Cafe dishes change with the seasons

Review of the Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington

By SHEILA WICKOUSKI

Date published: 11/4/2004

For THE FREE LANCE-STAR

There seems to be a paradox in the relationship between American Indian food and American restaurants.

Most restaurants use foods that the American Indians first cultivated, yet few serve American Indian cuisine.

With the opening of the new National Museum of the American Indian, it is time to think of American Indian food as more than the crude cooking of plants and wild animals.

Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe is one of the highlights of the NMAI. Mitsitam (mit-seh-tom) means "let's eat" in the native language of the Piscataway and Delaware peoples.

Indigenous ingredients are prepared in traditional methods in the new cafe, which offers five regional menus with modern appeal.

Courtesy of the natives of the northern woodlands (from the Atlantic Coast to the Mississippi River, from Canada to the Chesapeake Bay), Mitsitam offers maple roasted turkey, lobster roll sandwiches, quahog clam chowder and ash-roasted corn on the cob.

South American highlights are black bean or chicken tamales, cream of peanut soup and corn pupusa with chili slaw.

Alaska and the Northwest coastal region contribute cedar-cooked salmon with juniper berries and celery root salad.

Tacos, pueblo tortilla soup, enchiladas and pumpkin cookies are some of the delights from the American Southwest.

The teepee-dwelling nomadic tribes of the Great Plains depended on bison as their primary food source and foraged for edible wild plants. Mitsitam cuisine from this region includes Indian tacos with buffalo chili, ash-roasted chicken sandwiches, spicy chili fries, pumpkin and cinnamon fry breads, as well as buffalo burgers for kids.

Food is served cafeteria-style, but the atmosphere of the cafe's two-story interior is in keeping with the elegant sweep of the NMAI's architecture.

The colors, patterns and wooden furnishings create the feel of an American Indian marketplace. A wall of windows showing the museum's landscaping elements of woods and water adds to the Mitsitam experience.

You won't find any hot dogs or pizza here, but no one will miss them because there is an abundance of chocolate.

The cafe plans to rotate dishes as the seasons change in order to reflect the availability of food selections in different geographic areas and to follow ceremonial calendars.

What won't change are the delightful surprises in food combinations, such as a salad made with watermelon and red and yellow tomatoes, and a Peruvian potato loaf made with green and red peppers.

Prices are moderate, with sandwiches ranging from $4.95 to $9.95. Soups, sides, desserts and drinks are $2 and up.

This cafe offers something for everyone--children, adults, meat-lovers, vegetarians, hearty eaters and those who simply want a snack.

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Date published: 11/4/2004