For our final class of the semester, we celebrated with a recipe from the Ohlone chefs at mak-’amham. Each fourth and fifth grader received a jar of chia porridge (made with oat milk since we are a nut-free school), a jar of blackberry coulis, and a container of edible flowers. In class, we drizzled the coulis on top of the porridge, then made our own edible art by garnishing with flower petals in an array of bright colors. Most students seemed to really enjoy the finished dish, which features modern cultivated varieties of several native ingredients (chia, agave, California bay laurel, California blackberry). We learned that chia seeds can absorb up to 12 times their weight in liquid and are highly nutritious. We looked at a photo of the chia plant, which, like the common herb sage, is a member of the Salvia genus, and then laughed at some photos of that ‘80s darling the chia pet (particularly one of a chia Chewbacca).
Students watched a short PBS film about Cafe Ohlone and were excited to see the acorn brownies, yerba buena, a blackberry sauce, and edible flowers highlighted. For our closing circle, we shared our favorite meal from the semester (the brownies and the Three Sisters Stew were definitely the most popular, with many chefs also giving a shoutout to the spinach salad) and any reflections as we continue to learn with and from Indigenous peoples. One student exclaimed, “I didn’t realize there were so many different foods we can eat!” and another expressed gratitude that “instead of reading about Indigenous food, I got to actually taste it.”
