Potlach in the Athabascan Village of Nenana, Alaska

The Gift of the Moose or Moose Nose Soup

Young moose recently chased away by mom spends the night outside my living room window.

 

Here I am typing on the moose blog and who should join me but a nice little Bullwinkle. One day this young one will grow upwards of 1500 lbs, especially here in Homer where the winters are a little easier on the moose. My freezer is moose poor and this little guy makes me think of delicious things like moose nose soup.

 My husband is an Athabascan Native from the Interior of Alaska and I got turned on to Moose Nose Soup at a Pot latch. This delicious concoction is a staple at all pot latches and is the last thing brought in the hall where the food is served at the pot latch. Carried in by strong young native bucks in huge 50-70 gallon pots, this delicious soup has been cooking all day long outdoors on a wooden fire. The men stand around the pots with a hand carved cooking paddle each one taking a turn stirring the soup. First the large chunks of moose meat with bone pieces are put in the enormous pots filled with spring water and we all know the bone has so much flavor. Chunks the size of your fist that will be cut down later are brought to a boil, after a few hours the broth starts to brown up and the heady smell of the stock mingles in the nostrils with the smell of spruce fire. Here stories are told, memories of other pot latch cooking fires are shared and the cooks who stir the pot knowing that their fare will soon be greeted with much applause when they enter the great hall are steadfast in their duties.

 Somewhere else in the village a large group of women are busy chopping up potatoes, onions, carrots, celery which will be added soon to the soup. Still in another cabin or maybe in the large kitchen at the hall moose nose cartilage is boiling in a large pot all day long this nose will boil and boil, water that evaporates is replaced over and over. This is the magic of the soup this moose nose.

 

Finally after hours the meat is removed from the broth and cut up into bit sized pieces and replaced in the soup. Boiling at a high rate the once full pots are now only half full the broth now hearty and delicious. In large white 5 gallon buckets the vegetables arrive, and are added to the pots of boiling meat and broth they are cooked for an additional hour and seasoned with salt and pepper.

 

Meanwhile other villagers have been at home making food to bring to the pot latch as well. The hall has been set up by the young boys the chairs have been set up into a large ring along the outter walls of the hall maybe 100 chairs or more and then inside that ring of chairs another ring is set up with a 3 foot space separating the two rings, the second ring of chairs faces the first ring.  Between the chairs white freezer paper is rolled out on the floor, a type of table top, on this paper plates and plastic bowls and dinnerware and coffee cups are placed. One setting for each chair all the way around the great hall.  In the kitchen the moose nose is boiling still and in the hall the people have started to arrive. In the very center of the hall and in the center of the ring of chairs 3 long tables are set up. Here is where all the food others have made will be placed. One tribal matriarch or another will separate the food into courses, cakes and cupcakes and deserts on one end, goulash, salads, starches, rice and gravy, and fish at the other. With 200 or more people to feed this is an orchestration unlike any other with all the confusion that you would imagine would take place this usually goes off without a hitch. Finally all the people are settled into their chairs and the chief gives a speech or a greeting. Everyone is quiet now and waiting for one thing. The double doors to the great hall are thrown open a gruff oh ha is muffled and from the back of a pickup truck that has been backed up to the front of the steps of the hall entrance, carried by strong young warriors comes the huge pots of soup. Still bubbling the people cheer and applaud the soup it is a welcome guest of honor. The soup pots are placed in their spot at the top of the table on pieces of plywood to protect the floors from the heat. The soup paddle has come along with the soup because now the important part has come.

In the kitchen the cartilage pieces are removed from the pot of boiling water. This is the thickener for the soup. It is carried to the soup pot and added in while being stirred with the paddle. Instantly the soup thickens it is truly an incredible thing to see. Not only does it thicken the soup but the it adds something wonderful to the flavor of it too.  Now the young unmarried men and women begin to serve the soup and everyone is eager to get their bowl full. They serve the soup around the circle elders first of course and bowl after bowl smile after smile it is served around the circle left and right. My mouth waters just telling you about it. Soon the soup is followed by pilot bread or fry bread and then the meal from the table is served course by course. After a delicious feed the people take a break, about an hour or so while the chairs are put away and the food stuff cleared away, soon native singing will take place in the hall with a gentle breeze wafting through. Music, centuries old clings to the breeze and is carried about the hall. It will bring tears to your eyes and make your heart swell. It is old, it is real and it is how it should be. I wish all people could experience a pot latch, if you ever get a chance, go!