Tacos today not pizza.

Pjila'si.

Last time this week. I had fun learning about food and will miss
sending reports. But I will ask more questions about my food from now
on. Knowing what is in the different foods is interesting. When I
started I thought it would be boring.

Yesterday I told uncle there would be a taco special today in the
school cafeteria and I would like to try them. He said I had been very
helpful all week for Veg's food blog and helping to raise money for
Mary's Meals so I deserved a treat. I am glad there are hungry kids
who will now get to eat because of Veg, her dad and all the people who
sent money to Mary's Meals. Please keep sending money when you can and
to those who haven't sent money yet please do it soon.

The tacos were good. There were a lot of veggies in it, some grated
cheddar cheese, chicken and a small amount of sauce. Everything was
just perfect to me. Uncle was surprised at how good it looked. I think
he thought it would be more like a fast food taco. He was glad I made
the picture look good so people could see the food better. We had
talked about that and how food can be better if it looks good as well
as tastes good. I tucked the soft taco cover under so you could see
the taco stuffing and took the fruit off its bowl to put on the plate
with the taco. I also remembered the comment from 'lotsasmiles' about
water but I really like milk. So I had the milk. I got busy arranging
the food so I forgot to put the milk in the picture. Sorry.

Here is my rating.

Food-o-meter - 10/10 I liked everything.
Health rating - 9/10 To me it was all good but I took one off because
I had lots of fruit.
Bites - 54.
Courses - Main and dessert.
Price - Taco special - $3.00. Regular price would be $5.00, fruit
snack $1.60 (I had two portions), and milk $0.75. Total - $5.35
Pieces of hair - 0. No hair all week.

I hope everyone continues to support Veg and Mary's Meals and that we
all learn more about our food all around the world. This is a fun way
to learn.

Wela'lin (thank you) to everyone.

Jagej.

Jagej's uncle here.
It has been a very interesting week for us and it was exciting to see
Jagej engage with Elders about Mi'kmaq culture and food. We both
learned a great deal and think we both know we have a lot more to
learn. It has become more interesting to look back at previous posts
from other cultures and both of us will follow future ones avidly. As
our 10-year-old guide has said - wela'lin.

Back at school.

Pjila'si from Jagej,

Sorry to be late today. First day of school. Bus was late coming home
by almost 30 minutes. A new bigger school and now all the other kids are bigger than me. But they were nice. The cafeteria is a new part of school to me as well. My old elementary school had no cafeteria. We have food choices that every day include wraps, sandwiches, pitas and salads. And pizza! There are fruit and veggie trays with dips. Desserts include a choice of buns, muffins, cookies, bits and bites, biscuits, Doritos and fruit snacks. I knew there might be pizza because someone from another year told me. I told uncle and he said I should try some of the healthier things
first. So I decide to have a wrap and salad with apple juice. I was full so I
had no dessert today. The picture is a bit fuzzy because I used my cell phone camera and my cell phone is quite old.

Here is my lunch.

Food-o-meter - 8/10 Liked everything for a first school lunch of the
year. I wanted pizza so loses 2. Another time I guess.
Health rating - 7/10 Bacon and fat in the wrap sauce and sugar in the
apple juice.
Bites - 47. I don't take big bites.
Courses - Main.
Price - Salad $2.25, wrap $2.60 and juice $0.75. Total - $5.60
Pieces of hair - 0.

I hope the school year goes well. The first day I was a bit nervous
but everyone seems to be good so now I feel better about it.
Don't know yet what I will pick for tomorrow. Maybe pizza.

Hope you liked my choices today.

Jagej.

Jagej!

Pjila'si from Mi'kmaqi.

