Traditional Food: Sharing Experiences From The Field
Traditional Food: Sharing Experiences From The Field
Traditional Food: Sharing Experiences From The Field
Traditional Food
Sharing Experiences from the Field
Eivind Falk and Seong-Yong Park Editors-in-Chief
Traditional Food
Sharing Experiences from the Field
Eivind Falk and Seong-Yong Park Editors-in-Chief
LIVING HERITAGE SERIES
Traditional Food
Sharing Experiences from the Field
Eivind Falk and Seong-Yong Park Editors-in-Chief
Copyright © 2019 ICHCAP and #Heritage Alive. All rights reserved.
Printed in the Republic of Korea
Published by
ICHCAP, 95 Seohak-Ro, Wansan-Gu, Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do 55101 Republic of Korea
#Heritage Alive c/o Eivind Falk: [email protected]
All images copyright by the contributing authors unless otherwise indicated.
The views expressed in the articles presemted are those of the authors and do not represent
the views of the editors, the editorial board, advisory committee, UNESCO, ICHCAP, or Heritage Alive.
ISBN 979-11-962602-8-6
ContEntS
Foreword | 007
KEUM Gi Hyung
Introduction | 011
Eivind Falk
Epilogue | 248
Dr. Seong-Yong Park
006 Foreword
KEUM Gi Hyung 007
Foreword
KEUM Gi Hyung
Director-General, ICHCAP
Avant-propos
KEUM Gi Hyung
Director-General, ICHCAP
Introduction
Eivind Falk
Norwegian Crafts Institute and #HeritageAlive
012 Introduction
widely available in their home country for decades. North Korean culinary
heritage was enriched and enlivened by the immigrant community who
cooked and shared it while the culinary knowledge was disappearing in
their homeland. I believe most of us have had the strong experience of
tasting something that sends us back in time, giving us strong memories
and feelings. Food and meals are such an integrated part of us and our
identity. Not just with eating and smelling the food but also in preparing
and experience the whole context. This book clearly demonstrates that the
old German saying Man ist, was Man isst make sense in several ways.
Closing
When we decided to make a publication dedicated to traditional food, we
expected about ten contributions. Nevertheless the interest in the topic
turned out to be overwhelming, and we received sixteen wonderful articles
that illustrate the diversity of traditional food around the world. I would
like to thank the #Heritage Alive board that has worked hard preparing
the articles for this publication. The board has several members, but In
particular I would like to thank my hard-working members Emily Drani,
Antoine Gauthier, and Michael Peterson. Their contribution has been
crucial to the result. Let me also direct a special thanks to ICHCAP. Their
dedication of resources to this project were necessary for the making it
possible. This second collaboration is another brilliant example of how
NGOs and Category 2 Centers can join forces to reach new goals. It has
been a pleasure.
I wish you a wonderful journey exploring the world of traditional food.
Bon appetite!
016 Introduction
homme n’aurait pu ingurgiter sans mourir. Avec une épée pressée contre
son cou, Snegle-Halle mangea jusqu'à ce qu'il ne puisse plus avaler goutte.
C'est alors qu'il s'écria : « Tue-moi, ô roi, mais pas avec du porridge ! ». Ces
paroles plurent au roi, qui pardonna immédiatement le poète en le laissant
vivre. Le destin de Snegle-Halles témoigne de la façon dont un commentaire
sinistre peut coûter la vie, voire encore comment une bonne réponse peut
la sauver ! Dans les contes de fées norvégiens, la nourriture joue un rôle
important ; elle est souvent utilisée par le héros intelligent, comme dans
l'histoire du gruau. Ces récits et contes de fées se transmettent de génération
en génération et ne sont absolument pas près de disparaître, tout comme la
soupe ukrainienne borch. Dans notre lutte quotidienne pour la sauvegarde,
il est important de ne pas oublier que de nombreux éléments du PCI se
portent bien et qu’ils n’ont pas besoin de plan de sauvegarde pour survivre
car ils sont dynamiques et vivants. « Si ce n’est pas cassé, ne le réparez pas
», disent-ils aux États-Unis. Le borch en est un bon exemple. En dépit de la
mondialisation et de l'essor du fast-food, il a su maintenir sa place dans la
vie de l’Ukraine moderne. Le borch traditionnel est légué d’une génération à
l’autre dans l’ensemble des régions de l'Ukraine et à travers tous les groupes
sociaux.
Parmi les autres efforts de sauvegarde figurent des festivals parrainés par
des ONG et par le gouvernement, tels que le Festival de nourriture de rue,
tenu chaque année, ou le Festival de la rose damascène, qui présentent des
pratiques traditionnelles, des spectacles de même que la gastronomie des
cultivateurs de roses damascènes. Cela est mis en lumière dans l’article
rédigé par le Syria Trust Development.
ChAPtER
01
A Study of Socio-Cultural
Meanings of Pebaek Food in Korea
A Case Study in the Area of Jeonju
Semina Oh
Research Professor
Research Center for Intangible Heritage and Information, Korea
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea grants funded
by the Korean Government [grant number NRF-2017S1A5B8057729]
022 Chapter 1 A Study of Socio-Cultural Meanings of Pebaek Food in Korea
Pebaek Food
Pebaek was one of the important ritual procedures of a traditional wedding
ceremony. The ritual was performed at the groom’s house after the bride
finished the wedding ceremony at her house. Pebaek was to introduce
herself properly to her new in-laws and, her first greetings were to the in-
law parents and relatives. The bride put dates, chestnuts, liquors, snacks, and
fruits prepared by her family on the table and introduced herself by bowing
to her in-law parents and other elderly family members. The food prepared
for this occasion was called pebaek food.
Pebaek food existed to honor the bride’s in-laws. It was important
because it was full of symbolic meaning and Confucius decorum. The
process of pebaek involved the bride, her mother, and her female relatives
carefully arranging and preparing the food for the bride’s new in-laws as it
was a major occasion. The in-laws in attendance would judge the quality of
food and cooking skills of the bride and her mother.
Pebaek food prepared with sincerity and politeness should be formal
The pebaek food in the 1970s
© Hyi-yeong Eun and culturally clean. People in the old days carefully observed the decorum
regarding the pebaek ritual and its preparation on the basis of Confucius
teaching of Ye or etiquette. In this article, pebaek food and rituals are
introduced, and we look into their socio-cultural meanings and values that
have been transmitted into modern society. For this study, I selected the
Jeonju area as my fieldwork place for several reasons: first, pebaek food of
Jeonju has been transmitted across generations and successfully is placed as
a living culture, but within a realm of commercialism; second, pebaek food
of Jeonju is considered one of the finest; third, and to be directly speaking, I
live in Jeonju so that I can meet my informants easily.
The culture of eating fresh food along with the aesthetics in preparation
has upgraded the culture of pebaek food in Jeonju. The residents of Jeonju
have contributed richly to the beautifully decorated pebaek food offerings
with a local flavor, and the efforts of preparing these dishes stand out from
other regions. While pebaek food of Jeonju shows differences depending on
024 Chapter 1 A Study of Socio-Cultural Meanings of Pebaek Food in Korea
❶ ❷
❸ ❹
emphasized this through the ritual food that resembled and characterized
respect and continuing the patriarchal family.
However, the pebaek food was always prepared by the women of the
bride’s family only. The bride, her mother, and female relatives prepared the
dates, chestnuts, meat, and liquor on the table. The pebaek food offerings
were served with meat such as beef, chicken, or other meats to pay respect
to the groom’s ancestors, and the chestnuts and dates symbolized the
prosperity of his lineage. Pebaek food was considered a reflection of the
economic condition of the bride’s family. Depending on what was laid out
on the table for pebaek many could judge the economic status of the bride
along with her mother’s skills in cooking. As a saying goes, “all daughters
reflect their mother’s cooking skills.” Pebaek was thus a ritual to judge the
bride’s family status and skills.
In the past, pebaek meals were prepared in the house. My mother was very
good at cooking. Especially her pebaek dishes were very good. My mother
and I would cook and prepare everything for the family and relatives. I am
one of eleven siblings. I was always busy during wedding days. Many would
come to us with pebaek food and my mother always made food with it.
It could be made into bulgogi or with some type of jerky. There were
instances of chicken instead of beef. Chickens were raised for time signal
when people have no clocks. It means that they should be a diligent and
faithful couple, so that they could establish a prosperous and harmonious
household. The second essential element was a dish of chestnuts and dates
that symbolicly refer to the family’s fertility and succession. Liquor and
various rice cakes such as in-jol-mi, hangwa, yugwa, and yakgwa were also
present.
An informant from the North Jeolla Province called Lady A explained
regional variations in general and a localized meaning of the serving style in
pebaek.
In Seoul and Gyeonggi province, meat was cooked during the winter times
and made into jerkies in the summer times. This was because meat jerkies
would not go bad in the summer time. In the Jellado province chicken
would be boiled in pebaek ceremonies. If both of the in-laws were alive,
they would be served two chicken dishes. If only one of the parent was alive
then just one chicken dish. In the winter times, chicken would be boiled and
would be decorated by squid and octopus parts to make it into a phoenix
like creature.
The chestnut and date dishes are meant for the prosperity of the offspring,
the chicken is a meat dish for your mother-in-law, meaning that much of
the filial piety will be done by serving her meat dishes in the future.
Jerky food is for your mother-in-law, often times the mother's skirts are
wide. It is a wish of the bride that her mother-in-law will treat her with a
wide heart like her skirt.
Beef and chicken are food for the mother in-law. The bride expresses her
willingness to achieve filial piety in the future by giving the meat side dish
to the mother-in-law, who has sacrificed for the family since she married
her husband. Often the mother-in-law touches the jerky in response. This
act of touching symbolizes the mother-in-law’s intentions of protecting
her daughter-in-law with a wide heart like the mother's skirt. The mother-
in-law often explains to the groom and the bride the spirit of filial piety,
conjugal relationship, and kinship commitment(Lee, 2006). The mother-
in-law gives instructions on a hanging scroll or documents containing how
to live properly. Jewelry that has passed down within the family would be
given to the bride at some point (Nam, Sang-Min 2003: 110-111). Lastly, the
groom and the bride bow to the groom’s parents accompanied by a series of
bows to the groom’s other relatives.
Marriage was a rite of passage to become an adult and, therefore,
considered the most important ceremony in a person's life. The young
couple was given roles and responsibilities as social adults through marriage.
The importance of the bond of marriage was manifested through rituals
and metaphorical symbolism of the food offerings, which strengthened the
Semina Oh 029
4) Virtue of Woman
It is well recognized that women of Jeonju have fine culinary skills. Here are
three examples of Jeonju women at their best. The first is the delicate and
refined manner of women in preparing food; the second is the best practices
of fermentation requiring considerable efforts and patience, for instance,
making salted fish, kimchi, and many other pickled food; and the third is the
cooperation and mutual commitment among women in response to the lack
of resources and support under the male-dominant society. Collective work
and sharing labor teams are always put into operation for big ceremonies
and events for families, kin, and villagers. The wedding ceremony used to
be one occasion in which women’s cooperative spirit could be well revealed.
Lots of hands were needed for preparing the ceremonies, in particular
food and services. Pebaek food was carefully prepared because it was
a symbol of competency of the bride’s side women. The most adequate
woman for preparing pebaek food was selected within the women’s circle.
The best woman to qualify in making pebaek food not only needed to
have the culinary skillset but also grace and luck. The woman who had the
Semina Oh 031
characteristics of having been blessed with luck and grace was often the one
preparing pebaek food. Here, the meaning of being blessed with luck would
mean that she had many offspring, without financial or other crisis and
maintained the overall family by being a model daughter-in-law, wife, and
mother.
