Pyet DeSpain
Pyet—short for her inherited Native American name, Pyetwetmokwe—is a member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and an award-winning global private chef. She made history as the first winner of Gordon Ramsay’s Next Level Chef and was named one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 25 Private Chefs in Los Angeles. Her work is centered on uplifting Indigenous foodways within the culinary industry while advocating for a more sustainable and sovereign food system for Indigenous peoples.
Book Signings
Meet the Authors: Pyet DeSpain, Crystal Wahpepah, Dr. Ronda Brulotte, and Lois Ellen Frank, Ph.D./Walter Whitewater.
The Journey of Corn: Nixtamal to Metate with Pyet DeSpain - $65
This live cooking demonstration explores the traditional nixtamalization process, followed by a hands-on showcase of grinding corn using a metate and a sampling of Pyet's sweet corn cake. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the cultural significance, technique, and transformation of corn in Indigenous cuisine while experiencing these ancestral practices in action. Pyet DeSpain's cookbook "Rooted in Fire" can be added for an additional $30.