Piki

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Piki (or piki bread) is a thin dry rolled bread made by the Hopi out of corn meal, obtaining its dark grayish-blue color and unique flavor due to the use of blue corn and culinary ash. The light, thin sheets are dry to the point of brittleness, melt in the mouth, and have a delicate corn flavor.

[edit] Preparation

Blue corn, a staple grain of the Hopi, is first reduced to a fine powder by grinding it between rocks. It is then mixed with water, and burnt ashes of native bushes or juniper trees[1][2][3] for purposes of nixtamalization (nutritional modification of corn by means of lime or other alkali). The thin batter is then smeared by hand over a large flat baking stone that has been heated over a fire and coated with oil made from pounded squash, watermelon, or sunflower seeds.[4] The bread bakes almost instantaneously and is peeled from the rock in sheets so thin they are translucent.[5] Several sheets of the bread are often rolled up loosely into flattened scrolls.[6]

Piki takes several days to make from scratch. Piki is prepared by women in various phases of courtship and marriage ritual. It is eaten by the couple on the morning of the marriage ceremony.[7][8]hi

[edit] Other use of term

Piki may also refer to a password protected Wiki that is used for website maintenance without allowing input from the general public.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Linda Murray Berzok (2005). American Indian Food. Greenwood Press. Retrieved on 2007-10-15. 
  2. ^ Jennie Rose Joeand Robert S. Young (1993). Diabetes As a Disease of Civilization: The Impact of Culture Change on Indigenous People. Walter de Gruyter. Retrieved on 2007-10-15. 
  3. ^ Gale Jack and Alex Jack. Whole Grains and Grain liroducts. Amberwaves. Retrieved on 2007-10-15.
  4. ^ Daniel E. Moerman (1998). Native American ethnobotany. Timber Press. Retrieved on 2007-10-15. 
  5. ^ Carol Locust (1994). The Piki Maker: Disabled American Indians, Cultural Beliefs, and Traditional Behaviors. Native American Research and Training Center, University of Arizona. 
  6. ^ Lois Essary Jacka. "On the Mesas of the Hopis", New York Times, October 2, 1998. Retrieved on 2007-10-15. 
  7. ^ Sharon Watts (2003). Bride's Book of Etiquette. Conde Nast Publications. 
  8. ^ Robert Boissiere (1985). the Hopi way. Sunstone Press. Retrieved on 2007-10-15. 
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