n’ Bannock, the only Indigenous brick-and-mortar restaurant in Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. In this episode, I visit Salmon n’ Bannock and talk with Inez Cook, the owner, about her personal journey in the industry and how food around the world influences her palate. Photo: Kass Cross

Alana Yazzie (Navajo) went from being wary of Facebook to becoming a lifestyle and food blogger with a big social media following. She goes by The Fancy Navajo and you can find her across all social media platforms cooking, gardening and modeling a signature, cheery aesthetic wherever she is in Native America. Mentioned The Fancy Navajo: https://thefancynavajo.com/ IndigiPopX: https://www.indigipo...

In this episode, I visit Spirit Lake Native Farms in Minnesota and one of its owners, Bruce Savage (Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe), for a tour through the wild rice processing plant. Included in this episode is a short ASMR session that’ll make you tingle. Tour photos are at ToastedSisterPodcast.com Mentioned: Bruce’s email address spiritlakesugar@yahoo.com Natives on a Budget Podcast: http://natives...

In this special episode I talk with Benjamin Shendo (Cochiti and Jemez Pueblo) and Linus Yellowhorse (Tohono O’odham) from Gatherings Cafe at the Minneapolis American Indian Center. They’re a couple of chill dudes who just fell into the kitchen and turned a job into a passion for feeding Indigenous food to Minneapolis’ Native community. Vote for "Toasted Sister Podcast” in the Innovator category o...

In this episode I talk with Donell Barlow (Ottawa) about her new book, “Bigfoot and Lightning Bug,” a children’s book about Bigfoot and the environment. Donell is a chef, certified holistic health coach and the author of “Medicine Tracks: A Memoir.” Mentioned: “Ancestral guided wellness: A way of life for our ancestors, a movement that could heal our bodies and the planet” by Donell Barlow in Indi...

Alien Weaponry is a three-piece thrash metal band from New Zealand. The band members, Lewis de Jong (Maori), Henry de Jong (Maori) and Bobby Oblak (substitute bassist for Ethan Trembath), join me in the studio to talk about their U.S tour, the Indigenous history and stories in their music and their love for the Navajo Nation. Their big Window Rock, Arizona show is on Wednesday, Oct. 16 at the Nava...

We made a zine about Indigenous food futurisms! It includes 24-pages of all-original work by myself, Monica Braine, junior editor of “Imminent Cuisine,” and seven other Native artists, illustrators, comic book artists, chefs and writers. In this episode, we talk about food in Indigenous futurisms and the work in the zine. Zine contributors: Elizabeth Lapensée (Anishinaabe/Metis/Irish), award-winni...

I spoke to Cienan Muir (Yorta Yorta and Ngarrindjeri) at last year’s Indigenous Comic Con about kangaroo tail and I knew I had to collaborate with him for a future episode about Indigenous food in Australia. Well, this is the episode! While Cienan was in Albuquerque, I lured him into the studio to talk more about Indigenous foods in Australia, Native stories in pop culture and the upcoming Indigen...

Germaine Simonson (Navajo) never operated a cash register before she took over ownership of Rocky Ridge Gas and Market, a grocery store in the middle of rural Navajo Nation, Arizona. This episode is about food entrepreneurship, making future plans and genuinely wanting to provide useful services for the Native community. Included is an interview with Jessica Stago, program director of business inc...

Do you know how much money you spend on food? If you’re like me, finding out that triple-digit number will make you sick. In this episode, Monica Braine (Natives on a Budget, Native America Calling) and I take a 31 Day No Eating Out Challenge that give us perspective into our spending and eating habits.

Chef Lawrence Garcia (Acoma and Navajo), executive chef at Sky City Casino, in New Mexico is skilled at making odd ingredients taste good together, which is a skill he needed for 505 Food Fights, a charitable event that brings together all kinds of chefs from Albuquerque. In this episode, I follow him and Diné chef Josh Nez through the tournament.

In this special episode I catch up with some awesome women at the 2nd Native Women’s Business Summit, a powerful event for Native women entrepreneurs to lift each other up, network and encourage business growth in Native America. The women in this episode see the importance of food in business and Native traditions. I speak with: Addie Lucero (Taos) — Dancing Butterfly Naturals Percilla Frizzell (...

No one really likes to be told what to do especially when it comes to food. Food is culture and to be told that that’s not good enough by outsiders, well, that makes us angry. In this episode Lynn Lane (Diné), community health nutritionist, and Felicia Cocotzin Ruiz (Tewa and Chicana), chef and holistic healer, are no longer gentle Indians.

The 2018 Southwest Native American Workshop on Bats gathered a couple dozen bat researchers and biologists from federal, state and tribal entities to talk about bat conservation ahead of the spread of white-nose syndrome (WNS) in the Southwest. They also focused on where bats fit into Native culture. Voices in the episode: Lawrence Abeita (Isleta), wildlife biologist for the Bureau of Indian Affai...

In this episode I talk with Brian Tatsukawa, culinary instructor at the Navajo Technical University in Crownpoint, New Mexico, and a few of his students about why a career in culinary arts is important and what challenges young students have cooking on the reservation.

I partnered up with Eater magazine to include Pueblo bread in their Guide to the Southwest. In the process of writing this article, I took a journey through some of the Pueblos in New Mexico to learn about Pueblo bread. This episode includes voices from bakers from Jemez, Taos, Zuni and Laguna Pueblos. Link to "The Wondrous Bread of the Pueblo Nations" article: https://www.eater.com/2019/1/23/1818...

In this episode, I talk with Curtis Basina (Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians), owner of the Copper Crow Distillery in Wisconsin about stereotypes, vodka drinks and what repeal of prohibition could mean for tribes. Yes, I said “prohibition.” Did you know that up until December 2018 tribes were banned from operating distilleries on reservations? A law changed that so tribes are able...

For this special episode I take a road trip to El Paso, Texas where I learn more about Mexican food and the Indigenous food culture at this stretch of the border. You’ll hear from Rick Quezada, cultural preservation director at Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, Lorena Andrade, director of La Mujer Obrera and Rubi Orozco Santos, poet and public health educator. Photo: “The Equis” monument that stands over Cui...

Native American Natural Foods makes Tanka Bars, the first brand of bison meat bars, experienced a couple of ups and downs in business since it started in 2006. But since competition from non-Native companies swept up all the investments and money in the last couple of years, Tanka Bar is left to restructure its brand. In this episode, I talk with Mark Tilsen, president and co-founder of Native Ame...

In this special episode I report from the first Southwest Intertribal Food Summit in Taos, New Mexico. It was a two-day event filled with good food and knowledge sharing between Southwest Natives who are working in the food sovereignty movement. Visit ToastedSisterPodcast.com to see photos from this trip. In the episode: Lilian Hill from Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture Institute, Terrol Dew Johnson from...