Today I got to finally eat some jagej (lobster). I like all fish and
to me lobster is just another kind of fish. It is sweet and juicy.
Also a little chewier than other fish. I could eat it a lot. I like
speckled trout the best though.
Uncle and I have had a lot of fun the past few days visiting and
talking with Mi'kmaq Elders, hunters and fishermen. I have learned a
lot. Uncle says he has learned as well. It was a surprise that no one
had any traditional stories to tell about jagej. They are just another
fish food like gaspereau, mackerel, smelts and trout.
What we had really wanted was some eels to cook for a snack but there
were none to be found. Eels are prized even more than salmon in the
Mi'kmaq culture. They are seasonal and highly valued by Lnu for
ceremonial feasts, medicines and other special events. Because we
could not get any interesting stories about jagej I will tell you
later some things about ga't (eel) pronounced gaad.

Right now it is easy to get lobster so we settled for that.
Here is a picture of my whole lobster (cooked) and after it was
shelled for lunch.

Food-o-meter - 10/10 Liked everything again today.
Health rating - 8/10 Sugar in the banana and the lemonade.
Bites - about 53. I got interested in my food and forget to count a bite or two.
Courses - Main and dessert
Price - Lobster in Nova Scotia now is CDN$10/pound. My lobster was
just under 1/2 pound so estimate $4.00, banana $0.75, beans from the
kitchen garden and homemade lemonade $0.25. Total - about $5.50
allowing for garden expenses.
Pieces of hair - 0.

One thing we did learn is the Mi'kmaq used to store lobster in the
ground to use later.
Today lobster is a valuable commercial business for Mi'kmaq
individuals and First Nations communities. This happened after what is
known in Canada as the Marshall decision from the Supreme Court saying
aboriginal treaty rights permitted the catching and selling of fish
for a moderate livelihood. Following some months of conflict and
disagreement both native and non-native fishermen learned to work in
harmony. A certain amount of the native fish quota is set aside for
community use to feed individuals and Elders.

Jagej's uncle here.
The following bit is a combined effort. Jagej was struggling with some
of the writing so he asked me to help him. Sometimes the information
can become overwhelming for a young mind.

Eels are a global species with many varieties and in parts of the
world have a very high market value. In the United Kingdom prices for
eels can reach 700 pounds for a kilogram. In Spain it can be as high
as 1000 euros.
The value of eels in Mi'kmaqi is, even today, not driven by economics.
Value is directly connected to community life. It enhances social
function, is used medicinally and is highly regarded for spiritual
purposes.
Today many young people are not as fond of eels as the older
generations but it is still a very integral and special part of
Mi'kmaq life.
You are held in high regard as an individual if upon visiting a
Mi'kmaq home you are offered eel stew.
Due to their spiritual importance eels are sometimes requested as a
last meal to help ease the transition to the spirit world. Eating eels
relaxes and calms the spirit so resistance and fear is lessened during
the transition between the two worlds.
Eels are not caught for personal gain. The fishermen take pride in
sharing their catch with Elders and members of the community. A large
eel can feed several people. Catching eels is considered a gift from
the Creator.

Smaller eels are used for soups and stews. They are cleaned and
skinned before use. Soup and stew recipes vary depending on individual
taste and are prepared much as any stew or soup. One man related a
tale of experimenting with "sweet and sour stir fry" eels which he
said he enjoyed.
Baking eels are larger in size. They are gutted, unskinned with a salt
rub. The head is left on to use for hanging while blood is drained
from a cut in the tail and the eel continues hanging to dry. The heads
are later used in soups and stews, The skin remains on for cooking
(bake, barbeque or over a traditional open fire).

Following are links to two videos showing the harvesting and baking
(seasoned to taste). The videos are about eight minutes each. Some of
the participants speak in the Mi'kmaq language.
Video #1 -
Video #2 -

Some eels are skinned for other uses. The skins can be used for ties
and bindings. Boot and moccasins' soles are also made from the eel
skins. Skins are used for wrapping medicines and poultices. Skins
were used for wrapping sprained or broken bones, relieving joint pain
and making preventative medicines. Oils from larger eels was used for
making medicines, cooking other foods, helping with ear infections and
loosening ear wax.
Fishermen still do not fish for eels or other species at certain times
of the year, mostly respecting spawning cycles.
Mostly the eel is a source of food for the Mi'kmaq and is life-sustaining.

