Navajo-Churro Sheep Presidium shares culture and food from India

Posted by Alysa Landry | Dec 10, 2015 | Community |

Special to the Times | Alysa Landry
Fresh back from Shillong, India, members of the Navajo-Churro Sheep Presidia discuss food and culture during an event Dec. 2.

TSAILE

The smell of curry wafted through the Diné College cafeteria Dec. 2 as chef Franco Lee whipped up a taste of Indian cuisine.

Special to the Times | Alysa Landry
Roy Kady, coordinator of the Navajo-Churro Sheep Presidia, talks to a group of students, professionals and community members during an event Dec. 2 at Dine College.

Lee, food service director for Diné College, was one of four Navajo professionals to attend the Indigenous Terra Madre festival last month in Shillong, India, an event that drew 640 delegates from all over the world, including representatives from 50 countries and 150 tribes. Lee returned to the Navajo Nation with an insatiable hunger to share what he learned.

“When I left for India, I was really unsure about what to expect, about what I would bring back,” he said. “That was halfway around the world, a long way to travel, but what I ended up bringing back was the food – all the good food for the college, for the students.”

That meant hearty helpings of chicken curry, lentil soup, rice pudding and cardamom tea for a small audience of students, professionals and community members who gathered at Diné College to learn about the trip. Lee, tucked away in the kitchen for most of the presentation, cooked with a variety of Indian flavors, including curry, tamarind, ginger and rosewater.

“I think what I’m trying to communicate is the knowledge of the people that they shared with us,” Lee said. “Their culture is totally different, but there are some similarities in tradition that all indigenous people all over the world share. That’s what you can learn from food.”