Native American
cuisine

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Natural

The cuisine of the American Indians was close to nature.

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Tribal differences

The fare varied according to a tribe's individual culture and food resources.

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Ingredients

Most Native American diets relied heavily on meat. The Indians relished wild turkey, deer, squirrel, bear and many other kinds of game. The flesh and fat of game animals, pounded with berries, made Pemmican, a nutritious long-keeping food.

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Plains Indians

The diet of the Plains Indians, and their culture as a whole, centered on the buffalo. They ate the meat, clothed themselves with buffalo skins, carved utensils out of buffalo bones - nothing was wasted.

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Foraging

The American Indians were skilled foragers, providing many nuts, vegetables, and fruit to vary their diet and ensure good nutrition.

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Indian triad

Agriculture for many tribes was based on the "Indian triad" of corn, beans and squash.

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Culinary teachers

The Native Americans taught the European settlers their successful method of growing corn in mounds, fertilizing each pile with fish. They discovered how to make hominy by treating corn kernels - and how to make popcorn - and many other culinary techniques.

What's good, what's bad about it

California

Creole & Cajun

Hawaiian

New England

Soul Food

Southern

Southwestern

Tex Mex + New York Ethnic

Penn Dutch + Midwest farm

Cowboy + Pioneer

American city specialties

World cuisines

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Clickable
American cuisine map

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