The pebaek ritual is still a vital part of the wedding ceremony as the
occasion is meant to deliver happiness and prosperity for the bride and
groom. Many people seek out to do their pebaek food in the Jeonju style
since it is believed that Jeonju pebaek food is prepared with traditional
delicacy and virtue of women. Jeonju pebaek food is thus known to be a
precious gift for the newlyweds today.
Résumé
Jadis, la nourriture pebaek était préparée chez la famille de la mariée.
La montée de l’industrialisation, l’amélioration du niveau de vie et
l’augmentation des possibilités d’emploi des femmes ont influencé la
commercialisation de la tradition de la nourriture pebaek. Puisque que les
femmes sont davantage occupées à travailler à l’extérieur de la maison que
par le passé, elles ont aujourd’hui tendance à faire appel à des spécialistes
qui peuvent préparer la nourriture rituelle de manière professionnelle.
Des produits commercialisés d’aliments pebaek sont également vendus sur
les marchés. En raison de cette tendance, les spécialistes de la nourriture
pebaek à Jeonju ont pu développer des affaires florissantes. Auparavant, la
nourriture pebaek était plutôt modeste; elle utilisait certains ingrédients
tels que les dattes, la viande et les châtaignes. Depuis la commercialisation,
les décorations artistiques et l’ampleur des plats ont explosé afin d’attirer
l’attention du client. Les différents plats compris dans les préparations
pebaek modernes sont le bœuf séché, les plats à base de légumes de neuf
services, les gâteaux de riz, les gâteaux au miel, les dattes, les châtaignes
frites avec des œufs, les gâteaux de riz aux fleurs, le kaki séché, les raviolis,
les bouchées de calmars ou de poulpes, les décorations florales et les tires
dures blanches.
La nourriture pebaek commercialisée devient un problème social dans
la mesure où elle met l›accent sur l’apparence des plats. Certaines entreprises
sont décorées avec des fleurs artificielles, des papiers colorés voire même des
épingles ornées de bijoux. Au fur et à mesure que ces exemples se répètent,
le symbolisme et la signification d’une nourriture préparée avec grâce et
bénédiction sont réduits au rang de produits cosmétiques commercialisés.
Nous assistons de plus à un nouveau phénomène en croissance selon lequel
les nouveaux couples hésitent à pratiquer les cérémonies de pebaek lors
des mariages. Par conséquent, il est nécessaire que nous reconsidérions de
manière approfondie les nouvelles formes de nourriture et de rituels pebaek
qui sont au bord de la distorsion ou du mercantilisme.
Semina Oh 033
Bibliography
Cho, Hu-Jong. (1996). Korea’s Traditional Festive Days Food. Journal of the
Korean Society of Food Culture 11(4). Korean Society of Food Culture.
Cho, Sook-Jeong. (2016). Variety, Usage and Changes of Pickled Food in
Jeonju. Studies of Jeonju 10.
Kim, Hae-In. (2016). The Marriage of Chosun Dynasty and its Characteristics.
Women and History 25.
Hahm, Hanhee. (2015). Jeonju Spirit through Local Culture. Studies of Jeonju
9. Jeonju History Museum, pp. 188~192.
Han, Jae-Sook, et al. (2003). Recognition of Traditional Korean Pebaek Food
and its Prospects and Visions (II): Concentrating on the Daegu Region.
Journal of the East Asian Food Society 13(5), East Asian Food Society.
Jeong, Hye-Gyung, et al. (1996). Diverse Theoretical Perspectives and
Research Themes of Food Cultures. Food and Nutrition Information.
Food and Nutrition Asia Research Center.
Jeonju City. (2011). Delightful Jeonju’s Culinary Story. Jeonju: Jeonju City.
Lee, Hyo-Ji. (1998). Culture of Korean Culinary, Seoul: Singwang.
Lee, Ok-Nam. (2006). A Study on the Modernization Plan of the Pebaek Food:
Focusing on the Regional Difference of Pebaek Food. Kyonggi
University Master’s Thesis.
Nam, Sang-Min 2003. Korean Traditional Marriages. Yehak.
National Folk Museum. Korean Life Ritual Encyclopedia. ‘Marriage.’ http://
folkency.nfm.go.kr/kr/topic/detail/532 connected date, 01.25.2018.
Seo, Hye-Gyung. (2002). Park Bok Ja ‹s Pebaek Food in Jeonju. Journal of the
Korean Society of Food Culture 17(4). Korean Society of Food Culture.
034 Chapter 1 A Study of Socio-Cultural Meanings of Pebaek Food in Korea
Semina Oh 035
ChAPtER
02
Alpine Communities and their
Food heritage as Intangible Cultural heritage
Transnational Participatory Fieldwork
The Tome has been a traditional family cheese in the Massif des Bauges
since at least the seventeenth century. During the twentieth century,
cheese makers in the area started to produce the more profitable
Emmental and slowly abandoned other typical cheeses such as
Chevrotin, Gruyere, and the Tome. In 1968, Beaufort cheese received
the PDO certification. This example encouraged producers from the
Massif des Bauges area to organize themselves. Emmental was suffering
from the competition coming from Beaufort, so they decided to focus
on the Tome, whose production required a more limited quantity of
milk, and which was unique to the area and profoundly linked to the
traditional practice of transhumance to high pastures and haymaking
during the summer.
In 1972, the “Tome des Bauges” brand was registered. In 1986, the
SITOB (Syndicat Interprofessionnel de la Tome des Bauges) was formed
with the goal to promote the Tome and obtain a Controlled Designation
of Origin (CDO). The process to develop product specifications was
not easy, as different points of view emerged regarding the actual area
of production and the admitted cattle breeds. Eventually, a compromise
among producers, the SITOB and the National Institute of the
Designation of Origin (INAO) was made, and the CDO was obtained in
2002.
Valentina Lapiccirella Zingari 045
Since 2017, the Tome has also benefitted from the UE-sanctioned
PDO designation. (…) Since 2008, Tome producers have engaged
with practices aimed at protecting the biodiversity of thanks pastures
thanks to the initiative ‘Prairies Fleuries’ (Flowering Prairies) under
the European-funded agri-environment scheme (art. 39 of the EC
Regulation 1698/2005 ‘Support for Rural Development’) that supports
the conservation, improvement and management of high floristic
diversity of grasslands with positive effects on animal health, milk
quality and, consequently, cheese taste, but also landscape quality.
The Parc Naturel Régional du Massif des Bauges (PNRMB) has since
2010 promoted the national ‘prairies fleuries’ initiative, which rewards
farmers whose meadows and pastures have the best agro-environmental
balance.
In 1995, the creation of the Massif des Bauges Regional Nature Park
enabled the territory to be included in a sustainable development
perspective and to maintain the balance between agricultural,
economic, tourist and patrimonial vocation. From the early 2000s until
today, a dozen producers of aromatic and medicinal plants (PAM) have
settled in the territory. Herbal teas, liqueurs, appetizers, syrups, balms
and jams, produced locally, are now in the market. (ITC 2019)
Résumé
De 1990 à 2010, j'ai étudié les communautés alpines et leurs stratégies face
à un monde en mutation. Dans une perspective historique, mes travaux sur
le terrain ont été orientés vers la constitution de souvenirs (ou de contenus
mémoriels) et la façon dont ceux-ci ont fonctionné en tant que stratégies de
résistance face aux nombreuses incertitudes du futur. L'étude de l'histoire
locale de certaines communautés alpines françaises a révélé cette gamme
vaste et complexe de solutions combinant nature et saisons, telles que la
transhumance estivale, les migrations hivernales, les pratiques en matière
d'alimentation, de conservation de légumes et de fruits, ainsi que plusieurs
compétences et pratiques créatives d'adaptation. Lors de plusieurs travaux
ethnographiques sur le terrain en 2007 en Savoie, une région alpine à la
frontière franco-italienne, j'ai entendu pour la première fois les termes de la
Convention UNESCO sur le PCI dans les déclarations de certains maires et
administrateurs de petites municipalités. Ils demandaient aux institutions
culturelles et aux musées nationaux le droit de reconnaître leur propre
patrimoine en tant qu'outil politique dans le processus de décolonisation
culturelle des Alpes. Au cours des réunions publiques, les participants, qui
ont commencé par écouter la définition du patrimoine proposée par le PCI,
se sont tournés vers une nouvelle perspective : le rêve ancien d’un processus
transnational et intersectoriel, la reconnexion des communautés alpines et le
partage des pratiques, des traditions et des valeurs communes.
Les communautés alpines sont des acteurs puissants et sophistiqués en
matière de gestion des ressources naturelles, transmettant les connaissances
et les valeurs traditionnelles par le biais de systèmes et de modes de vie
complexes associant forêts, pâturages, jardinage, vergers, chasse et cueillette.
Ils ont bâti leurs moyens de subsistance sur des systèmes agro-sylvo-
pastoraux résilients et sur des solutions de gestion adaptatives en tenant
compte des nombreux facteurs limitants propres aux hautes terres, tels que
les pentes, les sols minces, les risques naturels, les variations climatiques
quotidiennes et saisonnières, et souvent les distances sur des routes
inconfortables et dangereuses. Chaque communauté a fondé sa propre
stratégie de subsistance sur la solidarité, le partage des forces de travail et
la migration saisonnière, que ce soit dans les hautes prairies et pâturages
ou dans les basses terres, et ce, pour échanger des biens et des services dans
un ensemble ouvert et dynamique de modèles et de processus sociaux,
économiques et démographiques.
Valentina Lapiccirella Zingari 053
Bibliography
De Certeau, M. (1990). L’invention du quotidien, I, Arts de faire, Gallimard,
Paris ; Edizione italiana 2001, L’invenzione del quotidiano, Edizioni
Lavoro;
John W. Cole, Eric R. Wolf, The Hidden Frontier: Ecology and Ethnicity in
an Alpine Valley, New York: Academic Press;
Netting, R. (1981). Balancing on an Alp. Ecological changes and continuity
in a Swiss mountain community; Cambridge University Press;
Paracchini M.L., Zingari P.C., Blasi C. Eds. 2018. Reconnecting Natural
and Cultural Capital. Contributions from Science and Policy. Office of
the Publications of the European Union.
Viazzo P.P. (2009). Upland Communities: Environment, Population and
Social Structure in the Alps since the Sixteenth Century. Cambridge
University Press.
Zingari V. (2007). Percorsi antropologici nelle terre di frontiera, L’Alpe n.16,
Priuli e Verlucca editori, pp.48-55.
Zingari Lapiccirella V. (2006). Une rencontre en mémoire, L’Alpe 31,
numéro spécial Maurienne, éditions Glenat, Musée Dauphinois, pp. 56-
66. Zingari Lapiccirella, V., 2007, Les traces d’une présence, catalogue
de l’exposition « Eugénie Goldstern, Juive et ethnologue dans l’Europe
de deux guerres », Musée Dauphinois, Musée Savoisien, mai 2007, pp.
37-44 ;
Alpine Space Alpfoodway. (2019). Alpine Food Heritage Charter. [online]
Available at: https://www.alpfoodway.eu/paper/english [Accessed 6 Apr.
2018].
Convention on Biological Diversity. (1992). [ebook] Available at: http://
www.cbd.int/convention/text/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].
