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.