South Dakota is, by far, the largest state in the union. Alaska beats it in terms of square mileage. But measured in the sheer boredom that overwhelms a driver headed east from the Pacific Ocean, who knows that it’s multiple days until another state fills the car windows, it can seem infinite.
My mother and I were wearing on each other’s nerves in South Dakota, as befalls long-haul driving companions. We drove my ‘93 Volvo out to D.C. from Oregon in June. Driving through the Badlands, I sullenly stared at the dry red clay that surrounded us. We pulled into the only restaurant on the west side of a park and my mother, the food writer, was immediately drawn to the gift shop’s cookbook wall.
I went into the restaurant and sat down. Glancing at the menu, the only thing that interested me was the Indian Taco: Indian fry bread topped with typical Tex-Mex taco toppings. After perusing the books, my mother meandered into the restaurant, excited to try the Indian Taco she’d read about. The banter that accompanied our two large tacos was minimal, but when we were done we both wanted to find out from our Native American waitress just how an Indian Taco came about.
On my mother’s most recent trip to D.C., I insisted that we go to the youngest Smithsonian, the National Museum of the American Indian. Low on blood sugar, my energy waned after only one large room of Native American wonders. We went down to the cafe in search of another Indian Taco.
Rather than the clich? faux-gourmet museum food we expected, we found a plethora of Native American foodstuffs. The cafe is aptly named Mitsitam, a word from the Delaware and Piscataway tribes meaning “let’s eat.” Boasting food from the Northern Woodlands, South America, the Northwest Coast, Mesoamerica and the Great Plains, the variety alone is overwhelming.
But where it could be confusing and over-stimulating, the cafe is surprisingly manageable. The food is arranged according to region and serving stations flow in curves, rather than customary steely cafeteria lines. Salmon tamales, pupusas, Indian Tacos and traditional pumpkin cookies abound. The food is reasonably priced and wholly enjoyable. The museum’s website notes that “each food station depicts regional lifeways related to cooking techniques, ingredients, and flavors found in both traditional and contemporary dishes.” To the unsuspecting museum visitor, the food is an exciting and stimulating turn from the ordinary.
Mitsitam Cafe serves as the crowning achievement of a museum marked by its thoroughness. South Dakota lit up for me when I discovered a new favorite food in the Badlands; first-time patrons of Mitsitam Cafe are likely to feel a similar sense of discovery about the Native American foods featured in the museum’s atypical cafeteria.