European Commission, (2014). Regulation No 665/2014 of 11 March 2014
supplementing Regulation No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament
and of the Council with regard to conditions of use of the optional
quality term ‘mountain product’ http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/
en/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32014R0665
Fao.org. (2019). Background | Globally Important Agricultural Heritage
Systems (GIAHS) | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations | GIAHS | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations. [online] Available at: http://www.fao.org/giahs/background/
en/ [Accessed 12 Mar. 2018].
054 Chapter 2 Alpine Communities and their Food Heritage as Intangible Cultural Heritage
ChAPtER
03
Bread time Stories
Renegotiating Living Traditions
Andrea Sieber
Researcher, Alps-Adria-University Klagenfurt and the platform “Citizen Science”
056 Chapter 3 Bread Time Stories
sharing of stories also gave insight into the region’s cultural memory. The
intergenerational dialogue touched upon traditional methods of passing
on knowledge, the economic as well as social dimension of making bread,
and the close connection to religious values within the community. The
following quotes were taken from the interviews and serve to illustrate the
just-mentioned dimensions related to the safeguarding of the element.
Economic Dimension
Not only the method of knowledge transfer but also the economic
significance of the practice of making bread underwent change in the
community. Pupils noted that the interviewees repeatedly mentioned the
economic importance of Lesachtaler Bread.
For Rosemarie Unterguggenberger (74 years old), for instance, selling
homemade bread deeply affected her livelihood since it guaranteed financial
independence: “Thanks to selling my bread, I was always able to make a
living. I would always spend the mornings working and producing bread.
And in the afternoon, I would work on the field. I never had to work
elsewhere.”
The interviews show that making bread often was an economic
The joy of one´s one bread © Andrea Sieber necessity. It allowed the interviewees not only to earn money by selling
Andrea Sieber 061
of the brand for local tourism, in particular regarding slow food travel
initiatives.
Social Dimension
In addition to the economic significance, the practice has also greatly
impacted the community’s social cohesion. During the interviews, the pupils
learned how community members supported each other in various tasks,
such as grain threshing, and how they used to share their own bread with
neighbors when they had run out of it. Today, bread still plays an important
role within the family, as well as for tourism in the valley. For example,
homemade bread is often given to guests and visitors as a gift and a form of
courtesy: “When my guests leave, I give them a loaf of bread. They like that
very much. For birthdays, I always send a loaf of bread and bacon. People
Sweaty experience: Bread dough kneading enjoy that a lot.” Monika Soukopp (55 years old).
in the baking trough © Andrea Sieber
Andrea Sieber 063
Résumé
Les traditions vivantes n'existent pas par magie : elles sont façonnées
par la transformation, les nouveaux développements, les reprises et les
relances. Le projet “BrotZeit” [le temps du pain] montre que le dialogue
intergénérationnel facilite la renégociation d'une tradition vivante dans la
vallée autrichienne de Lesach. En tant que partie intégrante de la vallée, la
pratique traditionnelle de la panification dépasse la dimension pratique :
elle met en relation les habitants de l’intérieur et de l’extérieur de la vallée,
façonnant ainsi l’identité culturelle de la communauté.
Le projet de recherche collaborative « BrotZeit » a impliqué des acteurs
de diverses institutions locales dans un dialogue intergénérationnel. Les
élèves de la région ont eu l’occasion d’interviewer des porteurs de tradition,
de visiter des boulangeries et des moulins, de confectionner leur propre
pain et de développer de nouvelles approches de la pratique à travers des
projets créatifs. L'échange intergénérationnel via des entretiens et des
témoignages oraux constituait le cœur du projet. Les jeunes étudiants ont
posé aux résidents locaux des questions préparées en coopération avec des
chercheurs de l'université de Klagenfurt. Les entretiens ont permis de mieux
comprendre la pratique du pain, mais aussi les changements sociétaux et
les modes de vie ancestraux : des boulangers de la génération des grands-
parents et des arrière-grands-parents ont partagé leurs recettes de concert
avec des souvenirs de la vallée de Lesach. Les entretiens ont porté à la fois
Andrea Sieber 067
Bibliography
Benjamin, W. (1984). Der Erzähler. In Benjamin, W. (1984): Allegorien
kultureller Erfahrung (p. 380-406). Leipzig: Reclam.
Berger, P., Luckmann, T. (1977). Die gesellschaftliche Konstruktion von
Wirklichkeit. Frankfurt a.M., Fischer.
Bruner, J.S. (1986). Actual Minds, Possible Worlds Cambridge, MA :
Harvard University Press.
Bruner J.S. (1996). The culture of education. Cambridge, MA : Harvard
University Press.
Burns, T. W., O‘Connor, J. D., and Stocklmayer, S. (2003). “Science
communication: A contemporary definition“. Public Understanding of
Science 2013; 12;183. Doi: 10.1177/09636625030122004.
Currie, M. (1998). Postmodem Narrative Theory, Basingstoke & London:
Macmillan.
Conle, C. (2003). An Anatomy of Narrative Curricula. Educational
Researcher 32 (3), 3-15.
Dahlstrom, M.F. (2014). Using narratives and storytelling to communicate
science with nonexpert audiences. Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, 111, 13614-13620.
Dernbach, Beatrice, Kleinert, Christian, Münder, Herbert (ed.) (2012).
Handbuch Wissenschaftskommunikation, Wiesbaden, Springer.
Duit R. and Treagust D.F. (1998). Learning in science : From behaviorism
towards social constructivism and beyond. In B.G. Fraser and K.G.
Tobin (Eds.): International Handbook of Science Education. Dordrecht,
Boston, London : Kluwer Academic Publishers, p. 3-25.
Andrea Sieber 069
ChAPtER
04
Divine Food
Dr. V. Jayarajan
Chairman, Folkland International Centre for Folklore and Culture
072 Chapter 4 Divine food
Out of the interviewed devotees 30 percent made offerings for the mother
goddess to fulfill their wishes, and 70 percent made offerings to redress
difficulties. There were different motives behind the offering. It may be for
getting good husbands, getting children, getting good employment, success
in examination, curing diseases etc.
Folkland, International Centre for Folklore and Culture, an organization
dedicated to promote folklore and culture, has conducted several workshops
to unearth the secrets of sacred foods offered to deities, as those old recipes
are either extinct or on the verge of extinction. A data collection exercise
was formulated during 2009 and 2010 to survey the different forms of divine
foods offered in the temples and shrines of Kerala. Folkland has initiated an
anthropological study on Attukal Pongala. It has documented extensively
pertaining to the different aspects of the pongala, including interviewing
participants, setting up of brick ovens, cooking the pudding, and offering to
the deity. Documentation could not be completed as the photo and video
documentation is strictly prohibited inside the temples. A seminar was also
conducted in 2005 with academicians, scholars, and temple priests.
Résumé
Le Centre international du folklore et de la culture Folkland, une ONG
dédiée à la promotion du folklore et de la culture, a organisé plusieurs
ateliers pour dénicher les secrets des aliments sacrés offerts aux divinités,
ces anciennes recettes étant soit éteintes, soit sur le point de disparaître. Un
exercice de collecte de données a été réalisé en 2009 et 2010 afin d’enquêter
sur les différentes formes de nourriture divine offertes dans les temples et les
sanctuaires du Kerala.
Le festival Attukal Pongala est considéré comme l’une des plus grandes
congrégations féminines, car il attire des millions de femmes chaque année.
Attukal Pongala a gagné en popularité lorsque le gouvernement du Kerala a
déclaré le festival jour férié pour le Thiruvananthapuram et d'autres districts
voisins tels que Kollam, Alleppey et Pathanamthitta en 1989. Cela a favorisé
la participation au festival des fidèles de tous les districts du sud. Le support
et la publicité fournis par la presse écrite et visuelle ont attiré de plus en
plus de femmes dévotes chaque année. Les ONG et la société civile unissent
leurs efforts aux autorités du temple pour créer les installations nécessaires
pour accueillir de plus en plus de personnes chaque année. La participation
082 Chapter 4 Divine food
ChAPtER
05
Foodways and Folklife
Experiences from the Newfoundland and
Labrador Intangible Cultural Heritage Office
Introduction
The food we eat is an important part of culture. It is often also an expression
of community identity. As American folklorist Millie Rahn writes,
The kitchen, historically, is the place where families gather and where
the everyday and the ceremonial meet and overlap. Here families
interact and share private traditions, expressing identity through their
food to each other and to the world. Creativity is alive in this space,
from daily mealtimes to more elaborate feasts that mark rites of passage,
religious and secular holidays, and other special events. This is where
knowledge is passed on, from traditional ways of preparing and using
various ingredients, implements, tools, and techniques to legends,
stories, anecdotes, and cultural exchanges that have become part of
familial and regional folklife.
Documentation
The HFNL’s documentation strategy includes collecting ethnographic items
such as audio interviews, oral histories, video interviews, photographs,
ephemera, and printed materials. HFNL also works with community
museums, archives, and heritage organizations to assist with the digitization
of existing collections, placing them online as part of the ICH inventory.
This ICH inventory was established as a central digital archive database
and website. The ICH inventory is arranged geographically by region and
community, and thematically by subject, following the five UNESCO
domains of ICH.
All communities, settlers, indigenous people, and recent immigrants
have their own food traditions, and research and documentation is usually
the first step in developing a safeguarding project. Some of these food
traditions are quite regional, such as the tradition of Easter buns in the
community of Upper Island Cove, a culinary tradition documented in 2011.
Tradition bearer Betty Rumbolt describes them thus,
They’re a little bit sweeter and they have some vanilla in them. They’re
white with raisins, almost like a cake-type thing, but different and they’re
in a different shape [than tea buns] as well because they’re baked in small
muffin pans that my mother called patty pans. (Squarey 3)
Easter buns were made fresh on Easter Monday for the children at the
annual Easter party. Rumbolt remembers,
Dale Gilbert Jarvis and Terra M. Barrett 087
We had no idea about the Easter Bunny and egg hunts like children
do today. On Easter Sunday, you would wear your new clothes and go
to church, but on Easter Monday we would ‘have Easter’ at my Aunt’s
house, boil eggs, and eat Easter buns…. I have particularly made buns
since mom has passed away, because we’ve clung on to those traditions.
The first Easter without her was strange to be without the Easter Buns
so I made them for everybody…. There’s nothing quite like food and
family traditions that solidifies to bring that family together. (Squarey
3-4)
Celebration
The second pillar of the ICH Strategy is Celebration, which involves
raising the discourse around selected traditions, and promoting greater
understanding of the importance, challenges, and threats to those traditions.
When HFNL surveyed community groups in the capitol region, there
was a concern about the loss of agricultural knowledge and practices due
to increasing urbanization. HFNL conducted research on the historical
background of agriculture, and the contemporary practices active in the
region. This research culminated in a 2011 folklife festival entitled “Seeds
to Supper,” which included a Farm Field Day, a farmer’s market, workshops
on food production; a presentation on local edible plants; an edible plant
hike; a networking workshop for tourism and hospitality professionals on
food, folklore, and tourism; “how-to” composting classes; an art garden in
partnership with a local gallery; the creation of an interactive root cellar
map; and an on-stage oral history interview with Century Farmers, local
farmers whose families who had been farming on the same property for
over a century. The festival also resulted in various publications on the use of
traditional semi-subterranean root cellars for food preservation (see Braye),
and on the history of vernacular farming structures called “hay barracks”
(see Jarvis).
While a folklife festival is a good way to draw attention to a particular
region or tradition, and allows face-to-face exchange, it is by necessity
focused in place and is available to a specific sub-section of the population.
