Ilimpachi (Were Gonna Eat!): A Chickasaw Cookbook

Recipes, reminiscences, and lessons in Chickasaw lifeways are the main ingredients in Ilimpa’chi’ (We're Gonna Eat!): A Chickasaw Cookbook. Well-known Chickasaw cooks JoAnn Ellis and Vicki Penner share more than forty recipes, accompanied by scenes from their lives spent cooking, eating, and growing up around foods prepared in Chickasaw kitchens and over outdoor cooking fires. Their stories reveal the organic connections between food, family, and Chickasaw Nation history. Presenting traditional and traditionally inspired recipes for wild game, meat and fish, wild vegetables and fruits, garden produce, and breads, they describe and celebrate the roles of these dishes in the feasts of Chickasaw culture. Ilimpa’chi’ also includes a glossary of Chickasaw cooking terms and phrases, along with excerpts of poems and prayers written by Chickasaw writers and fluent Native speakers about the traditions of food and family. More than a recipe collection, Ilimpa’chi’ offers a cook’s-eye view of Chickasaw life.