What is fry bread?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
November 20, 2002
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Native Americans developed all the major lineages of corn—flint, dent, sweet, flour, and pop—by the time Columbus arrived in the New World. Settlers adopted and continued the hybridization of corn, and pushed natives into increasingly marginal lands.
Two hundred-sixty years after the Powhatan saved the settlers of Jamestown, the Mennonites settlers came to North America bringing Turkey red wheat, the first wheat capable of growing on the open plains. (See Plants that Changed History, September 11, 2001) Although prairie soils were deep and rich, they were often too dry or cold for corn. Being grasses, neither corn nor wheat need pollinators; these plants are dependent upon the wind.
The natives adopted wheat flour and created fry bread, simply the finest food found at every good pow-wow (social and political meeting). Many years ago, this author was introduced to fry bread at a pow-wow in St. Louis. Gently, but firmly, the women making the bread refused my request for the recipe. Fate intervened.
Walking back to the car after dark, I saw what I first thought was aluminum foil on the ground. The 'litter' turned out to be several pieces of silver and turquoise jewelry, obviously fallen from a dancer's costume. Few people were around except the women cleaning up the cooking area. One woman immediately recognized the jewelry; it had been in her family several generations. She said she was in my debt and what could she do to repay me. I requested she teach me how to make fry bread. This is the recipe and philosophy I learned from a gracious Lakota Sioux:
| 3 cups water |
|
1 ½ tablespoons salt |
| 1 package yeast |
|
¼ cup oil |
| 3 tablespoons sugar |
|
Flour |
Combine water, salt, sugar, yeast, and oil. Stir in the flour until the dough is moist, but does not stick to the hands. Knead on a floured surface adding flour as needed. "Remember", she said, "dough made with yeast is a living thing, knead until it feels satiny. Let it rest 20 minutes in a covered bowl. Pinch off a piece and gently stretch until flat and thin in the center. Treat it with respect. Fry in about ½ inch of hot oil until golden brown, turn over. The bread will tell you when it is ready—it will float in the oil. Eat it with butter and honey."
The Kansas Collection website is a montage of history--lost books, letters, diaries, and photographs. To view a wheat field photographed by Florence Betz in the early 1940s, click on the link:
http://www.kancoll.org/graphics/wheatfield.htm
The Fry Bread Love site is a collection of stories about fry bread and recipes. To learn other recipes and view photographs of fry bread, click on the link:
http://www.frybreadlove.org/book.htm
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
How was bread made from lamb's quarters? Herbal Folklore - February 16, 2004
Why is wheat preferred to rye for making bread? Herbal Folklore - September 10, 2001
Why did Linnaeus name the wheats Triticum? What's in a Name? - September 14, 2001
Who was Parkinson? What's in a Name? - August 15, 2003
What is gruel? Herbal folklore - April 19, 2004
What common food plant was used for hunting? Herbal Folklore - October 15, 2001
Killer Savings Links:
Breck's Bulbs -$25 off—>Click here.
Gurney's Seed and Nursery -$20 off—>Click here.
Henry Fields Seed and Nursery -$20 off—>Click here.
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Gardens Alive! -$20 off—>Click here.
Michigan Bulb -$20 off—>Click here.
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