Native American Inspired Rib Roast

In my continuing quest to learn more about the cultures behind the cuisines, I have spent a lot of time reading about different indigenous cultures across North America (that is, the Canada, the United States and Mexico). One aspect of this educational endeavor has been to learn about the native ingredients that these indigenous cultures had to cook with, long before the arrival of conquistadors, colonists and more. I have been helped greatly by reading the books of, as well as following the work of, Native American chefs, like Sean Sherman.

Their work has opened my eyes and my understanding that there is more to the history of ingredients than what I have already learned or what I know. Just a few years ago, if someone would have asked me what cuisines would have incorporated juniper berries, my first thoughts would have taken me to Northern Europe or Eastern Europe. If someone asked me which cuisine utilizes sumac, I would have reflexively answered Turkish or Persian cuisines. I would never have thought to respond with Sioux, Ojibwe or any other Native American nation. Yet, both of these ingredients - juniper and sumac - have their place in Native American cuisine. 

All of this knowledge inspired me to create a rub based upon ingredients available to Native Americans before the colonial period. I knew going into this effort that I would be using juniper berries. That was the first ingredient. I needed to build around those berries. Fortunately, I found someone else who has been inspired by Chef Sherman: home chef Brad Prose, who has his own website, Chile and Smoke. I highly recommend the website. 

Prose has a recipe for a juniper spiced rub, which helped me to build this recipe. I used the proportions of coriander seed, Kosher salt and whole black pepper that can be found in his recipe, although I converted everything roughly from grams to teaspoons or tablespoons. As an aside, I should note that whole black peppercorns are native to South Asia and Southeastern Asia. I left peppercorns in because, from what I understand, there are native American equivalents that could have been used to achieve the same flavors and effects. 

I was less certain about other ingredients in Prose's recipe.  First, I left out the sugar, as Chef Sherman has left out sugar cane from his dishes. I also left out the chile flakes and garlic powder. My focus for this rub was more towards the Plains (for a reason I discuss further below), rather than the Southwest. This mean that chiles were less likely to be used (and it provides a future opportunity for a Native American inspired rub focused on the Southwest, as I have a lot of ancho peppers, chipotle peppers, and hatch peppers). As for the garlic, it is my understanding (right or wrong), that garlic was brought to the Americas by European settlers. While I am not sure about that understanding, I decided that I could leave it out.

Sumac (Source: Gardener Cook)

Setting aside the sugar, chiles and garlic left some holes that needed to be filled. At this point, I turned to what I learned. Sumac is native to all 48 contiguous United States and it has been used by Native American cooks to impart citrus notes to dishes. Adding sumac to this spice blend compounds the citrus notes provided by juniper berries. Rather than balance that citrus with the sweetness of sugar, I decided to go with dried thyme, which imparts earthier notes with hints of spice and sweetness. 

This rub had a specific purpose. I wanted to prepare a rub that could be used with a bison roast. Bison had an importance place in the cultures of the Plains tribes, such as the Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho. These cultures used the bison not only for food, but they used all of the bison - for their shelter, clothing, jewelry and much more. And, at one point, there were tens of millions of bison that roamed the Plains of North America. However, the bison were nearly wiped out as part of a systematic and largely successful effort to remove Native Americans from their lands by depriving them of this important food resource. By the 1880s, the large herds of bison had largely vanished, and the native cultures that relied upon the bison were severely impacted. That is history. Today, there are more than 60 tribes working to restore the herds, both on their tribal lands and in federal parks. The tribes and the federal government are even working together in the State of Montana through the Interagency Bison Management Plan. The Plan has the goals of promoting a free range bison population, while minimizing the risk of diseases and managing those bison that leave Yellowstone and enter the State of Montana.

Source: National Park Service

While I wanted a rub for a bison roast, I did not have one for this recipe. Instead, I had a beef rib roast. I have found that, to a large degree, bison and beef recipes are interchangeable as long as one important principle is kept in mind: bison has far less fat than beef (especially the beef produced in the factory farm setting). Thus, if I was using a bison roast, I would probably baste it more often and perhaps pull it out of the oven at a slightly lower temperature (such as 125 degrees Fahrenheit). 

While I had been holding on to the beef rib roast for a special occasion, honoring the cuisines of Native Tribes and making the effort to learn more about their cultures is just as good of an occasion.

NATIVE AMERICAN INSPIRED RIB ROAST

Recipe adapted from Chile and Smoke

Serves several

Ingredients (for the Spice Rub):

• 2 1/4 tablespoons of Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons of whole black pepper
• 4 teaspoons whole coriander seed
• 2 teaspoons juniper berries
• 2 teaspoons ground sumac
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme

Ingredients (for the Prime Rib):

• 1 standing rib roast, beef or bison
• Vegetable or canola oil
• 1 cup water, beef stock or beef broth

Directions:

1. Prepare the spice rub. Toast the whole spices (black pepper, coriander seed and juniper berries) in small skillet over medium to medium-low heat, until fragrant, move the spices around to avoid them from becoming burnt. Allow the spices to cool down and then combine with the ground and dried spices.

2. Cook the Roast. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the rib roast in a roasting pan with about 1 cup of water, beef stock, or beef broth. Cook the rib roast, covered, for about three hours; however, check the temperature after two and one-half hours. 

3. Finish the cook. When the internal temperature of the roast reaches about 125 degrees Fahrenheit, which is about medium rare. Pull out the roast, leave it covered and let it rest for about 15 to 20 minutes. The roast should cook another 5 to 10 degrees.

ENJOY!