Finalist for the 2023 Glenn Goldman Award for Cooking, Chosen by the California Booksellers Alliance

"This cookbook designed to uplift Indigenous California foods will delight foragers, adventurous home cooks, and those looking to connect with Native roots. It's a valuable addition to library shelves that will connect Native and non-Native Americans to the earth and its abundant gift of ingredients." —Library Journal

"With Chími Nu'am, Olson looks to encourage people to start thinking about a decolonized diet, connecting to the land and native ingredients prior to European colonization [... and] aims to make Indigenous ingredients and traditional Karuk recipes accessible to a whole range of home cooks." —Nina Friend, BBC World's Table

"Chími Nu’am is serious about taking a holistic view of reintegrating the healthfulness of traditional diets into modern lives, benefiting both personal well-being and the greater good." —Naomi Tomky, Atlas Obscura

"Calvosa Olson has written a book that will speak to multiple audiences. But whether she's guiding Indigenous readers to embrace more of their cultural foods or making recommendations for non-Indigenous readers interested in decolonizing their diets in an ethical way (hint: it's about reciprocity), her voice and philosophy come through clearly on the page." —Twilight Greenaway, Civil Eats

"To say that Chími Nu'am is just a cookbook is inaccurate. What took Calvosa Olson more than two years to write and publish is an expression of her life and an act of stewardship for the earth. [...] The author was raised to believe that if you take care of the land, the land will take care of you." —Prism

"Calvosa Olson invites readers to forage for and become more attuned to Indigenous and seasonal ingredients—nurturing a deeper connection to place and enhancing one’s role as an environmental steward." —Uprooted

"Connecting with nature is an approach to cooking that is often overlooked—but not for Sara Calvosa Olson. A native Californian raised by a Karuk mother, she is leading people on a path to decolonize their diets, one cup of manzanita flour at a time." —KCRW Good Food

"Connection to people and planet is central to both Calvosa Olson's personal approach to food as well as the message of Chími Nu'am." —Rachel Askinasi, The Messenger

"Besides being a creative, accessible cookbook, Calvosa Olson's work is a call for stewardship of the environment and an introduction to some local foods that have long been part of Native diets. It’s a terrific resource for foragers, teachers, libraries, classrooms, cooks, and anyone looking to learn more about the foodways of California's Indigenous peoples." —Edible East Bay

"[M]ore than 70 recipes arranged by season that require one to wait for and find ingredients in the places they thrive. Acknowledging, 'we are all colonized,' it's also a forgiving book in terms of exactitude and substitution. [Olson] also encourages readers to consider ways to engage mindfully with Indigenous culture and communities ('Are there Native elders in your community that could benefit from your labor first?'), and keep stewardship of natural resources in mind, rather than simply scooping up ingredients for a recipe." —North Coast Journal

Sara Calvosa Olson (Karuk) is a food writer and editor living in the Bay Area with her husband and two teenage sons. Her work dwells at the intersection of storytelling, Indigenous food systems, security, sovereignty, reconnection, and recipe development. Her writing has appeared in News from Native California and Edible Shasta-Butte. Visit her website at akihsara.com, and follow her on Instagram at @thefrybreadriot. She lives in Mill Valley, California, which is the unceded ancestral homeland of the Coast Miwok.

Introduction

Ayukîi 

About Me 

How to Use This Book 

Equipment and Specialty Foods 

Proteins 

Fall

Pimnaníhkaanva 

Acorn Guide 

Rustic Acorn Bread 

Blackberry Smoked Salmon Smörgåstårta 

Acorn Pumpkin Muffins 

Acorn Manzanita Waffles

Acorn Miso 

Acorn Miso Soup with Tanoak Mushrooms 

Acorn Miso Creamed Kale 

Three Sisters Fall Salad 

Squash Frybread 

Elk Chili Beans 

Stuffed Mini Pumpkins with Ground Venison Sausage and Currants 

Apple Cider Brined Turkey with Apple Brandy Acorn Gravy 

Acorn Crepes

Turkey and Wild Mushroom Crepes 

Cajeta Apple Pie Crepes 

Maple Cheesecake with Pine Nut and Acorn Crust 

NDN Whoopie Pies

Winter

Íshyaav 

The Acorn Maidens 

Winter Preserving 

Mussels and Mushrooms on Acorn Bread 

Winter Squash with Bay Leaves 

Winter Quail Stock

Quail and Acorn Dumpling Stew 

Elk Cottage Pie 

Rabbit and Dungeness Paella 

Red Chile Rabbit Tamales

White Tepary Bean Soup with Ham Hock and Collards 

Cataplana

Wild Boar Pozole 

Deer Meat Stew and Grits 

Coffee and Juniper Brined Venison 

Acorn Hand Pies 

Basic Acorn Pie Crust 

Miso Smoked Salmon Chowder Hand Pies 

Huckleberry Hand Pies 

Hot Peppernut Cocoa with Mallow Root Marshmallows 

California Galette 

Buttermilk Chocolate Acorn Quick Bread 

Spring

Xátikrupma 

Spring Gathering Guide 

Corine Pearce 

Infusions 

Decoctions 

Compresses 

Poultices 

How to Dehydrate Nettles or Lamb’s Quarters 

Morel Preparation 

How to Dehydrate Mushrooms and Morels 

Tree Tip Syrups, Sugars, and Oils 

Niçoise Salad with Pickled Sea Beans and Quail Eggs 

NDN Lettuce and Popped Amaranth Salad with Lemon Pine Nut Vinaigrette 

Spring Mushroom Stock 

Cream of Woodland Mushroom Soup 

Acorn Miso Balls and Dashi with Pacific Seaweed and Dried Mushrooms 

Acorn Crackers with Edible Flowers and Wild Onion Dip and Acorn Hummus 

Wildflower Spring Rolls

Peppernut Mole Chicken with Nettle Tortillas and Nettle Poblano Rice 

Duck Egg Chilaquiles with Nettle Tortilla Chips 

Wild Rice Gatherer’s Bowl 

Stinging Nettle Risotto with Cumin Coriander Lamb Chops and Acorn Squash with Burrata, Hazelnuts, and Barberries 

Meadow Quiche 

Acorn Focaccia with Wild Edibles 

Pea Pancakes with Lemon Cream, Smoked Salmon, and Quail Eggs 

Big Leaf Maple Blossom Fritters with Spruce Tip Syrup 

Summer

Pimnáanih 

Summer Spaghetti Sauce 

Wild Meatballs 

Summer Corn Stock 

Blackberry Smoothie Bowl with Hazelnut Granola 

Three Sisters Summer Salad 

Quail “Chicken Salad” with Cherry Plums and Black Walnuts 

Watermelon Salad with Yerba Buena 

Greek Salad with Smoked Trout 

Summer Grape Leaf Wraps 

Huckleberry Gazpacho with Smoked Salmon 

Pine Pollen Cacio e Pepe 

Blackberry Brined Smoked Salmon 

Blackberry Braised Venison Tacos 

Elk Medallions with Acorn Miso Rub 

Acorn Milk Freezer Pops 

Acorn Milk and Chia Pops with Salmonberry Chamoy 

Rose-Ade and Elderflower Freezer Pops 

Blackberry “Chiascake” Freezer Pops 

Zucchini Acorn Bread with Black Walnuts and Chocolate Chips 

Blackberry Curd and Maple Angel Food Cake 

Blackberry Pie with Acorn Crust 

Acknowledgments

Index 

About the Author