Traditional Hopi Dining

Ernie
​

This is Ernie, our guide at the Hopi Reservation in Arizona. After our 4-hour visit to the Hopi Villages and a number of spiritual sites, he played his flute for us.

Our tour was done, but Ernie continued to share. He shared his music and more stories of growing up on the reservation. He spoke about living in California where Native American children were sent to be educated.  He gave us  an opportunity to "meet" his Kachina mask with some special words and a food offering. He gave us each an eagle feather to keep. 

Ernie also gave me my first taste of Hopi food!

​Piki Bread
​

Ernie shared some of his Piki Bread, given to him by women in the village. They offered him Tiki Bread, as a gift for performing at a Village Ceremony.    ​

It takes days to create this bread, which is made from blue corn and ash. It tastes a bit like it looks... rolled up newspapers, toasted over a fire!  But it flaked off like a very thin chip. Maybe some salsa would have helped. It was odd, but I think I could grow to love this curious bread.

​Lunch with Ernie
​

​This is as much as I can share in a photo of our lunch experience with Ernie.  (no cameras allowed) He was eager to take us to the village store that is packed with much more than groceries. The deli in the back of the store unfortunately served more Mexican food, than Hopi. ​

Traditional Hopi food is still cooked by some of the village elders, but more and more Hopi have turned to Americanized foods. So I'm unable to give points for the burritos and tamales we devoured, but I'll happily give 20 points for dining amongst the locals. Ernie chatted and laughed with friends here and there and quietly murmured stories about some of the folks he spotted.
​
Found!  Traditional Hopi Food!

We parted with Ernie after lunch and headed towards the Grand Canyon.  We stopped for gas at Tuuvi's gas/cafe in Tuba, AZ, on the edge of the Hopi Reservation. When I went inside, I was delighted to see a cafe menu, featuring traditional Hopi food! 

Even though I had just eaten, I was eager to buy some Mutton Stew. I ordered it to go!  Mutton and dumplings!  How about that?  I would be able to add Hopi (representing North America) on my list of 50 International Dining Experiences!

​Better than Piki!
​
​​And how about Fry Bread... with a little honey! Kind of like a sopapilla maybe?  It filled the car with the smell of funnel cakes!

So how did the stew and bread taste?  The honey helped, but I can only eat so much fried anything. I wish I could have eaten more of this crispy, sweet bread. And I still feel like I could grow fond of Tiki Bread, if I could try it more than once.

Mutton Stew? I should have known what to expect since I'm not a huge fan of lamb. But, I honestly feel like this was the most difficult food to stomach, out of my 42 international dining adventures. Even the Taiwanese Stinky Tofu was a bit easier to swallow. I was never so glad to be nibbling in my car, instead of a place where I was surrounded by Hopi Villagers or cooks.  I'm not used to being stumped by a food!  How could I not like a dumpling?  Maybe it was the fact I'd already eaten, or the atmosphere of my car, that made me not push to enjoy my sampling. But after 3 bites of glue-ish, gray gravy and rubbery, pungent meat of the "mature sheep", I replaced the lid and set it aside... which I could not have done in the presence of Hopi! I hope some day I can give Hopi dining another try. I always feel I can learn to appreciate all foods from all kinds of cultures, if I have enough time! I very much wanted to embrace this. 

30 POINTS for HOPI DINING
No negative points for my mutton, because I have a MUTTON MEMORY and that's worth 10 points! 20 points for the People Encounters. I will never forget my varied experience with food on the Hopi Reservation!  I hope I get to give it another try some day!