An expanded version of our book, Cooking the Native Way: Chia Cafe Collective, has just been released by Heyday Books. You can purchase it at Heyday, and it’s also available on Amazon.
Authors: Barbara Drake, Lorene Sisquoc, Cindi Alvitre, Craig Torres, Tima Link, Heidi Perez, Abe Sanchez, Daniel McCarthy, Leslie Mouriquand, and Deborah Small.
This cookbook invites you to experience the Native American cultures of Southern California through their foods. Full-color photos and detailed recipes showcase the diversity, health, and flavor of modern cuisine made from Southern California native plants in combination with other foods.
The results are mouthwatering: mesquite-rubbed quail marinated in prickly pear juice, “superfood” cookies featuring chia and pine nuts, acorn dumplings, and tepary tart topped with an elderberry reduction.
Accompanied by essays that bring to life the rich history and the hopeful future of the Native people of the area, Cooking the Native Way showcases the luscious scents and tastes of vibrant indigenous cultures and is for all who wish to reconnect with the land through gathering, cooking, and savoring. —Heyday Books
On the back cover, Luiseño educator Monica Madrigal gathers thistle chia on the Cahuilla Reservation near Anza, CA
Deborah Small's Ethnobotany Blog 