#FrybreadFriday: The Most Fried Bread of 2011

It's been a delight to bring you #FrybreadFriday every week since RPM launched in June, and here on the last Friday of the year, I'm looking back on all the frybread ground we've covered - in music, film, dance and of course the kitchen.

Some of my favourites have been the frybread riot scene from Smoke Signals, the interpretive dance of frybread, the photo set of frybread stands that got mention in The Art of the Rural, and the trailer for the much anticipated mocumentary More Than Frybread.

But above all, and winner of my one-time only Most Fried Bread award, is Helen Roy making Zaasakokwaan. Her laugh, her singing in the kitchen, her making the dough by feel, all embody the heart and warmth of frybread Friday at its best.

Here she is, in an encore performance:

And with that, happy New Year frybread makers!

p.s. Zaasakokwaan: Ojibwe for frybread.

#Frybread Frybread: How to Make Bannock

This week #FrybreadFriday turns its attention to its very close cousin - baked bannock. In this film by Darryl Nepinak, Darryl documents his mother making her version, step by step.

Darryl's mom makes her recipe in the best possible way - by feel. The process is replete with a curious cat, how to let the dough breathe, toe tapping and even toe kneading...!

Watch: Bannock, by Darryl Nepinak.

Bannock from Darryl Nepinak on Vimeo.

#FrybreadFriday: Kathryn's Navajo Frybread

Kathryn Little shares her recipe, her tricks, her tips and her secrets for frybread.

I for one have not ever tried letting the dough set before frying things up - I'll be trying that next time I make frybread and let you know how it goes.

Watch Kathryn's How to Make Frybread and let me know how it goes next time you're in the kitchen!

#FrybreadFriday: Off the Rez Food Truck

There's a new food truck coming to the streets of Seattle, Washington, aimed to fill a gap in the local dining scene.

Off the Rez is set to bring frybread and Indian tacos to the corners of Seattle. According to Off the Rez, Seattle’s Newest Food Truck:

Possible stops include South Lake Union, Thursdays in front of Evo, Saturday mornings on 35th Avenue in Wedgwood, and late nights on Pike Street.

Vittles like pulled pork smoked for ten hours, a bacon burger, and those frybreads and tacos, slathered in homemade jam or chicken chili verde, should prove a welcome way to soak up an evening’s intemperance.

Yum. In the meantime, they're available for catering - find Off the Rez on Facebook for more info.

#FrybreadFriday: How to Make Frybread

A frybread recipe can be as unique as the person who makes it. This week, we bring you Sunspot Turrha's take via their step-by-step instructions.

"Frybread can be a main course, side dish, or dessert" says Sunspot Turrha and this recipe can be used all three ways.

I especially like the part about the Volcano! To follow the rest of the recipe, visit: How to make frybread (starter tutorial).

#FrybreadFriday: Shish Boom BaH - "Fry Bread"

Philadelphia based Shish Boom Bah released a new track this week - Fry Bread. Of course us purveyors of #FrybreadFriday had to check it out.

Listening to the short drum and bass ditty which samples some sweet powwow sounds, one's imagination is left to wonder - is this an ode to our favourite fried food? A celebration? A commentary?

Check it out and see what images of frybread, or the dance floor, it conjures.

STREAM: Shish Boom BaH - "Fry Bread" Fry Bread ! by Shish Boom BaH

#FrybreadFriday: The Frybread Riot

This week, #FrybreadFriday celebrates the most classic frybread moment in film: Thomas Builds-the-fire's story of the frybread riot.

From the film Smoke Signals, Thomas, played by Evan Adams, tells the story of Victor's Mom's legendary frybread.

"Frybread that can walk across water, frybread rising from the dead..."

#FrybreadFriday: "More Than Frybread" - New Trailer

Hot off the pan, this brand new trailer gives us a taste of what to expect in the upcoming mockumentary film More Than Frybread.

This trailer reveals the imagined competitive tension at the Arizona State Frybread Championships. The cast includes Arapaho twin r&b artists Dey & Nite!

We can't wait to see it.

#FrybreadFriday: The Frybread Queen

Is there an art form untouched by frybread? No! This week we bring you The Frybread Queen, a new work by playwright Carolyn Dunn, of Muskogee Creek, Cherokee and Seminole descent.

The play debuted earlier this year at The Autry's Native Voices series and was written as an extension of Dunn's most recent novel.

Dunn told LA Stage Times in Native Voices Open's Carolyn Dunn's The Frybread Queen:

“The novel ends with the death of one of these family members. I wondered what would happen after her death, so I thought the funeral would be the next logical place to go because there would still be a lot of tension in the family. So, I decided to write a play for four very strong Native actresses.”

A former actress, Dunn laments the dearth of quality female roles for Native American women and seeks to change that through The Frybread Queen. She began developing the play four years ago. “It came pretty quickly because I knew the characters so well and it’s a very character-driven story.”

The Autry blog, in “The Frybread Queen”: More Than a Handful of Recipes, describes how frybread is used as a tool for characterization:

The plot is complicated and the relationships deeply intertwined. But each woman has a moment within the play to “shine,” as it were, when she recites her personal recipe for Indian frybread, a monologue meant to also encapsulate her essence.

It's true - one's frybread recipe can be deeply tied to one's personal experience and identity.

Watch the trailer of The Frybread Queen:

#FrybreadFriday: Follow Friday

It's a weekly tradition on Twitter to tag #FF - aka #followfriday - with mentions of people that you, a dedicated Twitter user, think are worth recommending to others to follow.

Today, for my preferred weekly tradition of #FrybreadFriday, I bring you a selection of Frybread Twitter users.

I often search Twitter for #FrybreadFriday ideas and of course these users come up in my search results each week.

@RockysFrybread - "I moved to SF CA to turn people on to a bad ass tradition. I'm Diné born in Shiprock NM. I'm bringing Frybread."

@FrybreadSoldier  - this army vet on the Yakama rez is apparently working on a spoken word album. Let's hope for some frybread poetry.

@TxDineFrybread - Texas based maker of frybread for powwows and markets. Tweet your order Texans!

@FrybreadRadio - This handle is for New Zealand station Base FM - a collective of DJs who've been broadcasting underground hip-hop, reggae, funk and soul since 2004 from Auckland.

@frybread_queen - "...a Native American NDN who makes the best frybread". Well!

There's also: @frybread_thief, @I_Love_Frybread, @FrybreadBoy, @TheFrybreaders, @N2Frybread and more! So make a list and add them to it - you'll never be short of a virtual frybread fix again.

#FrybreadFriday: Interpretive Dance

Here at RPM we've honoured #FrybreadFriday though music, poetry and pictures. This week, the artistic expression of choice is interpretive dance.

Apparently, one can truly be moved by making frybread as the Aka-Mya Cultural Group have captured in this short video. Personally, I may bring these moves to the next dance party I attend. "What is she doing? Oh yes, The Frybread".

Let's dance.

#FrybreadFriday: "Frybread Please"

Raised on the north side of Chicago, hip-hop artist Blacktop Native seeks to represent urban Indigenous culture through his work.

His debut album From the Gravel to the Pavement included this bit of Indigenous culture - Frybread Please.