HFNL has enhanced its celebratory work by also using social media, to
widely share stories and information about food traditions and to encourage
people to share their own food memories.
Dale Gilbert Jarvis and Terra M. Barrett 089
transmission
Intangible cultural heritage is kept alive and relevant to a culture if it is
regularly practiced and shared among groups and between generations.
It is not static, but ever changing, and constantly evolving. An important
part of HFNL’s safeguarding measures has been to encourage discussion to
identify ways to keep these evolving cultural practices relevant and to create
opportunities to pass inherited skills on to succeeding generations.
Tea buns hold great nostalgic value in the province, with many
mothers and grandmothers handing down recipes to their children and
grandchildren. In 2017, HFNL organized a tea bun workshop with baker/
folklorist/archivist Alanna Wicks of The Rolling Pin Bakery, who learned
her great-grandmother’s recipe from her father,
classes while the Bay Roberts Cultural Foundation regularly runs events
where locals and tourists alike can experience the making (and tasting) of
toutons—a delicious traditional fried bread dough often served with butter
and molasses.
When most people think about the food culture of Newfoundland and
Labrador, they think about dishes such as the aforementioned toutons and
tea buns but rarely do they think about ethnic dishes such as pierogies,
pernicky, or baklava. HFNL uses food workshops to celebrate the variety
of traditions and cultures that are a part of the changing Canadian
culture. These allow participants to better understand the differences (and
similarities) of each other and to engage in positive ways with newcomers.
Abir Zain is a refugee and recent immigrant to the province. She
has perfected her rosewater cream cheese filled baklava recipe since her
move to Canada. In 2017, Zain was engaged by HFNL to teach workshop
participants how to make this sweet Turkish pastry, popular in the Middle
East. True to the nature of ICH being in a constant state of evolution and
changing to fit the needs of the local environment, her recipe has been
tweaked since her family’s move:
Dale Gilbert Jarvis and Terra M. Barrett 093
Workshops like this allow citizens to meet refugees and learn more
about other cultures. It also allows refugees like Zain to make contacts
outside of the refugee community, which can help with integration and
provide opportunities for entrepreneurialism. Zain, as an example, has been
approached since the first workshop to offer other classes. She was also hired
to provide catering for events such as HFNL’s 2018 ICH forum, where her
story was profiled. Baklava made during Abir Zain’s workshop
© courtesy of Heritage NL
094 Chapter 5 Foodways and Folklife
Conclusion
Food continues to be a way for HFNL to bring people to the table, so to
speak. Along the way, we have learned a few lessons in the art of ICH
programming. Events must be flexible in design and execution, and adapt to
the needs of the community. They must be designed to accurately reflect the
traditions themselves, which requires consultation and research beforehand.
Ethnographic research is at the heart of what we do, and research is
096 Chapter 5 Foodways and Folklife
necessary to best showcase the skills and knowledge of local experts. We also
recognized that not all tradition bearers are necessarily good instructors,
organizers, or public speakers, so there is an important role to be played by
cultural brokers, such as public folklorists, who can function as organizers,
conversation instigators, and intermediaries. Finally, the key to engaging
people at the local community level is developing good partnerships. The
projects and programs that work best are the ones where we have strong
community partners who can help us identify both tradition bearers and the
audience who wants to learn more about local skills and traditions.
It is our hope that flexible, adaptable safeguarding approaches such as
these will help build healthier communities and carry these old traditions
forward. As Australian chef Tony Tan (81) writes about his own culinary
journeys, “My experiences have led me to believe that not only will food
continue to change and adapt, but we must always nurture our past to
Building new local food traditions with provide for the future.”
Lori McCarthy of Cod Sounds
© courtesy of Lori McCarthy
Dale Gilbert Jarvis and Terra M. Barrett 097
Résumé
Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador est la province la plus orientale du Canada,
située dans la région atlantique du pays. C'est une province avec un riche
patrimoine culturel, avec à la fois des populations autochtones et une
population de colons d'origine principalement anglaise et irlandaise. Depuis
2008, la Fondation du patrimoine de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador (HFNL) a
créé son bureau du patrimoine culturel immatériel. Son rôle est de préserver
le patrimoine culturel immatériel de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador pour les
générations actuelles et futures et de sauvegarder les connaissances et les
coutumes uniques de la province. La fondation est guidée par une stratégie
du PCI comportant quatre composantes principales : documentation,
célébration, transmission et traditions vivantes dans des communautés
durables.
Le déclin de l'accès aux aliments traditionnels, les changements
démographiques et la perte de savoir-faire traditionnels sont autant de
préoccupations qui ont une incidence sur le travail de HFNL. Au cours de la
dernière décennie, HNFL a développé des projets liés à la nourriture en se
basant sur sa stratégie en quatre volets.
La documentation des traditions alimentaires nous aide à comprendre
la signification de la nourriture à l’échelle de la communauté. Cela inclut
des recherches pour étudier les moyens par lesquels la transmission ou
le déclin des connaissances traditionnelles se produisent. Le travail de
documentation de HFNL comprend également des initiatives visant à
améliorer les compétences techniques au niveau communautaire pour la
conservation numérique. La célébration, quant à elle, consiste à élever le
discours autour de traditions sélectionnées et à promouvoir une meilleure
compréhension de l’importance, des défis et des menaces qui pèsent sur ces
traditions. HFNL célèbre les traditions culinaires de plusieurs manières,
notamment par le biais de festivals et de campagnes de médias sociaux.
Les projets de transmission incluent des possibilités de transmettre
aux générations suivantes les compétences acquises. Les ateliers culinaires
comprenaient des cours de confiture et de pain ainsi que des séances de
préparation et de conservation de la viande d'orignal. Les projets Traditions
vivantes dans les collectivités durables ont été axés sur les aliments
traditionnels et les entreprises locales, les marchés locaux et la sécurité
alimentaire. HFNL a également travaillé sur des événements culturels de «
gastro-diplomatie » qui soutiennent des communautés saines et inclusives.
098 Chapter 5 Foodways and Folklife
Bibliography
Antle, Angela. “Abir's baklava class: Syrian immigrant shares dessert secrets.”
CBC Life. 2 April 2017. Web accessed 22 March 2019.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/baklava-dessert-
pastry-syria-class-1.4047702
Braye, Cr ystal. “Exploring Our Roots: A Heritage Inventor y of
Newfoundland’s Root Cellars.” Occasional Paper on Intangible Cultural
Heritage No. 003. St. John’s: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and
Labrador, April 2013.
https://www.mun.ca/ich/Occasional_Paper_03_1.pdf
Creative Newfoundland and Labrador: The Blueprint for Development
and Investment in Culture. St. John’s: Government of Newfoundland
and Labrador, 2006.
https://www.tcii.gov.nl.ca/publications/recreation/2006/culturalplan2006.
pdf
Jarvis, Dale Gilbert. “Hay Barracks in Newfoundland.” Material Culture
Review 77/78 (Spring/Fall 2013). https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/
MCR/article/view/22090/25656
Lowitt, Kristen N. “A coastal foodscape examining the relationship between
changing fisheries and community food security on the west coast of
Newfoundland.” Ecology and Society, 19, No. 3 (Sep 2014). Published
by: Resilience Alliance Inc. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26269622
Rahn, Millie. “Laying a Place at the Table: Creating Public Foodways Models
from Scratch.” The Journal of American Folklore, 119, no. 471 (2006):
30–46. www.jstor.org/stable/4137781
Roberts, Felicity. “Kitchens Against Conflict: ‘From Syria To St. John’s’
Gastrodiplomacy Event To Swap Culture Over Culinary Traditions.”
The Overcast: Newfoundland’s Alternative Newspaper. 24 February,
2017. Web accessed 22 March 2019.
https://theovercast.ca/kitchens-against-conflict-from-syria-to-st-johns-
gastrodiplomacy-event-to-swap-culture-over-culinary-traditions/
Dale Gilbert Jarvis and Terra M. Barrett 099
ChAPtER
06
Malakwang
Acholi Traditional Food in Northern Uganda
Okello Quinto
Managing Director, Gulu Theatre Artists
102 Chapter 6 Malakwang
Introduction
During the first pilot project implementation on inventorying intangible
cultural heritage in Uganda from 2014, Gulu Theatre Artists have been
investigating a number of traditional foods within the Pageya Chiefdom to
get an overview over the rich food tradition in this area.
The project has included malakwang as a traditional food. Indeed, the
investigation has helped us to identify not just a diversity of expressions
related to traditional food but also to see some serious challenges faced by
the identified elements.
Among all these endless cultural elements and traditions, the hibiscus
species, literally known as malakwang food, is considered one of the most
influential intangible cultural heritages of the Acholi communities of
Uganda. The practices include the meaning, knowledge, techniques and use
of ingredients in the preparation of the food. It is practiced in different areas
comprising different religions. A major part of traditional food is regarded
not only as nutrition but also as medicine.
Today, however, many traditional dishes have been abandoned. Urban
migration is one reason. Another reason is the internal displacement
people’s camps: This action restricts access to the land for farming. Hence,
consuming non-traditional food, as fried meals and chemically raised food
items, has generated not only poor health condition but also complicated
sickness.
Malakwang and many other traditional food items are at the verge
of extinction due to several factors, such as urban migration, factory and
industrial products, and other environmental influences.
One safeguarding measure is to work in partnership with health
practitioners alongside civil societies. The mission will be to sensitize
communities at large to appreciate and adopt full heartedly the 2003
UNESCO Convention.
Okello Quinto 103
known for its beta-carotene, vitamin C, and protein. This hibiscus species,
having various medically important compounds called photochemical,
is well known for its nutritional and medicinal properties. Many parts of
malakwang (seeds, leaves, roots, flowers, and stems) are used in various
foods as well as in herbal medicine as a non-pharmacological treatment.
Further still Gulu Theatre Artists in partnership with other scientists
in some higher learning institutions in Uganda are optimistic to continue
conducting a research project on this hibiscus species, investigating its
nutritional values under various growing conditions. The project plans to
introduce its products to the food market and to reach out small farmers
to increase its marketability and profitability. Experience has proven that
malakwang is the best appetizer for both sick and healthy people as it clears
the taste buds. Should such a disease outbreak called sleeping sickness
Cultural practitioner explaining the be caused by a small insect ajonga-miya emerges, the first recommended
importance of malakwang food is malakwang to build the body immune system. The prehistoric
© Okello Quinto
Okello Quinto 105
diets included millet, simsim paste, sweet potatoes, pure soup of a cooked
malakwang, and vegetables. Simsim is one of the oil seedlings crops widely
grown by the Acholi communities and is one of the most outstanding
ingredients for malakwang food.
Historically, the leaves of this green vegetable were used to treat
other wounds sustained during hunting or any sort of accident. Later on
researchers declared its usefulness as a tea leaf, the seeds can be ground
into powdery form and used as coffee for tea, the boiled fresh greeneries are
good for ulcer treatment and cleans most of the body organs. For example
the royal highness of Pageya Chiefdom, Rwot Okwonga Yusuf Adek, testified
in the 1970s that a man named Celestino Otong excessively consumed
honey to the extent that some of his body organs failed to function. He was
saved by drinking boiled malakwang by one of the cultural practitioners. Its
seeds can be made into porridge that works best for a patient suffering from
an ulcer or children suffering from malnutritional illness like marasmus and
kwashikor. Rwot Okwonga Yusuf Adek of Pageya Chiefdom who had been
one of the peace mediation team members reported that, Lord Resistance
Army leader, Mr. Joseph Kony would have died of an ulcer but survived
because of taking this special porridge made out of malakwang seeds.
