[blacktail]

i've had fry bread dozens of times, but never a taco. where's the best powwow to get my first taco?

[AmigoKumeyaay]

Originally Posted by blacktail

i've had fry bread dozens of times, but never a taco. where's the best powwow to get my first taco?

Well, there's no such thing as a *BAD* Indian Taco
*But "let the buyer beware"*

I am partial to frybread made by Arizona folks.

The PIMA Indian Taco booth serves up Chile Colorado Indian Tacos

Once you've gone Pima...you're gone...

[Blackbear]

That is debatable ... Go try one from every stand to come up with your conclusion. But the end result will be a full belly, a happy self and you'll know who you will be spending your next paycheck on... Lol!!!

[wanjica_the_one]

There are bad tacos out there, especially the tacos with unseasoned ground beef that tastes like festering flesh.

[Eagle Plumes]

Originally Posted by AmigoKumeyaay

Well, there's no such thing as a *BAD* Indian Taco

I am partial to frybread made by Arizona folks.

The PIMA Indian Taco booth serves up Chile Colorado Indian Tacos

Once you've gone Pima...you're gone...

Amigo, I had one that was so bad that I was trying to eat it and my boys came by and said mama where did you get the baked potatoe? lol

[wyo_rose]

Yep, I've had some pretty bad ones. Unseasoned beans are even worse than the unseasoned meat.

But what you have to do is go to ANY powwow, and watch what other people are ordering. If there's a long line, they may have good food...except at Denver March, where there's a long line cuz there's only 1 Indian Taco vendor.

Look at the Indian Tacos that you see people carrying around, and/or eating. When you see someone really enjoying their Indian Taco, ask them where they got it. Pay attention, cuz they'll probably say, "that one stand over there."

Look for good frybread. Whether it's thick or thin, it should still be pliable. You can ask the food stand workers what kind of toppings they put on: hamburger, taco meat, beans, chili beans, etc... If they're not busy, maybe they'll give you a plastic spoonful as a sample.

Indian Tacos are getting pretty expensive, so it's a shame to get a bad one.

[xTekno]

Originally Posted by blacktail

i've had fry bread dozens of times, but never a taco. where's the best powwow to get my first taco?

Like I tell everyone, come to Arizona.



Fry Bread House in Phoenix wins James Beard award
11 commentsby Howard Seftel - Mar. 13, 2012 11:20 PM
Republic restaurant critic
.

Cecelia Miller of the Tohono O'odham Nation opened her first Fry Bread House in 1992, using the same fry-bread recipes and techniques she learned as a child.

She tops the hand-stretched, deep-fried dough with such savory toppings as red chile stew and chorizo and cheese, and her dessert fry bread with a killer combination of butter and chocolate.

Her food has always won praise from her customers. Now her restaurant has been ranked by culinary experts as among the best in the country.

Fry Bread House on Tuesday was one of five restaurants nationwide to receive an "America's Classics" designation from the prestigious James Beard Foundation, which hands out the restaurant industry's version of the Academy Awards each year. It is the first Native American restaurant to receive the designation since the awards were started in 1998.

Miller's son, Fry Bread House manager Michael Perry, said he was "floored" by the honor.

"It's a testament to my mother and her hard work," he said. "We wanted something for the community."

The James Beard Foundation gives the "America's Classics" designation to restaurants recognized for their "timeless appeal," which are "beloved for quality food that reflects the character of the community." Winners must have been in the business for at least 10 years and preferably be informal and moderately priced.

The Fry Bread House in central Phoenix is a tiny, loud, non-descript spot on North Seventh Avenue near Indian School Road. Come during the lunch-hour rush and you'll find yourself at the end of a line snaking back from the "Order Here" counter out the front door. The family operates a second location in Mesa, near Dobson and Baseline roads, with the same menu and recipes.

"America's Classics" winners are chosen by the James Beard Foundation's 17-member Restaurant and Chef Award Committee, which consists of food journalists and industry professionals.

The committee cited Fry Bread House's "blissfully delicious specialty," which it calls "downy bronze cushions the size of dinner plates."

It also cited the "all-native staff" and the "democratic" clientele: "friends of the house to hipsters to businessmen and the ever-present lucky traveler."

Indian fry bread is a Native American staple made from white flour, baking powder, salt and Crisco, created out of necessity by Native Americans after they were relegated to reservations and provided with commodities from the federal government.

The bread fed large families like the Millers. In fact, the original Fry Bread House was opened to help pay for the education of the Miller family's seven children.

"As you might guess, the Fry Bread House is not where you'd come in search of green, leafy nutrition," The Republic wrote in a 2001 review when the restaurant moved to its current location. "It is, however, where you'd come to make happy grunting noises while you eat."

Fry Bread House is the second Valley restaurant to receive the "Classics" honor. El Chorro in Paradise Valley got the nod in 2005.

