Explore Native American and Mexican Cooking with Chef Pyet DeSpain

Prepare your palate for a vibrant culinary journey with star chef Pyet DeSpain, the inaugural winner of Gordon Ramsay’s hit television competition Next Level Chef, as she presents her debut cookbook, Rooted in Fire: A Celebration of Native American and Mexican Cooking, during a virtual discussion at 2 p.m. Thursday, November 12, presented by the Ocean County Library.

Pyet DeSpain will share the joy of cooking fueled by her passion for Native American and Mexican American cuisine.

Learn how to incorporate a range of key ingredients (including venison, dandelion greens, sunchokes, bison, and native berries) into more than sixty fusion dishes.

Family and friends will be excited to gather around the table to enjoy sweet and savory food such as three sisters salad, bison and sweet corn soup, fry bread, Mexican chocolate and mezcal cake, corn silk and honey tea, and Wojapi barbecue sauce.

Rooted in Fire is more than just a collection of recipes.

It is a movement giving voice to Indigenous culture, histories, and foodways through the universal language of food.

Pyet – short for her inherited Native American name, Pyetwetmokwe – is a member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and an award-winning global private chef.

She was named one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 25 Private Chefs in Los Angeles.

Her work is centered on uplifting Indigenous foodways within the culinary industry while advocating for a more sustainable and sovereign food system for Indigenous peoples.

Ocean County Library cardholders can borrow Rooted in Fire for free.

Visit tinyurl.com/RootedOCL, or stop by or visit your local OCL branch to request a copy today.

Registration is required for this free event. To register, visit tinyurl.com/DeSpainOCL call 732-349-2600, or stop by your local OCL branch.

Attendees can also enter to win a copy of Rooted in Fire via a link provided during the program.

tinyurl.com/DeSpainOCL