Native Cultures: Mesquite Flour

Native Cultures: Mesquite Flour. (click this link)

TREE OF LIFE NURSERY: in San Juan Capistrano

Featured New Product: Mesquite Flour

From the Seri People of the Sonoran Desert

Premier of this new item, cooking demos and Tasting Event, Saturday December 3, 2011 – 9a-1p

Mesquite Flour ($9.50 for 8 oz bag)
(Prosopis glandulosa var. torreyana)

Collected, fire roasted, and milled by the Seri People
of Sonora, Mexico.  Purchased directly from the Seri.

Indigenous food.  High in protein and gluten free.
Can be mixed with other flours for baking and cooking
to add delicious sweet flavor and increase health benefits.
Suggested use: 1/4 cup Mesquite Flour + 3/4 cup Flour of
your choice to substitute for 1 cup Wheat Flour.

Slow Food Foundation Information about Seri Fire Roasted Mesquite Flour

Recipes from Arizona Mesquite Company

Reconnecting to our food traditions in America
Article by Colin Dunleavy, Tree of Life Nursery Intern, Fall 2011

Native people sustained themselves for centuries by eating the pods of mesquite trees (Prosopis glandulosa). The pods of the mesquite tree were simply ground into a flour or meal. Mesquite flour is not only nourishing for our every day diet but is also a sustainable source of food found in our local ecosystem. By incorporating native plants into our agricultural and landscaping practices we can encourage conservation and better protect the health of our environment.

The mesquite tree grows among desert regions in southwest America and Mexico in conditions unsuitable for most agriculture. It takes little cultivation and prospers without supplemental irrigation, pesticides or fertilizers. The Seri people of the desert regions continue to support themselves by sustainably harvesting and consuming the pods of the mesquite tree. These people are known for their ability to survive and prosper among harsh conditions while maintaining harmony with the land. Their survival can be credited to the connection they have to their natural resources and sustainable methods. They produce their mesquite flour by integrating traditional knowledge with ecological practices. Seri mesquite flour is made from sustainably harvested mesquite pods, fire roasted and milled in Sonora, Mexico.

Mesquite flour has a rich, caramel and nutty flavor and can be used in baking or as a seasoning. It is high in soluble fiber and has more protein than most grain flours. Mesquite is also a good source of minerals including magnesium, calcium, zinc, iron and potassium. It is low in carbohydrates and is naturally gluten free. Although mesquite has a subtle sweetness, its natural sugar comes in the form of fructose, which does not require insulin for it to be metabolized. It has been reported to be effective in balancing blood sugar. Thus, it can be an important addition to low-glycemic or diabetic diets, since it can help maintain steady blood sugar levels that are disrupted by processed flours. When you first begin using mesquite flour, for every cup of flour needed, use ¼ cup mesquite and ¾ cup of any desired flour. This is a general guideline to use as you adjust to its rich flavor. It is also a great addition to smoothies and any amount can be used according to the flavor or nutrients you want to obtain.

Websites used in the compilation of this article:

The Center for Sustainable Environments at Northern Arizona University
Mesquite Flour: The Rediscovered Food Phenomenon
HubPages Entry: Using Mesquite Flour to Prevent Diabetes

Native Foods Make a Comeback in Southwest: KPBS video with Lydia Vassar, Tucson mesquite folks, and me

 

Thank you Jill Replogle from KPBS Fronteras Desk.

Here is the link with photos and transcript.

Teodora Cuero, Leonor Farlow, and Mike Wilken at CSUSM

Teodora Cuero, Leonor Farlow, and Mike Wilken will be speaking at my Art and World Cultures class at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, November 9. Their lecture/multimedia presentation is free and open to the public. Hope to see you there! They recently were featured in an article in the LA Times. Thanks to CSUSM Arts & Lectures for funding this event, and to Marilyn Huerta for creating the poster. (There is a fee for parking.)

Prickly pear tunas

These tunas are the domesticated variety, Opuntia ficus_indica, that grow wild all over the San Diego County back country roads. The really red ones are ready to eat and/or juice, the yellow-orange ones, which get more shade, should ripen in a couple of weeks. Longer gathering season . . .

