On a sweltering July afternoon in Echo Park, Miranda Due approached a table topped with a trio of flavored syrups and a spread of toppings: diced pickles, Kool-aid powder and gummy bears. Behind it, Dria Yellowhair pulled a pre-filled cup of crushed ice from a cooler, and asked Due what flavor she wanted. Upon requesting blueberry, Yellowhair doused the ice with fluorescent blue syrup and loaded the treat with a generous serving of each fixing.
This was Due’s first piccadilly, a delicacy whose origins are debated, but can be traced to either the Navajo , the Tohono O’odham Reservation, or the Hopi village Moenkopi . Wherever they came from, they exploded in popularity on the Navajo reservation around 2018. Yellowhair, who is Diné — the word Navajo people use to identify themselves — grew up in Downey, but has family on the reservation and visits frequently.
She was introducing the sweet treat to visitors at a new Indigenous community center and exhibition space called the Chapter House. After taking a bite, Due contemplated the flavor. “It’s sweet, and a little bit sour, and salty from the pickles,” she said.
“It’s a nice combination of all the flavors. It’s fantastic.” Due, 31, is Cherokee and a member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma.
The nonprofit worker, who lived in Los Angeles for five years before moving to Tulsa, couldn’t miss an opportunity to check out the Chapter House on her latest visit to California. The teal building is located on a no.