Therefore malakwang is now widely cultivated all over the Acholi
communities as an administrative and commercial crop of the community
in northern Uganda. Nowadays, a majority of the foreigners visiting
106 Chapter 6 Malakwang
table Manners
Basing on Acholi communal setting, food is generally eaten jointly while it is
scooped gently with the right hand. The five main grouping is always young
women, elderly mothers, elderly fathers, and youth (boys) and children
between five and ten years old. There is a very meagre percentage of the
population who are found of using left hand. In most villages and some rural
areas, poor farmers normally start their day with a breakfast of porridge
made of millet flour and honey / tamarind (cwaa) to push back hunger until
lunch time. People living in different areas of Uganda use different kinds of
foods and beverages for different occasions. However the main meals of the
day for both rural and urban people are the different forms of staple foods.
Preservative Measures
Malakwang is a seasonal traditional staple food that is mainly grown in rainy
season; however mothers developed techniques of preserving it throughout
the year. The leaves are harvested, sundried, and packed in a pot located in
a warmer side of the house. The seeds are harvested mostly from December
to January and mixed with arches and properly sealed in gourds or pots. The
108 Chapter 6 Malakwang
ChAPtER
07
Persecution and Perseverance
Chicheras Traditions in Bogotá, Colombia
Laura López
CIOFF® Youth Coordinating Committee
114 Chapter 7 Persecution and Perseverance
For centuries, cooking minced corn with sugarcane honey and its
subsequent fermentation has given origin to chicha, a fermented beverage
for hundreds of settlers in various regions in Colombia. (The drink is also
produced from different food sources, such as corn, yucca, arracacha,
and peach-palm fruit.) The beverage was and is also important in large
parts of the American continent as a tradition inherited from indigenous
communities. Within this context, the beverage has had a lot of adherents
and detractors. In Colombia, detractors were able to enact prohibition
of chicha in 1948 by claiming issues of healthiness and
hygiene as well as the beverage being a security problem. At
that time, elites and authorities thought the beverage was
contributing to increasing crime rates. With regulations and
prohibition of sale in restaurants or places where food was
delivered, and other dispositions, the Colombian government
left chicha unable to survive. Even a few years before the
official prohibition, chicha was commonly seen as a beverage
of the lower classes. In Bogotá, the capital of the country,
prohibition was heavily sponsored by the newly arrived beer
industry from Germany because the most popular alcoholic
beverage was chic.
However, the German beer industry needed local people to work in
Propaganda against chicha:
“Chicha begets crime” the factories to support the new industry. With that purpose, the biggest
“Jails are full of people who drink chicha” beer factory built La Perseverancia was built in the neighborhood of UPZ
© National Museum of Colombia
of La Macarena, a few streets away from the worker's homes. Ironically,
those workers were peasants and poor people that knew how to prepare
chicha, including some women that had learned from their mothers
and grandmothers and were the owners of chicherías (chicha bars). La
Perseverancia was a neighborhood of chicheros and chicherías, and the
people secretly kept their tradition, even after prohibition and despite
working in the beer factory. Secrecy was important because the fear was
real, and some of these women were imprisoned for making and selling
chicha as they were unable to comply with the government’s regulations.
The disregard for the prohibition allowed many people to share
knowledge on how to prepare chicha, and many years later, people still
knew how to prepare it even though they were not selling it. This tradition
was still alive in secret, but nobody drank or sold chicha anymore. Many
people in the neighborhood knew that the tradition was somehow still
alive, but the holders of this knowledge were slowly dying, and with them,
the tradition. For that reason, in 1988, a group of young people decided to
Laura López 115
bring it back to life. While making a book about the neighborhood history,
they found chicheras and decided to create a festival to show the whole city
that this tradition was still there. Festival de la Chicha, la Vida y la Dicha
was designed as a fair where all the chicheras make the beverage and sell it
to visitors, which could taste similar but with different flavors, colors, and
textures based on variances in cooking methods or recipes and raw materials
that vary within families. Along with the two day fair, there is a stage where
traditional music and dances are performed while the visitors enjoy the
traditional beverage and food. Of course, preparation and selling of chicha
during the festival is observed by sanitation and hygiene authorities, and
chicheras must comply with regulations. Distribution of chicha cannot
follow the government’s requirements for industrial production set in 1948,
but 21st-century authorities are more aware of the importance of traditions,
so they are willing to make those regulations more flexible and accessible to
allow its preparation for a festival under some sanitation limits.
In the beginning, the festival was all self-organized by the
neighborhood, led by this group of youths who wanted to bring traditions
back to life. They obtained sponsorships and help to make the festival, and
slowly the event gained more recognition. The festival demonstrated that
important and popular traditions were still alive, even in big cities, opposite
to what many people think about heritage in urban contexts. For that
reason, in 2004, the authorities in Bogotá declared the festival as part of the
city’s intangible cultural heritage. This recognition transferred the logistic
responsibility to the city government, which meant that the festival would
be held annually on the same date by mandate and that all the budgetary
problems would be solved. The organization of the festival improved over
the years, but this also increased the money spent. Slowly, a lot of the
traditional activities disappeared because of the priorities for the event’s
budget distribution.
Despite government regulations, de facto prohibition seventy years
ago, and recent logistic problems during the Festival’s organization, this
tradition has found a place again in the city and has had to transform itself
in line with the government in order to survive. All of this has been possible
thanks to empowered women and community participation fighting against
different types of marginalization, giving place to different gender role
distribution that shapes social dynamics around chicha tradition.
Thanks to matriarchy, all these culinary traditions were passed from
one generation to the next. Even though men mostly drank chicha, it was
women who learned and knew how to prepare it. Until a few years ago
116 Chapter 7 Persecution and Perseverance
women did not have a lot of social power; they did, however, have power
in gastronomic knowledge. Today, the festival is possible thanks to these
women who learned recipes from their mothers and grandmothers, despite
restrictions or prohibitions. They all learned and somehow reached the
point where they retained the capability to show it to the city. Now we want
to show it to the world. In that sense, we want to show what we have found
in this festival about traditional food and, in this case, its relationship with
gender.
The most important to observation is that chicha is linked to the kitchen
and before it was prepared by the indigenous, peasants, and the poor. For
years, Colombian and Bogotanian society considered women to belong
only to the kitchen and household, which allowed them to learn all these
recipes. But it was an imposed role, and today, it has a cultural value that
was not so clear before. Now, traditional food and the knowledge holders—
the women—have recognition for their contributions in safeguarding and
keeping alive a tradition that is slowly disappearing due to a lot of factors,
but mostly globalization, which changes our eating habits and displaces our
traditional dishes and beverages.
Women have important roles and tasks before, during, and after the
festival; as the tradition holders, they are authorities in all processes and are
responsible for safeguarding and disseminating the traditional knowledge.
All chicheras make decisions about the festival, and they are always worried
about fighting against police restrictions, like the one on underage people
entering the festival after the National Police Code reform in 2017. As Mr.
Luis Montes, chichero for seventeen years, stated “The Festival is a family
event, so if children are forbidden to enter, they will never learn about their
culture.” The women organizers also watch the price regulations among
all sellers, the quality of the food that vendors are selling, and every other
detail of the event. Delegates of the city government are obliged to inform
them about every decision to make on the festival. That way, even if the
government oversees the organization, all the decisions must be discussed
with the community. From the youngest to oldest (from 40 to 75 years old),
they give their opinions and are always looking for the best decisions for the
festival. Younger women have started being involved in the meetings and
organization—daughters, granddaughters, and neighbors have accompanied
the chicheras all these years, and now they are inheriting the interest and
love for the festival.
However, women are not only important in the organization process.
As mentioned before, the festival is possible thanks to chicheras, as they
are the festival themselves. They are the authorities keeping this tradition
alive and making the city and the world aware of a tradition and a heritage
that is safeguarded by civil society in a capital city. Therefore, their presence
during the festival also has an impact on the social dynamics within the
neighborhood and within the festival itself. One of these dynamics is
that, although the community that prepares the beverage—chicheras—
is comprised mostly of women, you can also see the participation of men
who have learned from their families and want to contribute to spreading
the tradition. The principal male role is represented in Luis Ruiz, one of
the youth that in 1988 wanted to create a festival to bring a tradition back
to life. Thirty years later, he is still the leader of this group of chicheras
and the festival process, linked with the city government delegates for
the festival, among almost fifty women that make chicha, and, like them,
is fighting to keep this tradition alive but not making chicha. For him, it
has been a difficult process, but as he says, “I haven’t heard anyone in this
neighborhood saying that this Festival is useless or meaningless, despite
all the problems and restrictions we have gone through. The prohibition
118 Chapter 7 Persecution and Perseverance
city to see that there are good people working for culture and traditions.
Chicheras have tried to involve young people in the festival through cultural
and artistic groups or encouraging them to help with logistics during the
festival trying to keep young people away from gangs. All who visit the
neighborhood during the festival can see that today things have changed a
lot and that the negative reputation is mostly prejudice. La Perseverancia is
still a poor neighborhood in many ways, but criminality is being opposed,
and there is nothing to be afraid of. The festival has created a community
around a tradition, with joys, crises, troubles, stories, and a common feeling
of perseverance. These women are making a traditional beverage great again Chicheras make an offering and grateful
ritual in Guatavita lagoon, one week before
and are empowered to demonstrate that their tradition is not inferior and is the festival, as a way to remember their
not dead. indigenous ancestors who first made chichi
© Maria Paula Castiblanco
120 Chapter 7 Persecution and Perseverance
Résumé
Pendant des siècles, la cuisson du maïs émincé avec du sucre de canne et sa
fermentation ultérieure ont donné naissance à la chicha, boisson fermentée
consommée par des centaines de colons dans diverses régions de la
Colombie. Dans ce dernier pays, les détracteurs de la chicha ont promulgué
son interdiction en 1948 en mettant de l’avant des questions de santé et
des problèmes de sécurité. Les gens gardaient secrètement leur tradition
en raison d’une peur bien réelle de se voir emprisonnés. La prohibition
122 Chapter 7 Persecution and Perseverance
ChAPtER
08
Preparing the Good Life
Children Learning Traditional Food Habits
Janne Olsby
Project Manager, Várdobáiki Sámi Center
Marit Myrvoll
Museum Manager, Várdobáiki Sámi Museum
124 Chapter 8 Preparing the Good Life
Ten Sámi kindergarten children from 3 to 5 years old are out in typical
Northern Norway never-ending pouring rainy weather in late June to
pick raw plant materials for today's lunch. Today, the kids are going to
make nettle soup, and to fulfil the task, they have to go out and pick the
nettle. They have to know where to pick, what the nettle plant looks like,
where it grows, and not least when in the annual cycle it grows and can
be picked. They also need to know that they have to wear gloves because
the nettle plant “bites” sharply. Indoors again, the children have to clean
and rinse their nettle catch. They learn that only the leaves are to be
used, and these must be finely chopped and cooked. When the soup
is done, it is served with boiled organic eggs. The appetite was great
around the lunch table.
These children attend a Sámi kindergarten, and as the example above shows,
they are learning—in the practical way—about traditional Sámi food as a part
of their day in the kindergarten. This article will look into the importance
transmitting traditional knowledge about food and the food-chain process,
from raw nature materials to cooked dishes served on the table to the young
generation, and highlight some examples of good and healthy traditional
food.
The Sámi are an indigenous people with traditional settlements in the
Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia.
The territory traditionally inhabited of the Sámi people is called Sápmi.