These are some of the reddest tunas I’ve ever seen. I’ll be back in a few days to gather them to make juice, which I freeze for the coming months. The tunas are incredibly nutritious. Several articles about the health benefits of the juice are posted on the Arizona Cactus Ranch website here. For recipes, there’s the Prickly Pear Cookbook by Carolyn Niethammer. The pads are edible as well, but it’s the young, bright green pads that ripen in the spring that are good to eat, minus the spines, of course.

Native Cultures Workshop: Contemporary uses of Native American foods with Abe Sanchez

TREE OF LIFE native plant nursery in San Juan Capistrano.
Workshop: Saturday, October 15: 10am – 1pm

From the Tree of Life website: “Workshop back by popular demand!  Native American foods have been around for centuries, but now, with the use of some modern tools and conveniences, learn how to use native ingredients (plants!) in creative, appetizing and modern presentations. Through both study and experimentation, Abe Sanchez has developed a vocabulary of native materials to use in contemporary ways.  An accomplished basket weaver as well, Abe will bring a beautiful display as well as delicious foods to sample.  Formal discussion at 10 AM, samples available until 1pm.  A “contribution” of $5-10 per person would be much appreciated to help pay for the delicious food ingredients.”

Photos below from Abe’s workshop in Spring 2011.

Another of Abe’s amazing baskets woven with sumac as the coiling material, juncus and dyed juncus as the design material, and deergrass for the foundation. See a multitude of links about Abe Sanchez here.

Teodora Cuero and Mike Wilken on front page of LA Times

Click here for LA TIMES article

This is so exciting to see our friends Teodora Cuero and Mike Wilken on the front page of the LA Times!

Her mother and grandmother taught her about the plants along the way. A red shank rinse eased a toothache. Elderberry flowers reduced a fever. Buckwheat blooms settled an upset stomach. And later in whispers: Woolly blue curls were for ladies trying to seem chaste who, as she says now, “needed to tighten things up.”

She laughs and adds, “So I hear. I never used it.” —excerpt from the LA TIMES article by Joe Mozingo

Below is a photo of Teodora gathering woolly blue curls.

Teodora and Mike, as well as Kiliwa elder Leonor Farlow, will be joining us in my World Cultures class on November 9th at California State University San Marcos at 5:30 in ARTS 111 as part of the Arts & Lectures series. The event is free and open to the public.

Don Bartletti also created a short video of Teodora and Mike. Click here.

California Indian Day: Ishi, A Story of Dignity, Hope and Courage Film Screening

Film Screening of Ishi tonight at CSUSM during my World Cultures class at 6pm in ARTS 111. The grant to bring Nicole Lim to campus was written by colleague Dr. Joely Proudfit. The event was coordinated by Tishmall Turner, CSUSM’s Tribal Liaison, and Arts & Lectures.

ISHI seeks to enrich and expand the story of Ishi and build upon the public’s awareness and appreciation of California Indian history. For many years, Ishi’s legacy has been a non-native construct framed by public and scientific fascination with stereotypical views of the past. 100 years ago (29 Aug 1911) Ishi, considered the last Native American to make contact with European Americans, was “discovered: in Oroville, California.

The accompanying lecture will examine the creation of the California Indian Museum’s new Ishi exhibition.  The exhibit’s approach is to reframe Ishi’s legacy through the inclusion of California Indian voices and perspectives on issues, and to build upon current scholarship that helps to change the ways in which Ishi’s legacy is characterized and taught in public schools. Ishi’s character and courage provide lessons for all humanity. CIMCC will gift our campus a copy of the film for our library.

Nicole Lim is Pomo. She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a Juris Doctorate from the University of San Francisco School of Law. She has worked for the National Indian Justice Center and the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center over the past decade. She has taught numerous undergraduate courses on Native American Studies at San Francisco, Sonoma and Sacramento State Universities.

Ms. Lim serves as a trainer for NIJC’s regional and on-site training programs in the subject matter of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and its Impact on Justice Systems, Juvenile Delinquency and Gang Violence and Federal Indian Law. She is the executive director of the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center, which seeks to educate the public about California Indian history and cultures from a native perspective.