Cowboy Chef’s Table returned to OSU Institute of Technology this December with Chef Nico Albert Williams serving as the featured chef.
Chef Williams worked alongside Culinary Arts students to prepare a traditional 3 Sisters Stew featuring bison, local greens salad with ancient grains, seeds and acorn squash vinaigrette and Appalachian all-spiced sweet potato souffle.
“Indigenous food is not a genre that is well known, but it is important to learn. Food builds a bridge in communities,” said Williams. “Communities can come together and are taught how to respect the land through the food that they prepare and consume. Learning about sustainability and climate change is vital to operating in the food industry.”
Chef Nico Albert Williams (ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ Cherokee Nation) is a self-taught chef, caterer and student of traditional indigenous cuisines based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her journey to learn traditional Cherokee ways led to her involvement in indigenous food revitalization and food sovereignty.
As the founder and owner of Burning Cedar Indigenous Foods and Burning Cedar Sovereign Wellness, Chef Williams devotes her time and passion to revitalizing indigenous healing and wellness in the Native American community by providing healthy, traditionally inspired catering options and educational events.
Her work has been featured regionally and nationally by Cherokee Nation's OsiyoTV, Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Atlas Obscura, PBS, Gilcrease Museum, Philbrook Museum, BBC’s Hairy Bikers, and Food Network, among others.
