Piki is a bread made from blue
corn meal used in
Hopi cuisine.
Preparation
Blue corn, a staple grain of the
Hopi, is first reduced to a fine powder on a
metate
A metate (or mealing stone) is a type or variety of quern, a ground stone tool used for processing grain and seeds. In traditional Mesoamerican cultures, metates are typically used by women who would grind nixtamalized maize and other organic ...
. It is then mixed with water and burnt ashes of native bushes or
juniper trees for purposes of
nixtamalization
Nixtamalization () is a process for the preparation of corn, or other grain, in which the grain is soaked and cooked in an alkaline solution, usually limewater (but sometimes aqueous alkali metal carbonates), washed, and then hulled. The ter ...
(nutritional modification of corn by means of lime or other
alkali). The thin batter is then smeared by hand over a large fla
baking stonethat has been heated over a fire and coated with oil made from pounded seeds of the native American plants
squash
Squash may refer to:
Sports
* Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets
* Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling
* Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...
and
sunflower, and also from the seeds of
watermelon
Watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varie ...
, which though originally from Africa, has been in the Americas for at least 500 years. Piki bread bakes almost instantaneously and is peeled from the rock in sheets so thin they are translucent. Several sheets of the bread are often rolled up loosely into flattened scrolls.
Piki takes several days to make from scratch. Piki is prepared by women in various phases of the courtship and marriage ritual. It is eaten by the couple on the morning of the marriage ceremony.
In some Hopi
pow wows it is handed out by the
kachina
A kachina (; also katchina, katcina, or katsina; Hopi: ''katsina'' , plural ''katsinim'' ) is a spirit being in the religious beliefs of the Pueblo peoples, Native American cultures located in the south-western part of the United States. In th ...
dancers.
See also
*
List of maize dishes
This is a list of maize dishes, in which maize (corn) is used as a primary ingredient. Additionally, some foods and beverages that are prepared with maize are listed.
Ingredients
Corn can be processed into an intermediate form to be cooked furt ...
References
External links
Piki's recipe video.
{{corn
Tortilla
Native American cuisine
Maize dishes
Mexican cuisine
Cuisine of the Western United States
Hopi culture