Toasted Sister Podcast

Our grandmothers' recipes are amazing. For Ben Jacobs (Osage), owner of Tocabe, his family’s frybread recipe helped him create a beautiful restaurant that showcases Native food in Denver. Although he doesn’t consider himself to be a chef, he’s become a voice in the Native food world. In this episode, Ben talks about the struggles of starting a Native restaurant, the meaning behind the restaurant’s aesthetics and how Natives like “Mambo No. 5” too.

When white people steal Native images, stories and fashions and then claim them as their own, it’s called appropriation. When they steal Indigenous recipes, well, that means we’re no longer gentle Indians on Toasted Sister. In this episode, I’m joined by Neftalí Duran (Mixteco) Oaxaca chef, Erica Scott-Pacheco (Lenape), social justice fundraiser, Sean Sherman (Oglala Lakota), owner of The Sioux Chef and Karlos Baca (Tewa, Diné, Ute) chef and forager, and we discuss appropriation in the kitchen and how it affects Indigenous culture and people.

After the Gold King Mine spill in 2015, Navajo agriculture in the Four Corners area took a turn for the worse. Two years later, Brandon Francis (Navajo), Four Corners farmer and research lab technician at the New Mexico State University Agricultural Science Center in Farmington, New Mexico, is using his science skills to boost Navajo farmers’ confidence in the soil and water. In this episode, Brandon talks about the difficulty of farming in Navajo country, being industrious and Bigfoot.

The Toasted Sister podcast is Natives talking about food, even if it’s Natives who aren’t particularly “foodies” talking about food. In this episode I talk with my friend and coworker, Monica Braine (Assiniboine, Hunkpapa Lakota) and James Simermeyer (Coharie, Navajo descent) about our odd food habits, weird food combinations, frybread and what a ceramic knife says about how Native cooking and attitudes have changed over time.

In this podcast extra, I bring my sister, Alisha Murphy (Navajo), into the studio to talk about our upbringing, poor man's food, the power of food memories and how our relationship with Mexican food changed.

Crystal Wahpepah (Kickapoo and Sac and Fox) loves her urban Native community in Oakland, California. As the owner of a successful Native catering business called Wahpepah’s Kitchen, she shows her love with food and by sharing food stories. In this episode, Crystal talks about her love for catering, the need for more Native flavors in the Bay Area (and everywhere else) and why she got chopped on the Food Network TV show “Chopped.” Hint: there was too much rotten fishy flavor in her dish.

Donell Barlow (Ottawa), certified holistic health coach, was raised on processed food and meatloaf. But now, she’s focused on Indigenous food, urban Native youth and updating her sleeve of tattoos. She’s the host of Dance Jam Kitchen and creator of one of my favorite meatloaf recipes.

E7: Brian Yazzie — “Constantly working”

When you love something, it consumes you. When asked what he does outside of the kitchen, Brian Yazzie (Diné), chef de cuisine at The Sioux Chef, said he’s thinking about being the kitchen. In this episode, Brian talks about becoming a chef, decolonizing his cooking and what’s next for him and The Sioux Chef crew.

In this podcast extra, I talk with David Manuel (Anishinaabe), foods coordinator for the Red Lake Food Initiative. He's been busy tapping maple trees for that sweet, sweet sap. He's also a beekeeper.

UPDATE: As of 2022, Hoover has admitted she has no Indigenous ties.

Dr. Elizabeth Hoover (Mohawk and Mi’kmaq. UPDATE: As of 2022, Hoover has admitted she has no Indigenous ties.) travels around asking Native people what their definition of food sovereignty is. It’s actually a great many things to different tribes. Native communities lost certain parts, or all of their food sovereignty, but the people are starting to take steps to revitalize their own definitions of food sovereignty.