Zea May's, a Native American inspired food truck that you need to try

By: Sarah Punderson

It’s been a riveting week for Zea May’s Kitchen food truck owner Sue Wasserkrug, as she stepped into the limelight for the first time in her new career. Less than a month into operation, Zea May's landed a bit of free publicity many other food trucks would be salivating over. Wasserkrug’s brand new job and shiny set of wheels intersected with the British Food Network recently as she was filmed for a segment of Andy Bates’ American Street Feast. 

Zea May's Kitchen. Photographer: Ellie Seif.

 

I had mentioned Wasserkrug on Farm Office a few week’s ago, and as promised here is the complete interview, taken from the past several weeks I’ve worked with her. 

 

And so it began, a former lawyer (Wasserkrug) and a former collegiate athletics
administrator (me), embarking on a new journey-no legal pads or box scores needed. Wasserkrug bought her truck in the fall. The name is a play on the scientific name for corn (maize) - Zea Mays. The truck had its unofficial opening on May 5^th at Mt. Airy Day in Philadelphia, where Wasserkrug resides with her husband David. A friendly, tree-lined neighborhood, Mt. Airy is also home to Weaver’s Way Co-op, a food cooperative on which Wasserkrug sits on the board of directors. It seems only fitting that she would get her wheels spinning in such an independent, free-thinking neighborhood.

Wasserkrug’s vision began with an idea for a restaurant, along with an educational non-profit component about Native American culture. Her interest in Native American culture and food began as an undergraduate student at Oberlin College in Ohio, where she spent an academic term at the University of Arizona studying the topic. Wasserkrug graduated from Oberlin with a B.A. in cultural anthropology, and went on to earn two M.A. degrees from the University of Arizona- in journalism and medical anthropology, respectively.

Her studies, however, were far from over. Wasserkrug began law school at the University of Iowa. While there, she spent a summer on a Sioux Indian reservation, working in the legal department. With the Sioux, she had a life-changing moment, while riding in the back of a pickup truck what could only be called a bison safari, with a local guide.

“Seeing the bison up close on the reservation, it was just beautiful and I remember that moment vividly,” Wasserkrug said.

Back in Iowa, the burgeoning law student wrote a column in the alternative weekly newspaper in which she had a series called ‘The Zen of Food’. For that series, her penname was Zoya Cilantro. Cilantro penned about different culinary experiences like the joy of picking blueberries and making a cobbler or the trying out the local beets.

The freedom to write about her passion for food and her experience preparing local ingredients was just a hobby for Wasserkrug, but that would all change several years later.

In 1999, Wasserkrug moved with her husband to Philadelphia. She practiced law in the non-profit sector for 12 years, keeping her passion for cooking Native American cuisine for after-work hours. It was time for a change.

“Some people can’t stand change, but I can’t stand not changing,” said Wasserkrug.

She considered opening a restaurant, but a food truck seemed like a safer bet.

Wasserkrug lined up a few food trucks to look at, and fell in love with the first one she saw. 

“My husband said: you can’t buy the first one you see!” Wasserkrug lamented. “So I looked at a few more and then went back and bought that first one,” she said.   

The truck she bought used to be Far from Home Café, which Philadelphians will fondly remember sold empanadas and burgers.  At Love Park recently, while serving the lunch crowd, a gentleman reminisced about the longest line he ever saw for a food truck- Far from Home. 

“The line was around the park,” he said. “People didn’t care if they had to wait 45 minutes for empanadas, it was worth it.”

Zea May’s Kitchen hopes it can hold on to that lucky streak with the food-loving locals. And Wasserkrug doesn’t mind working hard to achieve that goal.

Starting a small business is no joke as any entrepreneur will tell you and going it alone makes things doubly challenging. With no business partner, Wasserkrug enjoys some parts of the job more than others.

“Cooking and being creative, coming up with new recipes, I love that,” Wasserkrug said. “But emptying the fryer oil- just add that to the list of one more thing I can do.”

Finding a commercial kitchen was another challenge for Wasserkrug, as she needed a place to create her Native American culinary feats. She eventually found a kitchen commissary in Mt. Airy that would suit her just fine- a shared space with two other food trucks, Pitruco Pizza and Strada Pasta.

“The guys (in the commissary) have been really helpful and great resources,” said Wasserkrug.

 

I met Wasserkrug in the kitchen one weekday morning to make empanadas. She has three different types right now- a savory mushroom, sweet potato and strawberries and cream and more recipes in the works. We were prepping for the Mt. Airy farmer’s market, where the British Food Network came to film her. Being one of only a handful of food trucks in the United States doing anything Native American related, Zea May’s has already been drawing attention.

“This idea is bigger than the truck, it’s about educating people,” Wasserkrug said.

It was just another day at the office for Wasserkrug when the film crew did show up, and Mt. Airy came out to support Zea May’s, including an Indian chief, much to the delight of Wasserkrug.

Sue Wasserkrug, owner of Zea May's Kitchen (center). Photographer: Ellie Seif.

The timing was right for Wasserkrug to join the food truck fray, as both the New York Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote stories about the business recently. The industry is booming with atypical food trucks in cities like Portland, Austin, New York City and Los Angeles. In L.A., Aunties Fry Bread is one of the few Native American inspired trucks around.

For would-be food truckers, Wasserkrug advises potential start-ups to join the Philadelphia Mobile Food Association (PMFA), an industry association that offers an abundance of resources. She also advises any potential new food truckers not to go it alone, having friends and family as part of the business eases the burden.

Taking it day by day, Wasserkrug is gearing up for her next big event, Night Market Philadelphia. Night Market, run by The Food Trust, celebrates the city’s ethnic restaurants and gourmet food trucks with a half mile of eats, all less than five dollars (according to nightmarketphilly.com). The first one of the year is on Thursday (5/24) in Northern Liberties from 7-11 p.m. It should be a chaotic night of fun for Wasserkrug, as she deliberates how much food to bring. Right now she’s thinking empanadas and salads- and you can even get a free pint of beer from Yards.

For Zea May’s complete schedule, check out the Facebook or Twitter pages. And do yourself a favor this summer and grab a bison hot dog before you’re the last meat-eating hipster to bite into one.