Other 2012 winners include Nora's Fish Creek Inn, Wilson, Wyo.; St. Elmo Steak House, Indianapolis; Jones Bar-B-Q Diner, Marianna, Ark.; and Shady Glen, Manchester, Conn.

The awards dinner will take place in New York City at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center on May 7.

Read more about the awards at blog.jamesbeard.org.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepu...#ixzz1p785KkkM

[wyo_rose]

Awesome!! Next time I'm in S. Arizona, we'll eat at the Fry Bread House.

I do have to say that the best frybread I ever had (BESIDES my own - which turns out awesome every once in awhile) was at a Navajo taco stand. It was the biggest, roundest, most evenest BIG piece of frybread - as big as a pizza pan!!

[AmigoKumeyaay]

@wanjica_the_one, @Eagle Plumes, @wyo_rose

Let me re-phrase...I have to agree "Let The Buyer Beware" is a good rule!

Even at INDIO I got stomach ache after drinking fresh-squeezed watermelon juice. Never again!

[AmigoKumeyaay]

MY AMIGO STAMP OF APPROVAL:

PIMA Stand
NAVAJO Stand
KUMEYAAY Stand
JENNY'S CAHUILLA FOOD Stand
HALE Family Stand

And the TOHONO O'ODHAM stands...

I've had an idea to make a video of powwow food stands...Hmmm...

[wanjica_the_one]

Originally Posted by AmigoKumeyaay

MY AMIGO STAMP OF APPROVAL:

PIMA Stand
NAVAJO Stand
KUMEYAAY Stand
JENNY'S CAHUILLA FOOD Stand
HALE Family Stand

And the TOHONO O'ODHAM stands...

I've had an idea to make a video of powwow food stands...Hmmm...

Jenny's is good for their $1.00 regular tacos.

Hale's tacos are a bit unseasoned but frybread is really good.

Pima is good for frybread.

[wyo_rose]

I think I had tamales from Jenny's...YUMMY!! ...a LOT of tamales...

The Pima stand did have good frybread, and a fairly good Indian Taco.

Here at FW, Rachel's stand in the Gas Station Deli has VERY good, although not big, Indian Tacos.

[blacktail]

what's everyone's favorite toppings? obviously meat, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese...

[AmigoKumeyaay]

Jalapenos, jalapenos, jalapenos
.
.

[Joe's Dad]

Last year, I got a taco from the Pima stand and the beans were a little 'fresh'. lol That was the first time that has happened. It was still good. I'll go to them again n again n again.

[Eagle Plumes]

Originally Posted by Joe's Dad

Last year, I got a taco from the Pima stand and the beans were a little 'fresh'. lol That was the first time that has happened. It was still good. I'll go to them again n again n again.

lil fresh as in still on the plant or underdone ? lol

[Eagle Plumes]

my fav toppings are meat seasoned with cheesy taco seasoning, Or Chili. I love frybread that has a nice crisp crunch but cloud like in tha middle lol.. That is how I make mine .

[AmigoKumeyaay]

http://globetrotterdiaries.com/tidbi...siting-america

Food and its preparation are integral to Native American cultures. Dishes like fry bread embody the traditions of a shared community and provide generational linkages to a story of survival.

Fry bread, although now ubiquitous throughout North American tribes, originated in 1864 when the Navajo people were forced off their land in Arizona to walk 300 miles to New Mexico by the US government (also known as the “Long Walk”). In this new climate, the Navajo could not easily sustain their diet of vegetables and beans, so in order to prevent starvation, they were given government rations of canned foods, flour and lard. Upon adding a healthy pinch of ingenuity, the fry bread was born and has since played a central role in Navajo identity.

Fort Sumner The Long Walk, Navajo at Bosque Redondo



Fry bread, a flat disk of flour and water fried in oil, is cherished by the Navajo, and eating fry bread has become emblematic of preserving their culture. Fry bread tacos are fry bread topped with meat, shredded lettuce and cheese and are served in restaurants and at powwows.

In more recent years the fry bread has been getting a bad rap, being cited as the cause for the high rates of obesity and diabetes among Native Americans. This reality is aggravated by larger problems of limited access to health care and nutritional education on reservations, where many live below the federal poverty line. And although contemporary dialogues around Navajo identity has posited the fry bread as a conflicted symbol, one thing remains certain about the fry bread: it is more than just good eats.

Tocabe Restaurant

Every Indian nation has its unique story of catastrophic contact with the expanding European settlement of the continent. Nonetheless, there are reoccurring patterns in these stories, like the forced removal of Native communities by foot to distant reservations so that their more favorable native grounds could be taken by the government, settlers, or commercial interests.

For the Navajo, this was “The Long Walk” to the Bosque Redondo reservation in Southeastern Arizona of about 10,000 people, a walk during which over 200 Navajo died. Scandalously conceived in its nature and similarly ill-conceived in its practical effects, the resettlement, like others, was a disaster, and the Navajo were permitted to return home in 1868.

[blacktail]

thanks for sharing

[trouble]

yeah, now I know what to make for dinner!! yum!!