Jagej here again.
I have enjoyed learning and writing about some of my Native culture
this week and am now a bit sad that tomorrow I will be writing about
actual school lunches. I am sure the school lunches won't be as good
but hopefully they will be nutrious. I am excited to start my new
school and we will see what tomorrow brings. Uncle and I had only
planned for three days of Mi'kmaq lunches but we could have done more.
Maybe if Veg goes on vacation again she might invite me to write some
more.

Don't forget to support Mary's Meals and Veg's blog to raise money for
kids who do not have as much as we do.

Wela'lin - Thank you for all your comments and support. This has been
fun! See you tomorrow.

Jagej (and uncle)

Tia'muei (moose meat) today. Pronounced di·aa·mu·ey.

Pjila'si again.

Today we had the moose meat we were hoping to find. One of uncle's
friends came to the rescue.
We had asked an Elder yesterday about some different traditional ways
to cook the meat. It was a surprise to be told that traditional
Mi'kmaq cooking was bland and even yesterday's smoked salmon dish was
overly livened up. We were told it should have been smoked or cooked
over an open fire with no spices or other things. Only cooked in its
own skin.

I asked uncle if we could still have some vegetables with
the venison steak today and he said yes. The fat and bone were trimmed
from the venison. The blueberries we had for dessert are highly valued
and important in spiritual ceremonies. And here is my lunch.

Food-o-meter - 10/10
Health rating - 9/10 (Not sure about the potato. Although there is
sugar in the blueberries there are also antioxidants and other good
things that outweigh the negatives.)
Bites - about 58. I savoured the berries. Cream would have been a
luxury but it is also not traditional.
Courses - Main and dessert
Price - about CDN $5.75. The venison is a gift and cannot be sold in
Nova Scotia but a comparable price for a beef T-bone is about CDN
$3.50 to buy and the
cherry tomatoes are garden fresh but we included an estimate for cost
of growing. Ten cents for the potato. Blueberries $1.50.
Pieces of hair - No hair again today.

We talked about cooking it over an open fire but it was decided not to
because of a ban on open fires due to forest fire hazard. It has been
a very dry summer all over Turtle Island.
To be more healthy uncle said it would be best to bake the meat with
vegetables in an oven. Not a traditional way but practical for today.
We decided not to fry it in fat but let the fat drain into a pan away
from the food. Moose meat is very lean and low in fat and has other
good things in it.
One of the Elders has said many of the health problems faced by the
Lnu today are because we no longer eat the traditional diet. Today Lnu
suffer from very high rates of diabetes and heart illnesses. The
mostly fish diets and eating of game animals helped prevent these
diseases in the past the Elder said. Today, like many other cultures
around the world, we are coaxed into eating refined foods, fast foods
and other things high in sugar and fats with very few good nutrients
(That's a big word for me.). Sometimes I eat these things myself, but,
my mother only lets me as a treat once or twice a month.

When the moose was killed a prayer ceremony was performed for the
moose's spirit by the Mi'kmaq hunter Alex. The ceremony is thanks to
the moose for offering itself for the Lnu to use for food, clothing
and the many other things it could be used for. Alex is also a
fisherman and spiritual leader as well as a councillor and former
Chief of the Shubenacadie First Nation at Indian Brook. How many
seconds Veg? Alex is a hunter of great reputation. It is said he can
call the deer and moose to him without using mechanical calls of any
kind.

Alex says in traditional hunting the hunter and animal have a mutual
respect. People and animals are spiritually equal. The animals were
believed to cooperate in the hunt if the hunter was properly prepared.
There are rules and rituals to follow even with the remains. For
example bones are not to be buried or given to dogs.

Jagej's uncle here.
Following are some notes about hunting that may be interesting,
however fanciful you may find it.

Hunting a moose -
The moose was the most important animal to the Mi'kmaq. During the
hunting process, the men would try to direct the moose in the
direction of the camp, so that the women would not have to to drag
the moose too far back to camp. A boy became a man in the eyes of the
community after he had killed his first moose. It was only then that
he had earned the right to marry.

