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Willie Burgers and curly fries on menu in Arlee
By ROB CHANEY of the Missoulian
ARLEE - Liver and onions won’t be on the menu at Willie Morning Thunder Robe Caye’s open-air kitchen on the Arlee powwow grounds this week.
They’ll be lining up for the Willie Burger, or barbecued ribs, or pancakes, or menudo or Indian fry bread or stir-fried veggies. They can get fed starting around 7:30 in the morning, until Willie closes up around 3 the following morning through the five days of the powwow. He sleeps about three hours a night, and occasionally dreams about liver and onions.
“I was 9 years old when I went up to Pleasant Valley with my Auntie Elma because she needed someone to wash the dishes,” Caye said of his introduction to cooking. “My uncle was bucking bales up there and she cooked. Back then, boy, did I hate liver and onions. But she made them, and I loved them. And I told my auntie, �I’m going to be a cook.’”
Caye learned his craft at the Kicking Horse Job Corps Center, and soon became its culinary arts instructor and food service manager. Things were cruising along until one powwow in 1984, he had a bad run gambling on traditional stick games. He went broke, and his kids went hungry. He decided to spend his powwow time in the kitchen.
“It bothered me a lot that day,” he said. “So the next year, I said, �My kids will never go hungry again,’ and I bought a $500 concession stand.”
Read more:
Missoulian: Powwow chow <img src="/newsart/minivideo.jpg" height="20" width="20" border="0" align="absmiddle">
By ROB CHANEY of the Missoulian
ARLEE - Liver and onions won’t be on the menu at Willie Morning Thunder Robe Caye’s open-air kitchen on the Arlee powwow grounds this week.
They’ll be lining up for the Willie Burger, or barbecued ribs, or pancakes, or menudo or Indian fry bread or stir-fried veggies. They can get fed starting around 7:30 in the morning, until Willie closes up around 3 the following morning through the five days of the powwow. He sleeps about three hours a night, and occasionally dreams about liver and onions.
“I was 9 years old when I went up to Pleasant Valley with my Auntie Elma because she needed someone to wash the dishes,” Caye said of his introduction to cooking. “My uncle was bucking bales up there and she cooked. Back then, boy, did I hate liver and onions. But she made them, and I loved them. And I told my auntie, �I’m going to be a cook.’”
Caye learned his craft at the Kicking Horse Job Corps Center, and soon became its culinary arts instructor and food service manager. Things were cruising along until one powwow in 1984, he had a bad run gambling on traditional stick games. He went broke, and his kids went hungry. He decided to spend his powwow time in the kitchen.
“It bothered me a lot that day,” he said. “So the next year, I said, �My kids will never go hungry again,’ and I bought a $500 concession stand.”
Read more:
Missoulian: Powwow chow <img src="/newsart/minivideo.jpg" height="20" width="20" border="0" align="absmiddle">
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