Indigenous cuisine is a type of cuisine that is based on the preparation of cooking recipes with products obtained from

native species In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...

of a specific area. Indigenous cuisine is prepared using indigenous ingredients of

vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...

origin in traditional recipes of the typical cuisine of a place. Contemporary indigenous cuisine uses indigenous products to create new dishes. Chefs and restaurateurs using indigenous foods are aided by farmers who are reviving traditional varieties and breeds.

Defining terms

David Cook has asked how "indigenous cooking" can be defined, arguing that it can mean anything from techniques to ingredients, and that the ingredients can be further argued as using only pre-colonial ingredients vs. using post-colonial and invasive-species ingredients, concluding that "it all depends on your concept of ndigenousidentity."

Australia

In Australia there are chefs both "sticking to the old recipes (and) innovating new ones" using traditional ingredients.

Canada

In Canada multiple restaurants owned by

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

restaurateurs offer menus based on traditional ingredients such as beans, corn, and squash. According to restaurateur Shawn Adler, one of the challenges is public awareness. "People understand what Thai food is, what Italian food is, what Chinese food is, what Ethiopian food is," he said. "But people don’t really understand what indigenous cuisine is."

Caribbean

The concept was also used in the Caribbean.

Chile

The concept as such began to take shape and gain popularity in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

at the beginning of the

2010s File:2010s collage v21.png, From top left, clockwise: Anti-government protests called the Arab Spring arose in 2010–2011, and as a result, many governments were overthrown, including when Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was killed; Crimea is ...

, when a restaurant dedicated to this style of cuisine in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

appeared in the ranking of the World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2014.

El Salvador

In El Salvador indigenous cuisine is an "emerging movement...composed of young chefs who are integrating traditional foods into contemporary cuisine," according to

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

. Fatima Mirandel said, "We take old ingredients from the arming areasand combine them in new ways. The flavor is new and exciting for our generation, and brings back a flood of good memories for the older people."

United States

Some US Native American chefs using indigenous ingredients in traditional dishes object to referring to indigenous cuisine as a "trend".

Sean Sherman Sean Sherman (born 1974) is an Oglala, Oglala Lakota Sioux chef, cookbook author, forager, and promoter of indigenous cuisine. Sherman founded the indigenous food education business and caterer The Sioux Chef, as well as the nonprofit North Ameri ...

, a member of the Oglala Lakota and indigenous food activist, said, "It's not a trend. It's a way of life." Vincent Medina, a member of the Muwekma Ohlone trib, serves acorn-flour brownies, a non-traditional dish made with indigenous ingredients, at his Café Ohlone by Mak-’amham.

References

{{reflist Gastronomy by type Endemism