Indigenous Food Feast with Archeological Society of Delaware

We were honored to organize the catered lunch at the recent annual meeting of Archeological Society of Delaware on June 25th 2022 at Killens Pond Nature Center in Felton Delaware, with Dr. Heather Wholey of West Chester University speaking on the prehistory of Delaware.

Our Lenape Forest Gardeners assisted Time Chef Henry Ward’s Indigenous food cooking class to prepare the lunch, asking ourselves… What if WE could eat locally?

See our photos and videos from this cooking class — Indigenous Feast prep with Time Chef, Henry Ward!

We saute mushrooms first thing in the morning. Chef Henry says if you add a tiny bit of something acidic, they stay plump and bright looking. Many use wine or lime, but neither are local Indigenous. So we are adding maple vinegar. Photo credit: RuthAnn Purchase

Leeks and shallots and corn oil cooked down make the sauce. Photo credit: RuthAnn Purchase

Three sisters succotash with pink beans, sweet corn get cooked in walnut oil and sea salt. Butternut squash goes in last else it cooks down too much. Photo credit: RuthAnn Purchase

10 Lbs heirloom turkey breasts; smoked with hickory and cherry wood chips, 3.5 hours at 170 degrees internal temp. For this event we are cooling it overnight. Tomorrow we will saute in vegetable broth, sea salt, leeks, ground spice bush berry and walnut oil. Reheated in the saute it will be juicy enough to travel to the luncheon. Photo credit: RuthAnn Purchase

Cooking down the maple syrup for amaranth – pop corn balls! We might also glaze some walnuts. Nuts were an amazing source of nutrition. Photo credit: RuthAnn Purchase

Videos…

Great Speaker, Great Award Ceremony, Great Food! What a day! Guest Speaker at Archeological Society of Delaware (ASD) Annual Meeting, Heather Wholey, speaking on Delmarva Peninsula “pre-history”! And Henry Ward explaining the menu.