Enough for All: Foods of My Dry Creek Pomo and Bodega Miwuk People

by Kathleen Rose Smith

Celebrating Native California food gathering and preparation across the seasons, Kathleen Rose Smith reveals the practices handed down through generations of her Bodega Miwuk and Pomo ancestors, and shares how these traditions have evolved into the contemporary ways her family still enjoys wild foods. Her knowledge and personal reflections are expressed through recipes, stories, and artwork, recording not only the technical aspects of food gathering, but also the social and spiritual—inextricable elements of traditional California Indian food preparation. She explores relationships between people and nature, and the deep cultural knowledge—respect, thankfulness, joy, and sacrifice—that gives meaning and grace to these most ordinary aspects of daily life. Complete with family stories and photos, this elegant memoir illuminates a world of sustainable bounty—full of abalone, salmon, seaweed, and strawberries. It is at once a pleasure to read and a lesson in the survival of the foods and of the people themselves.

Genres: Food, Indigenous

144 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2014

Reviews

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many years ago, I started reading Great Speeches by Native Americans and learned about the amazing oral tradition of eastern Native Americans. The stories in this book captivated me in a similar way, even though they are about the simple topics of gathering and preparing food. I tested a few stories on my children (the ones about baking acorn bread in underground ovens and about making a natural orange soda) and they were similarly entranced.

Beyond the storytelling, I loved the detailed descriptions of the native foods. They were so well-done that I think I could attempt to prepare some of them if I had the ingredients handy. The thesis that "Food is all around us" is one that is harder to live by in the city, but a worthwhile pursuit. Not just to eat food that is grown by local farmers, but to eat native foods. It is a beautiful story about respect for land and family.

[A. L. L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great things come in small packages. This is a short book and not large in stature. It's swallowed up by my other books on the bookshelf, yet inside are so many wonderful treasures. Recipes, memories, stories of family, natural history.

I was not expecting all the knowledge contained in this precious little tome. Yet from it I learned more than I had from detailed natural history books three or five times the size of this book.

A must read for anyone who loves California Natural History, Family Histories, remembering or learning about Indigenous traditions.

[Adriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely small book of stories from a local author about the food of her childhood and her people.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

not really a cookbook, but there are a few recipes

[Mills College Library]

641.59297 S6536 2014

[Tibby]

Part family memoir, part cookbook. This was such a beautiful little book about how culture, family, tradition, place and food intersect and are so integral to our lives.

Smith recounts short memories of her childhood growing up in the 30s, 40s, and 50s in the Sonoma area of California. Each memory is connected with a traditional food of her Pomo and Miwuk people, from wild beach strawberries to abalone to soda springs water. She includes a handful of recipes which are interesting, but not the star of this slim little book.

Included with each chapter is a piece of Smith's artwork. They are lovely landscapes and still-life paintings that celebrate many of the foods and plants she reminisces about so beautifully in her short essays.

While she covers all the seasons and the various foods available in each season, this feels like a cozy fall read as the temperatures drop and you want a hot cuppa and a blanket. Her childhood memories wrap around you and give you warm fuzzy feelings.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book.. Great Stories! You learn a little bit in each reading.. Also, I love the size and shape of the book too: the ease to carry and read on the BART train in small pieces and and the way the flaps of the book makes for its own place-holder..