3 Takeaways:

• The name “Pyet” is short for Pyetwetmokwe, and she is from the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation with Mexican roots. 
• DeSpain won Season 1 of the TV reality cooking competition “Next Level Chef” hosted by Gordon Ramsey. 
• During the event, a collaboration between SRPMIC’s Tribal Library and the Strong Heart Study, DeSpain spent time with Community members and handed out 100+ autographed cookbooks.

It’s not every day that the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community gets the chance to host a world-famous celebrity chef who also just happens to be Indigenous. 

On March 25, chef Stephanie Pyetwetmokwe (known simply as Pyet) DeSpain hosted a cookbook giveaway at the SRPMIC Tribal Library to celebrate her new cookbook, Rooted in Fire. DeSpain won Season 1 of the TV reality cooking competition “Next Level Chef” hosted by Gordon Ramsey.

The 288-page cookbook details DeSpain’s journey thus far as she reclaims her identity as someone of Mexican heritage who is also an enrolled member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. She also is from the Sac and Fox Nation in Oklahoma. Her father is Mexican-American. 

Community members and cooking fans made their way to the Ske:g Himdag Ki: to meet DeSpain for the giveaway. 

“I just want to welcome everyone here tonight,” said Melissa Rave, manager of the SRPMIC Recreation Education Division. “We want to thank the Strong Heart Study for their partnership in bringing chef Pyet here to the Community.”

The Strong Heart Study is a study of heart disease and its risk factors among American Indian men and women. This was DeSpain’s first-ever trip to the SRPMIC and the first time she has visited an Arizona tribe’s homelands.  

Rave added, “I love Chef Ramsey. We’ve been paying attention to chef Pyet for a while now, and I’m excited for her to be here tonight.”

Sporting vintage 2024 turquoise Nike shoes from the N7 line, chef DeSpain greeted the guests and complimented the Community on one of its most prized accomplishments, the Community Garden. 

“Who knows Jared Butler?” DeSpain asked the crowd. Literally, the entire room raised their hands. “Really cool guy,” she said. 

She continued, “I could spend all day there in the garden just following him around. Listening to him talk about the plants, it’s really amazing to see that much passion in somebody.”

DeSpain revealed that during her trip to the garden, Butler gave her massive amounts of plants, seeds and food. “But I’m staying at the hotel casino,” admitted DeSpain. “So, I was walking through the casino with these big heads of collard greens and onions and people in the casino were looking at me like, ‘What is this girl doing?’”

She added with a slight chuckle, “All of the plants and foods he gave me are currently in water in my hotel bathtub.” 

Discussing her time on the reality television cooking show “Next Level Chef,” she explained how challenging the competition was, but she was proud to admit that she rose to the occasion, winning the grand prize in Season 1. 

On the program, DeSpain’s winning dish was a roasted rack of lamb with fingerling potatoes and prosciutto-wrapped green beans with a red wine reduction. “Gordon Ramsey looked at me like I was crazy when I told him I was going to cook a rack of lamb in 22 minutes,” she said. 

Throughout the meet-and-greet book giveaway, DeSpain detailed the drive and motivation she experiences when creating new dishes for people to enjoy. She also made sure to explain her “why.” 

“Indigenous people are so proud to be where they’re from. I know our communities live differently across Turtle Island, and I know our struggles, language and culture are different, but the thing that unites us is how proud we are of where we come from,” she said. 

She added, “I was on national television representing everybody, even you all here, just to say, ‘Hey, we exist and we matter, and our food is delicious. If you just give us a chance and opportunity, we’ll make the most of it.’”

At the conclusion of the book event, the chef mingled with Community members and posed for photos.