The name comes from the Sámi's own term for “themselves,” for instance
saemie, sámit, or sápmelaččat. The Arctic and sub-Arctic areas are known
for a harsh climate without very temperatures, long snowy winters and short
rainy summers. With the everlasting light (and midnight sun) in summers,
the growing season is short, but intense. To live and survive in such an
environment gives some challenges when it comes to food choices.
Like the majority population in the four nation states, the Sámi have
witnessed and taken part in modernizing society. New lifestyles have been
integrated, where technology and globalization have made household
activities easy and international trade accessible in a monetary economy.
Leaving the traditional way of living and harvesting is one of the unfortunate
consequences of many Sámi having a lifestyle very alien to traditional ways
of life. Also, competence related to traditional food products is vanishing.
Still some Sámis are in the fisheries, the reindeer industry, agriculture, and
rural economies, but most Sámis are paycheck receivers in ordinary jobs in,
for instance, education, administration, and service.
Janne Olsby and Marit Myrvoll 125
The nettle soup is such an example. Nettle is one of the first green plants
in spring (late May). It contains a lot of vitamins and minerals that everyone
needs after a long harsh winter. Nettle has also traditionally been used as
a medicinal plant for different inflammations. The children learn that they
have easy access to nettle plants—they grow around every house in the
village, especially where the soil is rich.
Another green plant that comes early in spring and grows everywhere
is dandelions. It is common to use the leaves in salads. In the kindergarten,
the children learned about the interconnection between weather conditions
and harvesting when they decided to make cookies with the dandelion
flowers as an ingredient. With several weeks with rain, the flowers did not
fold out and were impossible to use. The children looked for the dandelions
every day but had to give up, picking “closed” flowers and making dandelion
cookies.
Potatoes and vegetables, like carrots and turnips, have traditionally
been grown for a long time, being able to ripen before the autumn frost
nights arrive. The children learned about the production process, from seed
to harvested plant. Furthermore, the children learned that vegetables do not
grow on the shop shelves, but in the fields, and the vegetables need a lot of
care during the growing season. After the harvest, the children discovered
that their vegetables were much smaller than the shop's goods, which came
from the southern Norway and the Mediterranean area. This gave the
The Sámi traditional territory is called
Sápmi © https://finnmarkssykehuset.no/ opportunity to teach the children about different factors needed for plant
fag-og-forskning/sanks/om-oss/samer-i- growth, like temperatures and sun-hours during the day.
norge
Janne Olsby and Marit Myrvoll 127
Conclusion
The kindergarten program on teaching the children about traditional Sámi
food became an overall positive experience. The children became fond
of making traditional dishes, and they have become conscious about the
interdependence between people and nature for survival and keeping in
good health. Furthermore, the children’s Sámi language skills and repertoire
improved, and they have learned Sámi terms for both raw materials and
the different ingredients in the finished dishes. As such, the program also
contributed to language revitalization. It was important for the staff at
the kindergarten that the children should have a good time while being
introduced to traditional food. Learning responsibility and participating in
co-determination was part of the program. As a participant, the children
were chefs with hats, aprons, their own utensils, and their own project
folder. Among other things, individual responsibility for good hygiene is
important.
A very positive effect of the program has been that traditional Sámi
dishes have become a larger part of the children’s families’ daily food. As one
child said with a smile: “Because it tastes good! It is the best food ever!”
Résumé
Des habitudes alimentaires saines dès le plus jeune âge jettent les bases d’une
relation positive avec l’alimentation une fois adulte. Cela vaut également
pour les enfants autochtones. À Sápmi, la patrie du peuple sami, un jardin
d'enfants apprend de manière très pratique la nourriture traditionnelle des
enfants samis. Avec un accent sur les aliments sains, produits localement
et biologiques, les bons ingrédients et la conscience de ce qui est servi et
mangé à la maternelle, l’objectif est d’aider à instaurer un mode de vie sain et
de prévenir les maladies liées au mode de vie, tant mentales que physiques.
Ceci est rendu possible par des enfants qui sont actifs dans la récolte des
légumes et autres matières premières. Ils cueillent des herbes et des baies,
pêchent dans des eaux douces et salées et participent à des visites à l’abattoir
de rennes local. Après la cueillette des baies ou la capture du poisson, les
enfants et les adultes retournent au jardin d'enfants pour préparer et manger
la nourriture. De cette manière, les enfants apprennent d'où provient la
nourriture, où la trouver et quand la récolter. Un monde totalement différent
de celui de l'épicerie.
Janne Olsby and Marit Myrvoll 131
Bibliography
Márkománák (2017) Project description: Healthy food habits from an early age.
Saivu.com. (2019). Sáivu/Sávja - En Nettustilling. [online] Available at:
http://www.saivu.com [Accessed 01 June. 2019].
132 Chapter 8 Preparing the Good Life
Janne Olsby and Marit Myrvoll 133
ChAPtER
09
Recreating the taste of home
Haeree Shim
MA Cultural Heritage Studies, UCL Institute of Archaeology
134 Chapter 9 Recreating the Taste of Home
Introduction
The biggest North Korean migrant community outside East Asia is located
in a somewhat unlikely place, New Malden, UK, a suburb in southwest
London (see Figure 1). Approximately 1,000 North Koreans live alongside
the established community of over 12,000 South Koreans. In the foreign
kitchen, what North Korean migrants do is recreate authentic traditional
North Korean food that they have not had for such a long time. Decades of
famine and national isolation have alienated people from basic meals and
dishes that are part of the history and traditions of their country. It is ironic
that their culinary heritage is being rediscovered, enriched and preserved in
New Malden, while it is rapidly disappearing in their homeland. This paper
tackles the following questions: how they recreate their own but unfamiliar
tradition, how cooking traditional food abroad affects safeguarding North
Korea’s culinary heritage, how the experience of cooking traditional
food as an immigrant has affected the reconciliation between the two
ethnic groups. I used ethnographic methods to critically understand the
role of culinary heritage in community life of migrants. Interviews and
participant observations were used, notably including volunteering in the
communal kitchen, joining community events, and having meals in North
Korean families’ homes in 2018. Having had deeper involvement with the
community, it has become clear that North Korean immigrants’ cooking
or practicing of traditional food was unique due to their distinctive life
experiences back in North Korea; age-old famine and poverty, limited
freedom of movement, and international isolation.
I lived in North Korea, but I did not see or have Pyongyang naengmyeon.
I have never been to Pyongyang, nor the area nearby. I guess the people
living in Pyongyang can sometimes have naengmyeon. It was told that the
dish was something that usually high-ranking officials and foreign tourists
could have. I heard that patrons needed to pay in dollars when they had it.
People like us could not dream of having it.
It was a softer and more delicate taste than I imagined, there was no ice,
and it was served with a mung bean pancake.
What Lim made for us was not the same as authentic Pyongyang
A North Korean woman making naengmyeon, but it was a recreation of the dish that she had imagined (see
Naengmyeon, a traditional Pyongyang Figure 2).
delicacy © Haeree Shim
Haeree Shim 137
what Park’s interview showed was that a tradition cannot be prevented from
disappearing in a society just because it is inscribed on a UNESCO list. Now
living in New Malden for eleven years, Park said:
Now, I am able to make kimchi every time we run out of it, because I can
buy napa cabbage whenever and wherever I want in New Malden. Fresh
vegetables are always in the market throughout the year.
To make the dish authentic as we had in North Korea, I buy North Korean
pollock in New Malden. You can purchase it through a private retailer.
You call this person and he will get you the fish. Of course, it is more
expensive than the one you buy in Tesco but is worth the price to us. This
North Korean pollock is imported from the China-North Korea border. It is
sweeter and more savory than the one from Britain or Russia. I can tell.
We used to have seasoned and broiled pollock dish a couple times a year in
North Korea on our biggest national holidays, like Kim Il-sung’s birthday
or a memorial ceremony for our ancestors. Perhaps people living near the
sea would have eaten it more often. The pollock dish was very special, and
I really liked it. I wanted to have it more often but couldn’t.
Haeree Shim 139
I miss North Korean sardines. Until the 1980s we had fish markets. We
used to buy sardines and boil them with water parsley and white radish.
It was a delicacy in Cheongjin, a small fishing village, where I came from.
We also dried pollock and had it with cooked rice in winter. However, fish
markets started to disappear from the mid-1980s, and after that, it became
very difficult to find fish at all. It was rare to see good sardines and pollock
on the household table. Most of the fish we caught were collected and
exported to China.
Another female migrant in her 60s stated that general cuisine of North
Korea is poor:
You know, there is no special cuisine in North Korea. You eat this or that,
anything you have. I usually cooked rice, made a fermented soybean paste
soup, and added some vegetable if I had any. If kimchi was the only thing
I had, I made soup with it. That was the most common meal I had back
home. I don’t think there is any proper dish in North Korea now except for
dishes like Pyongyang naengmyeon.
traditional Korean dishes (2012: 10). Park was one of those who tried to see
their culinary heritage veraciously:
H o w e v e r, u n l i k e m o s t d e f e c t o r s’
perception that their culinary culture is
poor and humble, the original North Korean
culinary heritage is quite different from what
is recognized now. North Korea, which has
the sea and plains on the southern side, and
the mountains in the north, is characterized
by its distinct local cuisines. Every province
developed their own culinary culture due to
their different topography and climate. For
instance, Hamgyeong Province, in which
the climate is colder, and where the ocean is
nearby, has typically enjoyed fermented fish
such as plaice, sailfin sandfish or pollock with
seasonings; meanwhile, Yanggang Province,
which grows a lot of potatoes, has eighty-two
kinds of potato dishes: potato noodles, potato-
rice cakes, potato starch crackers, etc. (Lee,
2001: 78).
It is North Korean migrants who try to
restore their lost or forgotten heritage outside
their home country. Their cuisine was spread
and handed down by people who consumed
and enjoyed it in New Malden. The sharing is
reinforced by community events such as year-
end parties, sports days, and concerts, where
North Korean migrants prepared and they learn, share, and taste different local cuisine of their home (see Figure
brought food to the North Korean sports
day © Haeree Shim 4). Some parents wish to transmit it to the next generation. A mother of two
stated:
Haeree Shim 141
My children were born here, but they enjoy fermented soybean soup and
love kimchi. When the children come back from school in the afternoon,
they ask me to cook Korean food. They particularly ask for kimchi if I don’t
prepare it. I make kimchi in large quantities in winter with my children.
They enjoy it. It is somehow in our blood.
We don’t really communicate with each other. I do not know why the media
has misled people to believe that we have a good relationship here. ‘New
Malden: small Korea unified ahead of the time’. That is a lie. We are not
definitely unified. South Koreans see us as poor, uneducated, uncultured
people, but we are the ones who are more experienced in life. They have
never helped us even though they know that we are in financial difficulty.
Volunteers preparing food in the communal kitchen in the Korean Senior Citizens UK Centre
© Haeree Shim
Haeree Shim 143
They shared their memories about food and their homes over the meals.
There were endless discussions about different food traditions over lunch
(see Figure 5). A Korean-Chinese woman, more precisely a Korean diaspora
brought up in China, said:
Today, I prepared the pork cartilage dish, but even I myself don't know
whether it is a Korean or a Chinese style. This is genuinely my style.
It was delicious though. In North Korea, we rarely grill or broil meat and
almost always boil and make loads of soup out of it. That way, you will be
able to live a week with a single piece of meat.