Hunting generally -
The Mi'kmaq, and their cousins the Maliseet further to the west (New
Brunswick), have said animals and people talked together, implying
they understood and respected each other. The Lnu acknowledged they
had to kill animals to survive but did not see animals simply as meat.
Animals were fellow members of the broader society. People had to
acquire understanding of their prey and get his cooperation before the
hunter could be successful. The animal then surrendered to the hunter
willingly. Therein is the need for respect and honour from the hunter
and the prayer ceremony following the successful hunt.

Moose management video



Tomorrow my namesake. Yum!

Atiu (goodbye) until tomorrow. Jagej.

Pjila'si (Hello) Veg and Everyone!

I am excited to be writing about Mi'kmaq traditional foods for a few
days until the new school year starts on Thursday. I hope this helps
you raise more money for hungry kids around the world and that people
will keep sending money to you and Mary's Meals. I realize how lucky I
am here in Nova Scotia where I live. Uncle tells me Nova Scotia is
latin for New Scotland.

I will be starting grade 5 this year at Redcliff Middle School in
Bible Hill, just outside Truro (How many seconds, Veg?). This is a new
school for me and I am looking forward to it. It has a cafeteria for
school lunches but I have not been in it yet. I hope the lunches are
good.

Today my cousin Cailynn (she's 6) and I had a lunch of spiced smoked
salmon with fresh, raw (I like raw vegetables better than cooked)
picked-from-the-garden baby carrots, cherry tomatoes and cauliflower
on a bed of lettuce. It was good. Raw cauliflower kind of tastes like
cabbage to me. I like them all. And I like fish. I like fishing and
eating fish. Mostly I let the fish go when I catch them. I want to
learn to fly fish. We also had iced tea and caramel flavoured yogurt.
Both had some sugar in them so the health rating will be lower. Uncle
tried to get a whole salmon to cook but they are expensive to buy and
his friends had none left to show. Oh well, we all know what a salmon
looks like.

Food-o-meter - 10/10
Health rating - 8/10 (sugar in the iced tea and yogurt, and fat in the yogurt)
Bites - about 52. We lost count and had to guesstimate. Sorry.
Courses - Main and dessert
Price - about CDN $6.00. The salmon is expensive to buy and the
veggies are garden fresh but we included an estimate for cost of
growing.
Pieces of hair - Uncle doesn't have much hair so we're pretty safe
till Thursday.

Cailynn's godfather Dan is a Mi'kmaq hunter, fisherman and spiritual
leader and gave uncle his favourite recipe for salmon to share for
anyone who would like to try it. Traditionally salmon would have been
cooked or smoked over a fire.

Dan's recipe - Clean a whole salmon and lay it on an aluminum foil
bed. You can leave the head and tail on or cut them off as you prefer.
Inside the belly place a layer of sliced orange, topped with a layer
of sliced red onions. On top of the red onions place a layer of sliced
lemons. Fold the side of the salmon to cover the layers. Cover the top
of the salmon with more foil and place on a baking tray. Place in an
oven at 375 degrees for about 40-45 minute depending on the size of
the salmon.
Dan suggests you can enhance the flavour by reducing some brown sugar
to baste the top before closing up the foil. He says the salmon will
self-baste as it is baking. "Salmon is a rather dry fish but this
recipe makes it moist and flavourful. Enjoy!" Add side dishes to
suit.

Jagej's uncle here. Atlantic salmon is a traditional food for the
Mi'kmaq because many of the rivers where they spawn are in the
Atlantic Provinces of Canada (Mi'kmaqi). The fish is large and meaty
and can be dried, smoked and stored for later consumption. It is
however seasonal. Present day salmon would be unattainable for most
Mi'kmaq because of the high cost. However, the federal and provincial
governments have allocated a communal fishery quota which allows for
the feeding of the community. These fish are not permitted to be sold.
Mi'kmaq commercial fishermen catch their saleable quota plus what is
communal quota. Some individual Mi'kmaq fish only communal quotas to
feed their families, relatives and Elders. This is closely monitored
by fisheries officers.
Salmon is very popular for special community celebrations and feasts
and is, as for everyone these days, somewhat of a luxury. It is most
frequently served at spiritual ceremonies.

