Bannock Donut Holes
With Wild Berry Sauce
Berries hold cultural significance for Indigenous peoples as a source of food and medicine. They can be enjoyed in sweet recipes like this one and or savoury recipes, like this BBQ blueberry Salmon bowl. But berries have more than just culinary benefits to offer—Indigenous peoples use berries to help preserve meat, cook them into medicinal syrups, and in some cases the leaves and roots of berry plants are also used for their healing properties. There are many kinds of berries that can be found growing seasonally in BC including, blackberries, salmonberries, blueberries, cranberries, currants, gooseberries, salal, raspberries and strawberries.
TEETL'IT GWICH’IN LANGUAGE LESSON
Bannock | Tuhch’uh
Berry | Jak
“Throughout my life my mom was always picking berries. She uses them both in savoury and sweet items. Cranberries were cooked down and served over ice cream or a mixture of wild berries were made into a trifle. Berries were added to fish eggs and fish guts and cooked down. Traditionally berries were pounded including the seeds to a pulp with a formed rock. The pulp was then formed into Pattie’s and dried in the sun. The process takes 2 days. Patties can be used for future use. A way our people preserved food to plan ahead and avoid waste.”
- Chef Steph
Meet The Chef
Steph Baryluk
Chef Steph is Teetl'it Gwich'in from Teetl'it Zheh (Fort McPherson), Treaty 11 Territory located in the Northwest Territories. She now resides in Tsawwassen, BC with her husband and two kids. After completing her Red Seal as a Cook she knew she wanted to do more with her Indigenous roots. Chef Steph has hosted cooking classes and speaking engagements in her hometown and launched her own company, MRS B’S JERKY, which is a play on traditional caribou dried meat ‘Nilii Gaii’ but made with beef. She’s excited for the next steps with Indigenous cuisine.
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