| rev:text
| - Yummy. Flaky. Cholesterol-y. What's not to love?
BACKGROUND
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I drive down Indian School Road all the time. And one day, weeks ago, a bright yellow sign within a routinely ignored stripmall caught my eye as I neared 9th St.
"Navajo Frybread!" it beckoned. I would then space out on the road and salivate at the thought of relinquishing myself to its siren call, but then I'd realize I actually had a destination to get to and would put my foot back on the accelerator. Until the one day Sacred Hogan *was* my destination. Boy, I feel completely lame for holding out for so long, given how close this place is. But here goes...
THE SETTING
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Located in a dinky nondescript strip mall (surprise!), the sign above the restaurant exclaims "Yaa'teeh" which is a Navajo greeting.
Upon entering the restaurant, you'll see it's an extremely casual joint. Nothing fancy here. A few booths on one side of the room. Some tables elsewhere. Gumball and toy vending machines in one corner. A newspaper rack carrying The Navajo Times in another. And in yet another, a refrigerated drink section, complete with Shasta soda (man, I haven't had Shasta since I was 8!). And of course, folks dining and totally being into the food. Plus "Kick-Ass!" hot sauce on every table. I'm liking this.
There was no bathroom from what I could see (maybe you have to go through the kitchen?). Other than that, it's order at the counter and then they'll bring you your grub. And as for what awaits at the counter...
THE MENU
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First off, a quick backstory on Navajo frybread which I rediscovered while researching the history of the hogan. In 1864, around 8,000 Navajos had their land seized and crops destroyed and were sent on "The Long Walk" to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, where they were kept in captivity for 4 years. They were given meager and sometimes rancid food commodities by the federal government, and through what they had with white flour, salt, and lard, frybread was created. From the personal accounts I've read, frybread now holds a special place for many Navajo and natives of other tribes, and is to be consumed until the earth is once again purified. Quite a heavy history for something so simple, but for what it's worth, it's pretty delicious and filling.
There are quite a few options on the menu. You could get a full Navajo taco for $7.49 or thereabouts and 1/2 taco for $5.49 or so. They have red and green chili beef tacos among many others, sweet fry bread dusted with sugar and other optional goodies, blue corn mush with cedar ash, mutton stew, and more.
I opted to just have a 1/2 red chili taco to start with since I've been making one too many gluttonous choices lately.
VERDICT?
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I liked my taco. I think part of it is the familiarity. American Indian frybread seems almost identical to *Indian* Indian frybread (the venerable puri and bhatura) so the taste of frybread is once and always familiar to me. Not sure if that's a good thing for my heart or my gut. Never mind. I already answered that in my head.
The rest of the taco was tasty, too. The red chili beef was good, although the dash of hot sauce definitely helped give it a needed kick. Diced red onions, tomatoes, and shredded lettuce helped complete the package (I left out the cheese, just in case my stomach decided to be reactionary that day).
I'm going to have to check their other specialties at some point (I'm especially curious about the blue corn mush with ash), and indulge in a sweet dessert frybread once I can fit in my work slacks again from 3 months ago. Tight pants suck.
HOW IS IT COMPARED TO FRY BREAD HOUSE?
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Do the Navajo and the O'odham have different ways of making fry bread? I haven't gone to Fry Bread House in a long time, so I'm not sure. I'll defer to Cher for the expert's opinion. But my stomach was completely fine after eating here, so maybe the Fry Bread House uses more milk powder in its recipe? Although the recipe for frybread seems pretty simple, so maybe it's the way the bread is kneaded and what it's fried in? Don't know.
FINAL WORDS
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While Sacred Hogan's frybread won't be part of my daily dietary intake, they could be a great occasional treat. A nice new addition to the neighborhood and open on Sunday to boot, which is a bonus for a city where practically 70% of non-chain restaurants take the day off.
And Yelp: Add Native American as a restaurant category!
4 stars.
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