Wild Rice with Berries, Pine & Fat

“This isn’t fusion. This is restoration. This is a memory cooked slowly in the language of the land.”

Wild Rice with Berries, Pine & Fat

Inspired by the ancestral roots of manoomin—sacred wild rice—this dish honors its Indigenous North American heritage by grounding it in the elements of fire, forage, and seasonal rhythm. It is not pilaf. It is not gourmet. It is what it always was: a sacred sustaining gift.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup true wild rice (hand-harvested, if possible—check Indigenous-owned sources)
  • 2½ cups water or light broth (infused with cedar or pine needles, optional)
  • 1 tbsp duck fat, bison fat, or good quality butter
  • ½ cup fresh or dried berries (cranberries, blueberries, chokecherries, or elderberries)
  • ¼ cup wild onions or leeks, finely chopped (sub green onions or shallots)
  • 1 tsp fresh sage, minced (or pinch of dried)
  • Salt, to taste
  • • • Optional: crushed juniper berries, toasted sunflower seeds for crunch, whisper of maple

How The Alchemy Happens

  1. Parch the rice: In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast the dry wild rice gently until it begins to darken slightly and release a nutty aroma. Stir continuously. This step awakens it.
  2. Infuse the broth (optional): Simmer pine needles or a cedar tip in your water for 10 minutes, then strain. Use this infused liquid to cook the rice.
  3. Cook the rice: Add parched rice to pot with water or broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low. Cover and simmer ~45 minutes, until rice curls and splits. Drain excess liquid if needed.
  4. In a pan, melt your fat. Sauté wild onions and sage until fragrant. Fold in the berries just until they soften and bleed into the pan.
  5. Combine: Gently toss cooked rice with the sautéed mixture. Season with salt. Taste. Let it rest. It deepens as it sits.
  6. Serve warm or at room temp, preferably with hands, outside, beneath sky.

🔙 Back to the Kitchen

“This isn’t a dish. It’s a promise kept. A memory held. A story sung back into the body.”