Navajo sugar: Diné chef Thalia Roessel incorporates Tódinéeshzhee’ roots in recipes

By Travis Bradley

Editor’s note: Travis Bradley is a journalism student at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. 

PHOENIX

As it is with rebellious teens across all cultures, Thalia Roessel knew at an early age that she wanted to be in control of her narrative.

She is Tó’aheedlíinii and born for Naasht’ézhí Tábąąhá. Her maternal grandfather is Mą’ii Deeshgiizhnii and her paternal grandfather is Tódích’íi’nii.

Roessel, 36, was raised in a place she termed “the middle of nowhere,” 30 minutes outside of Kayenta. Roessel, a Navajo woman, mother and entrepreneur, referred to her upbringing as a “turbulent childhood,” and her way of life was certainly not easy.

“We didn’t start getting electricity until I was a freshman in high school,” said Roessel.

“We used to have to run in to Kayenta to fill our septic tank to have running water.”

Roessel’s late mother, Clara Halkini, and sister took on the majority of the responsibilities in the kitchen while she spent time chasing after her family’s sheep and helping her grandmother, Mary Halkini, with chores. It wasn’t until achieving success in the corporate world, and the dissatisfaction that followed, that Roessel realized she was meant to do more with her life.

Roessel did not flinch when the opportunity came to move her family to Phoenix after her eldest daughter Angela was born. “I couldn’t wait to leave,” Roessel said. “I wanted an easier life.”

Roessel spent six months working for Honeywell – clocking in for 12- to 16-hour days – in a windowless room when she recognized she had a much grander purpose in life.

“I always felt there was a calling where there was something more to express,” Roessel said. Over time, Roessel realized that she expressed herself best in the kitchen.

Scone On?, self-taught lessons

Roessel started her own business in 2019, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic, called Scone On? Although she has professional chef training and a business dedicated to food and food creations, Roessel did not always imagine herself working in the kitchen.

“I didn’t want to be involved with food because of my father,” Roessel said. “He always wanted me to essentially be, in his eyes, a woman of traditional values.”

Roessel’s culinary expertise is a mixture of self-taught lessons she learned from cooking shows and formal training from the Arizona Culinary Institute. Throughout her fine dining training and experience, Roessel never hesitated to incorporate her Navajo roots into her recipes – including Navajo sugar.

“Essentially the corn is steamed on the cob underground, then you pull it out, remove the kernels from the cob and grind it,” she said. Roessel uses Native ingredients blue corn, pinons, and apricots in her scones, which she primarily sells in bulk through her online business.

With a successful career and business now firmly established, Roessel focuses much of her attention on her new challenge of raising children with Navajo roots in an urban environment. Roessel’s daughter, Angela Roessel, is 13 years old and regularly helps her mother with her business.

Angela has learned some valuable lessons while cooking with her mother, some that she’ll likely never forget.

“I’ve definitely learned patience, especially when you’re trying to teach people,” Angela said. “I’ve also learned to go easy on myself because you’re not going to get the recipe right the first time.”

Angela, a student, athlete and up-and-coming entrepreneur, cherishes the traditions and lessons she’s learned from her mother. “Especially in the city, you don’t see many Native Americans, so when you find the few that are, it helps you get to relate,” Angela said.

Roessel’s primary goal nowadays is less about growing her business, and more about raising her children.

“If there’s one thing, I want her to take from all of this, it’s knowing how to be a Navajo woman,” Roessel said.

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