Navajo chef advises in Minnesota

Professional chef offers tips for Native American cuisineFreddie Bitsoie puts on quite a show. And he has plenty of advice about food.

“A good cook knows how to season food, salt is not needed on the table,” said Bitsoie, a professional chef who provided private cooking lessons Wednesday to eight members of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Council Education Program (SNAP) with six members from the Leech Lake, White Earth, Grand Portage, Mille Lacs, Bois Forte and Fond du Lac reservations.

The SNAP nutritional educators have quarterly workshops on food preparation and distribution.

A day earlier, Bitsoie, who specializes in Native American Cuisine, conducted a community cooking lesson at Leech Lake Tribal College.

On Wednesday, Harmony Natural Food Cooperative teamed up with the Indigenous Environmental Network to host the chef at Harmony’s Community Kitchen in Bemidji.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Many Native Cuisines, Not One.

Below:  "Chef Freddie Bitsoie advises Amber Ahonen, a SNAP educator at Fond du Lac Reservation, about how to make a recipe on Wednesday afternoon at Harmony’s Community Kitchen. Bitsoie worked with eight SNAP members from various reservations to promote a return to a healthier, more traditional diet." (Monte Draper/Bemidji Pioneer)