There are cookbooks from which one simply cooks the recipes, and cookbooks like Chef Sherman's, from which one learns how and why to cook.

Chef Sean Sherman's The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen is the culmination of years of research, professional development, and passion. It is a springboard from which a new and exciting field of cooking is developing—under Chef Sherman's leadership and that of a handful of other chefs. The stories of those chefs are here too, along with their recipes.

One of the book's best features are the informative sidebars scattered throughout. They cover topics ranging from the difference between locavore and trade-a-vore, to the centrality of beans in the indigenous diet, to the noble way to hunt.

Chapters are organized to reflect where ingredients are gathered. Chapters like "Nature's Sweets, Teas, and Refreshing Drinks" remain true to indigenous roots—working without white flour, sugar, and dairy, and relying on traditional ingredients instead.

In "(Not) Fry Bread," Chef Sherman lays out his vision for reclaiming indigenous food, observing the difficulty of culinary symbols that connect back to painful historical narratives. He suggests updating the story and returning to the healthy traditional foods of indigenous people

… and [to] the promise that we can stand up to the foods that have destroyed our health, the forces that have compromised our culture.

This is exciting work, from a professional perspective and otherwise. It showcases food as a focal point, bringing people together.

There are cookbooks from which one simply cooks the recipes, and cookbooks from which one learns how and why to cook. Chef Sherman's book is in the latter. It is a cookbook meant to be studied, one where the recipes are not its most important feature, but rather a part of an overall call to reclaim the history and culture of indigenous peoples, beginning with a reclamation of their traditional foods.

Chef Sherman observes that controlling food is a means of controlling power. With this cookbook, he is taking that power and giving it back to its rightful owners.

There are cookbooks from which one simply cooks the recipes, and cookbooks like Chef Sherman's, from which one learns how and why to cook.

Chef Sean Sherman's The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen is the culmination of years of research, professional development, and passion. It is a springboard from which a new and exciting field of cooking is developing—under Chef Sherman's leadership and that of a handful of other chefs. The stories of those chefs are here too, along with their recipes.

One of the book's best features are the informative sidebars scattered throughout. They cover topics ranging from the difference between locavore and trade-a-vore, to the centrality of beans in the indigenous diet, to the noble way to hunt.

Chapters are organized to reflect where ingredients are gathered. Chapters like "Nature's Sweets, Teas, and Refreshing Drinks" remain true to indigenous roots—working without white flour, sugar, and dairy, and relying on traditional ingredients instead.

In "(Not) Fry Bread," Chef Sherman lays out his vision for reclaiming indigenous food, observing the difficulty of culinary symbols that connect back to painful historical narratives. He suggests updating the story and returning to the healthy traditional foods of indigenous people

… and [to] the promise that we can stand up to the foods that have destroyed our health, the forces that have compromised our culture.

This is exciting work, from a professional perspective and otherwise. It showcases food as a focal point, bringing people together.

There are cookbooks from which one simply cooks the recipes, and cookbooks from which one learns how and why to cook. Chef Sherman's book is in the latter. It is a cookbook meant to be studied, one where the recipes are not its most important feature, but rather a part of an overall call to reclaim the history and culture of indigenous peoples, beginning with a reclamation of their traditional foods.

Chef Sherman observes that controlling food is a means of controlling power. With this cookbook, he is taking that power and giving it back to its rightful owners.

Oglala Lakota chef Sherman is the founder of the Sioux Chef (sioux-chef.com), a Minneapolis-based business committed to revitalizing Native American cuisine and food culture. Writing with noted cookbook author Dooley (Savory Sweet), the author interweaves recipes, menus, and personal stories with the research that has informed his vision of the modern indigenous kitchen. Many recipes are simple, including old-fashioned cornmeal mush with poached eggs, sage and rose-hip roasted duck, and hazelnut maple sorbet. The more complex recipes are not so much technically challenging as time-consuming, requiring readers to pre-prepare stocks, sauces, flours, rendered fats, or other components. As a result of Sherman's emphasis on authentic ingredients and the precolonial diet, the recipes are wheat-, dairy-, and sugar-free. VERDICT Readers willing to venture beyond the bounds of convenience cooking can learn much from this thoughtful title. Highly recommended for food history collections.

Sherman introduces readers to the healthy food of the Dakota and Minnesota territories, with surprising and tasty results. Sherman grew up on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and later started a Minneapolis catering company called the Sioux Chef, which focuses on Native American cuisine and serves as the inspiration for this delightful cookbook. Recipes include wild-rice cakes, white-bean and winter-squash soup, rabbit braised with apples and mint, and a simple sweet-corn sorbet. Ingredients are all indigenous to North America and are easily sourced, and Sherman's instructions are clear and to the point. One dish commonly associated with Native Americans—fry bread—is omitted by design (Sherman notes that the dish came about "150 years ago when the U.S. government forced our ancestors from the homelands"). Interestingly, none of his recipes call for flour or sugar (maple syrup is his sweetener of choice). This is an illuminating guide to Native American food that will enthrall home cooks and food historians alike. (Oct.)