Classic Fry Bread for Meals or Navajo Tacos (2024)

FAQs

Where do people eat fry bread? ›

Despite its troubling origins, fry bread and Indian tacos are now popular at Native American gatherings in the Navajo region, and have even made it into restaurants in the area. Closely related but less common in its reach is the Navajo pizza.

While fry bread is common in American Indian cultures across the United States, fry bread in South Dakota is traditionally made with yeast instead of baking soda like the "Navajo taco." This is because tribes in South Dakota were rationed yeast instead of baking soda on the reservation.

Credit is given to the Navajo people for creating fry bread after they were forced to make the “Long Walk” from Arizona to New Mexico. Hungry and far away from their traditional foods, they turned U.S. government rations of flour, salt, baking powder and lard into a filling bread that saved many from starvation.

Although frybread is often associated with "traditional" Native American cuisine, some Native American chefs reject it as a symbol of colonialism. Indigenous chef Sean Sherman calls it "everything that isn't Native American food", writing that it represents "perseverance and pain, ingenuity and resilience".

The rest of the Navajo diet was shaped by the foods available in their region, and as such consisted in large part of foods such as pumpkins, yucca, elk, cottontail rabbits, mutton, and acorns, among others. Also like other Native tribes, the Navajo depended on women to cook and serve food.

It was typical for the average French citizen to believe that it was impossible to overindulge in bread. For many, bread became the centerpiece of every meal.

The first Navajo taco was created by Lou Shepard, who worked for the tribe in the 1960s as manager of the Navajo Lodge, a tribally owned motel and restaurant located across the street from what is now the Navajo Education Center.

Health Problems

Fry bread can be eaten alone or as part of a meal, or can be dessert topped with butter, cinnamon and sugar or perhaps honey. Fry bread is tempting to most people because of the grease/lard/shortening ingredient and therein lies the problem. Not only is fry bread high in fat, it is also caloric.

Fry bread—also known as Indian fry bread or Navajo tacos—is made from flour, salt, baking powder and warm water. Plus shortening, in which to fry the dough. These staples were all American Indian tribes had access to when fry bread was first created (more on that later).

Let's talk about frybread. It can be found at almost every gathering, celebration, and Indian “doing”, but certainly at every powwow.

What are the different names for fry bread? ›

Fried dough is also known as fry dough, fry bread (bannock), fried bread, doughboys, elephant ears, beaver tails, scones, pizza fritte, frying saucers, and buñuelos (in the case of smaller pieces).

Unlike the dry toast you can make in a toaster (or under the broiler in your oven), slices fried in oil are rich and luxurious; that bit of extra fat goes a long way in the flavor department.

Fairy bread is sliced white bread spread with butter or margarine and covered with "Hundreds and Thousands", often served at children's parties in Australia and New Zealand.

Potato bread, in different forms, is a common element of the cuisine of Chiloé in Southern Chile. The most popular breads are milcao and chapalele, which are part of the traditional curanto.