The debut cookbook from this Oakland-born, decorated Native chef centers seasonality and knowing whose land you're on

"I love to create with Indigenous ingredients. So that was the easy part. I love to cook, I'm a creator and that, but you know, writing is totally different. She enlisted the help of Condon, an experienced cookbook writer and editor, to bring her vision to life."

"Eating with the seasons, Wahpepah said, is a core tenet to Native health and wellness. It is to A Feather and a Fork as well. There are so many pillars with the book. One, definitely how to eat in season. And then the other would be to know whose land you're on."

"The book's introduction includes a section titled Whose Land Do We Walk On?, which details Oakland's history as both traditional Ohlone territory and as a hub for intertribal Native communities who moved to the East Bay after the Indian Relocation Acts of 1952 and 1956."

Crystal Wahpepah, an Oakland-based chef and owner of Wahpepah's Kitchen, released her debut cookbook A Feather and a Fork on March 17, co-written with Amy Paige Condon. The book contains 125 intertribal recipes that celebrate Indigenous ingredients and seasonal eating practices central to Native health and wellness. Wahpepah collaborated with Condon, an experienced cookbook writer, to translate her culinary vision into written form. Tommy Orange, an Oakland native and award-winning author, contributed the foreword. The cookbook emphasizes knowing whose land you occupy and includes an introduction detailing Oakland's history as traditional Ohlone territory and a hub for intertribal Native communities following the Indian Relocation Acts. The recipes showcase ingredients used for thousands of years, bringing Indigenous culinary traditions to contemporary prominence.

Read at The Oaklandside