Meals: Each family was
allowed a small fire in their area, to prepare meals, inside the
longhouse. There was plenty to eat. Without leaving the longhouse to
restock, a family could dine, and even invite guests into their
area, for weeks, without running out of food.
Their cooking was varied and clever. They were
good cooks. They used whale or fish or salmon oil much as we would
use butter and salad oil. They broiled some of food over low fires.
They baked and steamed and boiled their food
without using any pots or pans. Pretty neat trick! To do this, first
they heated rocks in the fire. When the rocks were hot, they were
carefully lifted with utensils and dropped into a thick wooden cedar
box or a thickly woven cattail basket full of water. When the rocks
cooled, they lifted them out and replaced them with hot rocks. They
kept this up until the water boiled.
