FOOD AND DRINK to Make

 

Native Land. This is the neon sign, often Instagrammed, that hangs in the restaurant where one of the most difficult tables to get is in the US. Owamni is not a Michelin-starred restaurant that requires jackets; it is an Indigenous restaurant in downtown Minneapolis, opened by Lakota chefs Sean Sherman and Dana Thompson. The menu at Owamni is not only remarkable for the food (which comes from Indigenous and local farms) but for what it needs to include as well. As a decolonized establishment, you will not find any items brought by European colonizers. This means that there is no ketchup, black pepper, or ketchup. Owamni has everything you need – simple, delicious, and, most importantly, healthy.

Sean says, “It is a lot of fun to be different. To think differently and to have a different intention.” The wine list also takes a non-traditional approach. He says that they chose to only have BIPOC wines on the list. They ended up with many Indigenous wines, mostly from Native wineries in California.

Sean has been a student for most of his life. His desire to learn about his ancestors and interest in Indigenous foods has made him a constant seeker. In recent years, he has also become a teacher through his company, The Sioux Chef, and the non-profit NATIFS, which he co-owns along with Dana Thompson. Both aim to elevate and spread Indigenous cuisine and, of course, his celebrated restaurant Owamni. Sean says, “We need more restaurants like these everywhere.” We want to be role models of what is possible.

Sean talks about his early days as a chef and his mission to teach people about Indigenous foods. This interview has been edited for clarity. He also shares his seasonal recipe for Wild Rice Pilaf, which includes Wild Mushrooms with Roasted Chestnuts and Dried Cranberries.

What is your first food memory?

Some of my fondest food memories come from family get-togethers. I grew up on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Growing up, we ate a lot of commodity food and fresh beef since we lived on the ranch of my grandparents. My grandfather ate raw hamburgers, which I thought was strange. But he was mimicking Tartare with crackers. I remember my grandmother cooking Wojape, a sauce made from choked cherries. I remember a cow intestine soup called taiga. Traditionally, it would be bison, but they used cow intestines.

Did that make you feel good as a kid?

The smell was potent. I was not too fond of it when I was younger, but now I enjoy it. I also remember the essential American classics you find in Reader’s Digest. My grandparents kept a lot of processed, frozen food in their freezer.

Did you cook back then?

Before high school, my mother moved us all off the reservation. She went back to college, so only her, me, and my sister were there. I was the oldest, so I cooked quite a bit. I can remember learning to cook from a young age. I tried to learn how to cook, first with simple processed food like Hamburger Helpers and then with what I had. I would study the ingredients on the back of the prepared foods and try to replicate them using whatever I could find. I wanted to know how spices worked.

Did you decide to work in the food industry at a certain point?

Early on, I worked in a restaurant and was still experimenting with food. I didn’t think about food as a profession. I took business classes in college, but they could have appeal to me more. I had always wanted to become an artist, so I moved to Minneapolis to attend an art school, MCAD, or the Minneapolis Community of Art and Design. Then they told me the cost of art school, and I thought, “well” because I could never afford that amount. So I continued to cook. My work ethic was good, and I received my first chef’s job at a young age. I was putting art onto plates.

Did you have any favorite cookbooks or other sources of inspiration in the kitchen at that time?

When I was 24 or 25, my first two trips to Europe helped me understand the various cultures and foods. I wasn’t rich, so I couldn’t afford to buy cookbooks. I used to go uptown to Minneapolis, sit in the bookstore and look through all of the cookbooks. I took notes and then returned them to the shelves. I got a lot of ideas from what others were doing. As my first chef position was in a Spanish Tapas Bar, I read everything I could about Spanish cuisine. Every time I started a new position, I did the same thing.

You are self-taught.

Yes, I taught myself this stuff. I studied Japanese history and worked in a sushi restaurant. I worked hard, had access to great local ingredients and a lot of kitchens where I could experiment. But after a few months, I realized that there was no mention of Indigenous people in any of my education or in the books I read. Although I was raised on a reservation and surrounded by Lakotas, I knew very little about Lakota cuisine. When I began researching, I found that there was a lack of information.

You must have had so many questions.

What did my ancestors eat? How did they harvest? Was it foraging or gardening? Did they garden? Did they trade with other groups or grow their food? What spices, sugars, carbohydrates, and essential ingredients did they use to survive as humans? After spending several years researching and answering these questions, I began to prepare what I call an Indigenous.