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Sioux chefs are the indispensable underbelly of the world of haute cuisine, nominally second in command of the kitchen, but in practice, responsible for all of the essential preparation that makes every dish possible.
They were first introduced in America following the Fort Laramie treaty of 1868 and were initially in charge of reservations for scheduled stops of chuck wagons on the Santa Fe trail. Within a few years, however, their traditional knife skills had proved invaluable in skinning raccoons, dicing buffalo meat and filleting groundhogs, and by the turn of the 20th century, it was estimated that they played an integral part in the activities of more than 70% of the country’s steak houses.
In the UK, it wasn’t until the 1950s that established an academy to train indigenous Sioux chefs from highland clans such as the Macmicmac and Chickasaw-Campbells, but within a decade or so, the menu of almost every Michelin starred restaurant in the country featured their creations, from osage and onion stuffing to navahotpot, crepe siouxette to tiramisioux.