Uncle was also trying to get the traditional foods of eels and
fiddleheads for a meal but they are out of season. Tomorrow I think we
are having venison (deer or moose).

Atiu (goodbye) until tomorrow. Jagej.

Puerto Rican Empanadas

Hi Veg!

My husband and I are of Puerto Rican heritage (but we live in the mainland US), and one of our favorite meals are Empanadas.

Empanadas are made with empanada wrappers (we buy ours frozen at the grocery), which comes in circles. The filling includes ground hamburger, chopped green olives, and a latin seasoning called Recaito. Recaito is a green paste/sauce made from finely chopped cilantro, green pepper, onions, and garlic. My mother-in-law makes her own, which is out of this world, but we often buy it in a jar at the grocery. Latin foods are very common in the US, and can be found at most grocery stores.

One browns the ground beef, then draining the oil, adds the chopped green olives and recaito. It is all stirred together and cooked for about 10 minutes. Then you let it cool. After cooling, you spoon a 1/4 cup or so onto half of your empanada wrapper. You dampen the edges, fold the wrapper over, and smash the edges together with the tines of a fork to hold everything together. We then freeze them.

To cook, I take a few out of the freezer (or you could just use the fresh-made ones), and put them in a heavy pan which has vegetable oil heating in it. The oil should be deep enough for the empanada to float. Fry them until they are golden brown, let cool on paper towels. I love them with a dipping sauce made from apricot jam and sriracha (a Thai pepper sauce).

I hope you enjoy our empanadas!

BossNurse

Thank you Hansik and hello Jagej!

Dad went out early this morning to get the papers. The finalists of the Great Scot Award are in one and an article on Mary's Meals and me in another. I think the schools in Malawi are on holiday as well so no news of kitchen. It's only 26 days until we visit. All the finalists in the Great Scot Award are doing brilliant things and I hope you enjoy the ceremony.

I've been baking today. It was hard to plait to start with but it got easier as I remembered the pattern. It took a long time to bake and I had to keep sticking a spike into it to test it. It's really tasty and easy to make. I had some for breakfast!
We're having friends over for a Sunday Roast this evening. It's a shoulder from one of our Tamworth pigs. Dad has cut the skin so it will crackle. I am hoping to ask our friends to rate their meal. I hope Dad doesn't mind!

I am glad Hansik survived the typhoon ok. We got him by lightening so our phones and computer didn't work but they are fixed now. I like all your dinners and please can you send me a simple recipe I can try and make! I will show you the result. I think the lunches have been healthiest so far. Thank you!

Please welcome 10 year old Jagej (pronounced jug-ech and means lobster). Jagej is being helped by his great uncle who says,

"The Mi'kmaq are an ancient people who have lived in the area of the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, most of Quebec's Gaspe Peninsula, and northern Maine in the United States for thousands of years. The area is collectively known as Mi'kmaqi. Members of the Mi'kmaq First Nation historically refer to themselves as Lnu (the people), but used the term níkmaq (my kin) as a
greeting."

It is going to be really interesting because Jagej will be having traditional dinners until he goes back to school at the end of the week. I think the dinners will be very different.

"The Mi'kmaq refer to plants, animals and all things comprising their environment as "relations". For this reason, and, the cultural tradition of the Lnu treating all relations with respect, the hunting and gathering of food as well as the gathering of plants and materials for medicine, shelter and clothing is performed with a spiritual
thankfulness for the gift of the spirit and life which "the relations" give to the people."

Here is a video from their 2012 Pow Wow,



I am really looking forward to reading more next week. If anyone would like to send in pictures of their traditional food this week please do, neverseconds@gmail.com. please tell us why its traditional and when you have it.

I will start with a traditional Roast Dinner!

Thank you Hansik and hello Jagej!

Veg

PS big hello to Isadora!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/portuguese/videos_e_fotos/2012/09/120831_blogueira_escocia_brasil_jp.shtml