'Go ahead honey, it's gluten free!' - October: Indigenous Foods

Noami has been kind enough to hand the reins over to me for October's 'Go ahead honey, it's gluten free!'. We had discussed several ideas for October, but I'm going to surprise her with this one. Last month, we all made slow food with local ingredients.

As the weather gets colder, I gravitate towards the comfort foods of my childhood. Slow cooked soups and stews and the Italian favorites that my mother learned while tied to her Nonnie's apron strings. When I think of those warm, filling dishes it's the tart tomatoes that really make my moth water.

I love tomatoes! Nothing compares on a warm summer day to tomatoes, fresh from the vine, with fresh basil. Nothing says 'Italian' (at least to Americans) like tomato sauce: on pizza, pasta, lasagna. As well has tomatoes have been incorporated into Italian, and many other, dishes it remains that they are a New World Food. So are potatoes and some types of rice.

Now that the world is our grocery store we're exposed to so many styles, types and flavors of food. For those of us who are gluten free it introduces a world of gluten free grains from all over the world. Maize from the Americas, quinoa from the Andes and teff from Africa, to name just a few.

I buy locally grown produce, meat and dairy whenever I can but as I perused the selections at whole foods I began to wonder which of the animals we eat are indigenous to the Americas, and my area in particular . The ancestors of the cattle we are familiar with are from Africa, but bovines exist all over the world. Sheep were domesticated during prehistory in the Fertile Crescent but they thrive all over the world, in South America and Australia. In South America cuyes (or guinea pigs) were domesticated for food.

Traditional or regional dishes and flavors sprang from indigenous foods. As humanity has traversed the globe, these tastes have travelled with us. Wherever we settle we strive to recreate the foods we know. As I walked through the local markets I saw locally grown produce whose origins are not local and I began to wonder just where some of these foods and ingredients came form.

I want to challenge myself, and you, to really be aware of what foods are indigenous to my region and country and to try to create something with those native foods.

So, for this month's 'Go ahead honey, it's gluten free!' I am pleased to present Indigenous Foods. The deadline for entries is November 1st, when I will be posting a round up of all your recipes. Simply post your indigenous food recipe, with a link back to this page, and send me the link to your post along with a picture of your food. Please send submissions to: deliciouslygf [at] gmail [dot] com.

I can't wait to see what's native to your area!