The following recipes have been handed down in many Cherokee families. These are the ones that I remember my Grandfather making and also him stressing that I remember because they are the ones that helped the Cherokee make it through the hard times.

The American Indian's greatest contribution to our civilization is, in the eyes of many experts, the patient cultivation from their original wild state of the food plants which are now more than half our agricultural wealth.

These recipes are rich in folklore, retaining their mystery with which our ancestors endowed them. These men and women found the fullness of life in quiet woodlands, giving gratitude and adoration to the Great Spirit for sustenance.

It is hoped that the reader will not be disturbed by the absence of exact measurements--any really good cook is apt to fall into the use of such terms as "a dash of this and a pinch of that", so naturally being good cooks, the Cherokees give their directions in a general manner assuming that one who likes to cook has that special something that acts as a guide in such matters.

To the memory of those good Cherokee cooks of a destitute period of the past when subsistence living was the only living, this website is lovingly dedicated with the hope that we who are younger will be able to do just half as well if we are faced with the same situation.