In particular, one of the factors that connected the two Koreas in the
kitchen was kimchi. They make kimchi around twice a month, when most
of the members of both Koreas gather. They buy fresh ingredients, share
recipes, rinse the cabbage, salt it, mix the ingredients, and finally enjoy
freshly made kimchi together. Through this communal practice of food
custom, they got to know and understand each other better than before.
Culinary heritage can be a tool for reconciling two societies.
Conclusion
My research shows that not only does community safeguard intangible
cultural heritage, but also intangible cultural heritage fosters community
spirit. Most of the North Korean migrants that I talked to were practicing
their culinary customs, and it strengthened their community. As Chiang
(2018: 293) has stated, ‘communities play an important role in the
production, safeguarding, maintenance, and recreation of the intangible
cultural heritage; and safeguarding intangible cultural heritage contributes
to fostering cultural identity, human rights, and sustainable development of
the concerned communities.’ This is well represented in the case of a woman
who launched a YouTube series in New Malden to promote North Korea
and its cuisine. Soonyo Park, in her early 50s and a former refugee, started a
channel this year called ‘North Korean Cooking with Soonyo’ (https://www.
144 Chapter 9 Recreating the Taste of Home
Résumé
L'étude explore les effets inattendus de la préparation de la nourriture
traditionnelle sur la vie et le patrimoine culturel des immigrants nord-
coréens au Royaume-Uni. La recherche a été menée à New Malden au
Royaume-Uni en 2018, soit la plus grande diaspora nord-coréenne hors
de l'Asie de l'Est. Les gens qui ont fui leur pays ont su recouvrer leur vie
à travers la recréation de leur héritage culturel traditionnel dans un pays
étranger. À travers des entretiens et les observations des participants, les
constatations suivantes ont été observées : les immigrants nord-coréens ont
été en mesure de recréer leur nourriture traditionnelle à New Malden avec
des ingrédients qui n'étaient plus disponibles dans leur pays d'origine depuis
des décennies. Le patrimoine culinaire local nord-coréen a ainsi été enrichi
à New Malden par les personnes qui l'ont cuisiné et l'ont partagé, pendant
que les connaissances culinaires disparaissaient dans leur pays d'origine en
raison de la famine et de la pauvreté. Des occasions de cuisiner des plats
coréens ont permis de créer des liens entre des immigrants sud-coréens et
nord-coréens établis à New Malden, qui entretenaient normalement des
relations amères; la fabrication de Kimchi en particulier est un exemple
significatif, qui a été inscrit à l'UNESCO en 2015 sur la Liste représentative
du patrimoine culturel immatériel de l'humanité, puisqu'il s'agit d'une
pratique commune de la nourriture coréenne coutumière. En conséquence,
la communauté des migrants nord-coréens a été rapprochée par la
sauvegarde de leur patrimoine culturel immatériel.
Haeree Shim 145
Bibliography
Adams, S. (2009, August 31). Pollack becomes one of Britain’s most popular
fish - Telegraph. Telegraph. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/Harrie/
Desktop/Pollack becomes one of Britain’s most popular fish - Telegraph.
htm
Chiang, M. (2018). Intangibility re-translated. In Safeguarding Intangible
Heritage: Practice and Politics (p. 293).
Ha n , B . ( 2 0 0 1 ) . 개성을 중심으로 한 이북의 전통음식 [ No r t h Ko r e a n
Traditional Food]. The East Asian Society of Dietary Life, 9, 100.
Retrieved from http://www.dbpia.co.kr/Article/NODE00772269
Kim, T. (2012). 사라져가는 북 전통음식 [Disappearing North Korean Traditional
Food]. Seoul: New Daily. Retrieved from http://www.newdaily.co.kr/
site/data/html/2012/06/21/2012062100100.html
Lee, S. and Lee, W. (2011). 영국 뉴몰든 코리아 타운 내 남한이주민과 북한난민
간의 관계와 상호인식 [The relationship and the reciproca perception
of South Koreans and North Korean refugees in New Malden].
North Korean Studies Review, 18(1).
Lee, A. (2012). 북한음식에 대한 이해 [Understanding North Korean food]. The
Korean Society for Franchise Management, 11, 55–60. Retrieved from
http://www.dbpia.co.kr/Article/NODE06723545
Lee, H. (2001). The Story of the North Korean Food.pdf. Unified Korea, 212,
77.
Ministry of Unification. (2016). 북한정보포털 북한 지식사전 글보기 [North
Korean Encyclopedia]. Retrieved from http://nkinfo.unikorea.go.kr/
nkp/ term/ viewNkKnwldgDicary.do?pageIndex=1&dicaryId=91
UNESCO. (2015). Tradition of kimchi-making in the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea - intangible heritage - Culture Sector - UNESCO.
Retrieved from https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/tradition-of-kimchi-
making-in-the-democratic-people-s-republic-of-korea-01063
146 Chapter 9 Recreating the Taste of Home
Haeree Shim 147
ChAPtER
10
Safeguarding Italian traditional Recipes
The CookIT Portal
Gianluigi Ciocca
Associate Professor, DISCo, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy
148 Chapter 10 Safeguarding Italian Traditional Recipes
Introduction
Food, together with its preparation, cooking, sharing, and consumption,
is now considered a form of cultural heritage (Brulotte, 2016). Traditional
cuisine is passed down from generation to generation and is often an
expression of cultural identity of communities. For example, sometimes
the only thing migrants carry with them is the food of their countries, and
cooking traditional food is a way to preserve their culture outside their place
of birth. It is not surprising that today, food is receiving special attention
from governmental organizations with the aim of preserving historical roots
and cultural identification, providing food as close as possible to the farms
of production and addressing health problems such as reducing obesity and
unbalanced nutrition.
UNESCO has included some culinary traditions on its list of
intangible cultural heritage (Ich.Unesco.org,2017) such as the Pizza and the
Mediterranean diet. For example pizza, or still better the Art of Neapolitan
Pizzaiuolo (Ich.Unesco.org,2018), was added to the UNESCO list, describing
the technical know-how needed to prepare the dough, roll it out, and cook it
in a wood-fired oven.
The Mediterranean diet consists of a set of skills, competences, know-
how, and traditions regarding the ingredients, their production, collection,
processing, cooking, sharing, and consumption of food. Eating together
is the foundation of the cultural identity and continuity of communities
throughout the Mediterranean basin.
CookIT, a web portal on traditional Italian recipes with the aim of
preserving, safeguarding and disseminating them, has been designed and
is presented here. The greater knowledge of the tradition linked to food
and recipes is preserved in the family and is handed down by the cooking
together between different generations. In order to preserve this knowledge,
the portal allows users to insert their own version of the recipe in an easy
and simplified way, perhaps attaching the video of the recipe and the special
features used inside each family. In addition, the dataset was developed with
the aim of testing new algorithms for content-based retrieval of texts and
images. The collection is still under construction.
Maria Teresa Artese and Isabella Gagliardi and Gianluigi Ciocca 149
Recipes Portals
Archives or inventories of intangible cultural objects are available on the
web (ITC, 2019; ultimediali@IMATI-CNR, 2017), but they contain only a
few foods, and any recipes are described in terms of cultural heritage and do
not contain any specified ingredients or indications.
On the other hand, a great numbers of websites of current recipes
are available, with very different purposes, from sharing traditional or
innovative recipes (BBC Good Food, 2015; Heathcote et al., 2019) to
advertising a brand or a store (Jamie Oliver, 2015; Nestlé Global, 2014),
from spreading special diet recipes (e.g. healthy, vegan, gluten or dairy-free,
…)(Coeliac UK, 2016; The Vegan Society, 2016; recipes.heart.org, 2017) to
creating a community (Yummly.com, 2017). Many sites or blogs of Italian
recipes are available on the web, in English or Italian; they can be divided
into two main categories with regard to the recipes they contain
Even though there are many websites dedicated to recipes, a new site
and dataset was created because
• recipes must be only those of the Italian culinary tradition,
specifically related to all Italian regions, and
• it was necessary to have a supervised dataset to allow the application
of new visualization and search algorithms.
CookIt Portal
The aim of the portal is to promote awareness of Italian cuisine recipes and
the Mediterranean diet, of which Italian cuisine is an important element.
However, Italian cuisine is diversified with thousands of different recipes
that are constantly changing. For this reason, the portal focuses only on
traditional food recipes considered the core and heart of Italian cuisine,
150 Chapter 10 Safeguarding Italian Traditional Recipes
with the aim of preserving the typical ones, also considering local variations.
Each family has a version of the recipe, 'the only truly traditional one,' which
is taught from mother to daughter: users are allowed to insert their own in a
simplified way.
The portal has been designed with the intention of creating an efficient,
effective, usable, and user-oriented site (Krug, 2013; Rosenfeld et al., 2004).
A. Types of Information
Navigation and retrieval for the CookIT Portal were designed and
implemented focusing on the multimodal nature of collected data. CookIT
offers a standard retrieval interface that allows users to perform searches in
two steps to reduce the results to more targeted results.
The user can search data through different concepts:
• Food name: Pasta alla Amatriciana
• Category: first courses, bread and pizza, quiche
• Ingredients: artichokes, peeled almonds or pistachios
• Place / around me: near Rome, Mountain of the Alps
• Date: Christmas, Easter, etc.
• Color: red, purple, white.
• Nutrients: vitamin A, protein.
• Special diets/allergens: vegan, crustacean allergy
• Calories: low calorie, under 100 cal.
• TAG: easy recipe, children
• Other versions.
Recipes are retrieved combining different keys: tags, co-occurrence of
words related to recipes, localization, etc., and results are offered as a list,
as a mosaic, as points in a map, as points in a calendar, and as charts and
graphs to show how recipes are related to ingredients, categories, tags, and
any other data.
Maria Teresa Artese and Isabella Gagliardi and Gianluigi Ciocca 153
Fig. 1 shows the search by region, a view of Italian regions that can be
navigated using zoom tools. Graphic icons in red define the category
of each recipe (e.g. first courses, main courses, street food, hors
d'oeuvres, side dishes, bread/pizza, etc.) while round circles in blue
and yellow indicate a collection to zoom in, because several recipes
are in the same position. Search results can be reduced by selecting an
additional filter among categories, tags, or ingredients.
154 Chapter 10 Safeguarding Italian Traditional Recipes
Fig. 3 shows the recipes on a chart, where the vertical axis represents the
calories and the horizontal axis has the recipes. Other possible choices
for the horizontal axis are regions or categories. On the left ,the list of
ingredients can be used to narrow the search. Recipes on the chart can
be browsed by moving the mouse, and a double click opens a detail
view.
Maria Teresa Artese and Isabella Gagliardi and Gianluigi Ciocca 155
Résumé
L’UNESCO comprend plusieurs éléments liés à l’alimentation qui font partie
du patrimoine culturel immatériel à sauvegarder. Les produits alimentaires,
la diète, la transformation et les recettes font partie intégrante de l'identité
culturelle des groupes sociaux, qui induit de ce fait la nécessité de les
préserver. Les recettes traditionnelles font notamment partie de ces éléments
transmis de génération en génération qui offrent des liens étroits avec un
territoire particulier. Animés par le rôle important des recettes culinaires,
nous présentons dans cet article CookIT, un portail Web destiné à recueillir
et à partager des recettes traditionnelles italiennes liées à la cuisine
régionale. Son objectif est de diffuser et de sauvegarder la connaissance des
recettes italiennes typiques et de la diète méditerranéenne, qui constitue une
partie importante de la cuisine italienne.
Le portail est conçu pour permettre une navigation multimodale à
travers les recettes. Il offre des interfaces de recherche standard basées sur
des mots-clés et des balises sur un certain nombre de données textuelles
différentes telles que des informations historiques, des recettes similaires,
des procédures de cuisson, des informations nutritionnelles, etc. Le
portail prend également en charge différentes stratégies de visualisation
des éléments sélectionnés pour engager l'utilisateur dans l'exploration des
différents aspects de la cuisine italienne.
La plus importante connaissance de la tradition liée à l’alimentation
et aux recettes est préservée au sein de la famille et est transmise par le
fait de cuisiner ensemble entre les générations. Afin de préserver cette
connaissance, le portail permet aux utilisateurs d'insérer leur propre version
de la recette, de manière simple et conviviale, en joignant éventuellement la
vidéo de la recette et des spécialités de la famille.
158 Chapter 10 Safeguarding Italian Traditional Recipes
Bibliography
Brulotte, R. L., & Di Giovine, M. A. (Eds.). (2016). Edible identities:
Food as cultural heritage. Routledge.
Mori, S., Sasada, T., Yamakata, Y., & Yoshino, K. (2012). A machine
learning approach to recipe text processing. In: Proceedings of the 1st
Cooking with Computer Workshop. 29-34.
Ciocca, G., Napoletano P., and Schettini R. (2017). "Food Recognition: A
New Dataset, Experiments, and Results," in IEEE Journal of Biomedical
and Health Informatics, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 588-598.
Ciocca G., Napoletano P., Schettini R., CNN-based features for retrieval and
classification of food images, C omputer Vision and Image
Understanding, in press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cviu.2018.09.001.
Krug, S. (2013). Don't make me think, revisited. 2nd ed. Pearson Education.
Rosenfeld, L., Morville, P., Arango, J. and Morville, P. (2004.). Information
architecture for the World Wide Web. O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Goel, K., Guha, R. V., & Hansson, O. (2009). Introducing rich snippets.
Google Webmaster Central Blog.
Ronallo, Jason. "HTML5 Microdata and Schema. org." Code4Lib Journal 16
(2012).
Aims.fao.org. (2016). AGROVOC | Agricultural Information Management
Standards (AIMS). [online] Available at: http://aims.fao.org/vest-
registry/vocabularies/agrovoc [Accessed 27 Dec. 2017].
Battistoni, N. (2018). Spaghetti e Sugo all'Amatriciana un Classico della
Cucina Italiana. [online] Sugoallamatriciana.it. Available at: https://
www.sugoallamatriciana.it/ [Accessed 7 Aug. 2018
BBC Good Food. (2015). British. [online] Available at: https://www.
bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/british [Accessed 7 Jun. 2018].
BDA. (2018). Benvenuti! - BDA. [online] Available at: http://www.bda-ieo.
it/ [Accessed 3 Mar. 2018].
Coeliac UK. (2016). Home of Gluten Free Recipes - Inspiration and tips
for gluten free cooking. [online] Available at: https://www.coeliac.org.
uk/gluten-free-diet-and-lifestyle/recipe-database/ [Accessed 7 Feb.
2018].
Cianci, C. (2016). Terre dei Trabocchi - Abruzzo. [online] Terre dei
Trabocchi. Available at: http://www.visitterredeitrabocchi.it/ [Accessed
25 Nov. 2018].
Choosemyplate.gov. (2014). Welcome to MyPlate | ChooseMyPlate. [online]
Maria Teresa Artese and Isabella Gagliardi and Gianluigi Ciocca 159
Jamie Oliver. (2014). All recipes | Jamie Oliver. [online] Available at: https://
www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/ [Accessed 7 Mar. 2019].
Multimediali@IMATI-CNR, L. (2017). QueryLab. [online] Arm.mi.imati.
cnr.it. Available at: http://arm.mi.imati.cnr.it/querylab/home_page.
php?status=start [Accessed 7 Oct. 2018].
The Vegan Society. (2016). Recipes. [online] Available at: https://www.
vegansociety.com/resources/recipes [Accessed 7 Oct. 2018].
Maria Teresa Artese and Isabella Gagliardi and Gianluigi Ciocca 161
ChAPtER
11
the Eldest Meal is Borsch
Oleksandr Butsenko
Senior Researcher, National Academy of Arts of Ukraine
Valentyna Demian
Vice Director, Development Centre “Democracy through Culture”
162 Chapter 11 The Eldest Meal is Borsch
Another idea of the origin of the meal’s name is related with the wild
plant borschovyk or borschivka (Oxalis acetosella, wood sorrel), as Artiukh
L. (2006) suggested. Many recipes of borsch preparation in spring when the
first green comes out and included fragrant herbs gathered in the forests
and in the meadows, not grown in household plots. The mentioned plant
(borschivka) relates to such herbs. On having many useful properties and
taste quality like lemon, it could substitute dock (sorrel) introducing an
unusual taste to the meal. In this connection it should be mentioned also
lesser celandine (Ficaria verna). Young leaves of the plant gathered before
flowering, a component of spring salads, were put in spring soups and
vitamin chowders and, of course, in borsch while flowers were marinated
and added as a spice or hot sauce. They added also goosefoot, which is an
excellent vitamin supplement in early spring. Without an obvious taste
and aromatic quality, it is an unsurpassed component of so called green
borsch. Another equally interesting component of green borsch is nettle
which, except that has medicinal properties, is an excellent ingredient of
many spring dishes as a good vitamin supplement, however, only when it
is young. Many components form the green borsch: wood garlic, sorrel,
goosefoot, lesser celandine, nettle, borschivka—all these ingredients form a
kind of vitamin bomb. Our ancestors have transferred to us centuries-long
knowledge about the world and, particularly, the ability to eat plants that
emerge first in spring when the body demands new strength and vitamins
while many vegetables have run out or have lost their nourishment from
imperfect storage. Although storage has improved today and vegetables
are kept better, our body demands new vitamins, and food such as green
borsch is, therefore, life-giving and delicious. In other words, knowledge
of our ancestors helps us today though we don’t usually consider the wealth
we have inherited. It is worth emphasizing that just knowledge about herbs
and plants and their consumption, inter alia, has saved people in lean years
when we had to obtain the recipes of “hungry” or “empty” borsch. Today,
using these recipes we don’t always wonder under what circumstances they
have appeared and what role nettle, goosefoot, lesser celandine, wood sorrel,
dock, and wood garlic have played. In those times when the only food was
Oleksandr Butsenko and Valentyna Demian 169
hungry borsch, such “brews of plants” saved many lives. Today, as a brief
analysis of social networks has shown (Green borsch, 2019) numerous
Facebook users in Ukraine welcome the coming of spring for plants,
allowing them to prepare the first fresh borsch.
According to folk beliefs, garden and fieldwork should start after the
Christian holiday, the Annunciation of the Lord. Though the Christian
religion doesn’t regulate garden and fieldwork, here we see the vivid
integration of traditional customs basing on observation and popular
farming practices. It is believed that on the Annunciation, the spring has
fought the winter, and the soil is ready to receive seeds, but to do so earlier
you could “trouble” the land. By the way, it’s also true with respect to
gathering different plants for the green borsch: before this holiday one can’t
trouble the land and gather plants since, as a proverb says: “At Annunciation,
even birds don’t make their nests.” It should be noted also, that the majority
of Ukrainians ensure that products for borsch preparation are high quality
and environmentally sound. According to tradition, borsch will not be tasty
if even one ingredient is not good quality. As one of owners of the Ukrainian
traditional cuisine chain (eco-chain bat’kivska khata/ “father’s house”) has
said us (Poplavsky M., 2019, private talk), it’s necessary to pay particular
attention to the water for the borsch along with vegetables, meat, and spices.
Water quality greatly affects edibility. In addition to growing vegetables on
special plots for restaurants, this eco-chain owner brings pure spring water
for borsch preparation from one of the regions of Ukraine.
In the view of experts, food preparation and food consumption on
holidays support the development of private relations and strengthen
social links. The time for food preparation and consumption is time spent
with family, friends, and colleagues and allows additional communication
and enhances social cohesion. Undoubtedly, borsch preparation and
consumption, as opposed to fast food, belongs to the category of slow food,
a cuisine on which communication and relationships, and culture are built.
Besides, we can say with certainty that there is a whole ceremony in addition
to preparing and savoring borsch, which includes harvesting, buying
vegetables at the market, etc. As a website of the cuisine chain Bat’kivska
Khata proclaims (До джерел, 2013):
Today when the food market is flooded with fast foods and products
with carcinogenic and chemical additives, it’s very important to
safeguard and transfer from generation to generation recipes for
national dishes, to promote healthy and useful food, especially among
young people, since we’re genetically adapted for its consumption. This
food contains all necessary components to nourish the human body,
gives inspiration for conquering new peaks, and makes us feel well and
in good spirit.
Oleksandr Butsenko and Valentyna Demian 171
It’s not strange, therefore, that traditional foods used for preparing
borsch have become a basic indicator for the social well-being determining
the cost of the shopping basket, the production level, and the industrial
ecology. Today, in Ukraine they used to measure the basic food basket
through the traditional “borsch set” that is, at cost of components presenting
in the borsch in Ukraine recipe. In such a way, different Ukrainian media
show (Борщовий делікатес (2019); Експерти порівняли вартість борщу
в Україні та за кордоном (2018) the consumption capacity of Ukrainians
using the set of products for the traditional borsch.
Borschiv, a town in western Ukraine organizes an annual festival
Borsch’yiv ( “one has eaten borsch”). According to legend, this meal is of
particular importance for locals. It is said that during the Turkish siege
of the town, a local hostess served borsch for the uninvited guests, and
since they didn’t like anything, the angry hostess struck the chieftain on
the forehead with a ladle, and he choked to death on borsch. And for this
reason, the town was called Borschiv. Whether it is true or not, it shows that Ficaria verna or lesser celandine is a sign of
spring and the green borsch season, 2018
disrespecting the meal can lead to terrible things: say to the hostess that © Valentyna Demian, DC “Development
something wrong with her borsch, it will offend her deeply. through Culture”
172 Chapter 11 The Eldest Meal is Borsch
But the real heart of the festival is the master class in family borsch,
dishes from “mother, grandmother, aunt…” That diversity of borsch recipes
and cooking methods confirms that the dish has united all manifestations
Oleksandr Butsenko and Valentyna Demian 173
of the living culture—that is, deep knowledge about the world, plants,
vegetables, and fruits as well as about fragrant herbs used for preparation,
their taste, and useful properties. Popular attitudes to borsch are reflected
in the proverb: “We have nothing to eat if we have no borsch.” Each
hostess prepares and serves the borsch usually prepared for her family and
transferred from generation to generation, and is still prepared and savored
in her household. One more attractive feature of the festival in Opishnia
is a clay pot in which borsch has been traditionally served. As the festival
founder has told (Buhai A., 2018):
At first for me, the clay pot was a research subject; later I started
preparing different kinds of borsch in it. I’m very glad that we have Guests from Estonia and Poland of the
international literary and artistic festival
tasted over fifty kinds of borsch at the festival. It’s impossible not to
“Krolevets Woven Towels” in the town of
come to borsch since, as people say, borsch and porridge are our living Krolevets (Sumy region of Ukraine), are
food. It is the health of nation. It’s our “chip and our brand.” tasted local borsch. 2017
© Valentyna Demian, DC “Development
through Culture”
174 Chapter 11 The Eldest Meal is Borsch
As one of the folk sayings gathered by the eminent Ukrainian poet Ivan
Franko at the beginning of twentieth century argues, “the eldest meal is
borsch” (Франко І. 1901). One of questions in the survey, realized by the
NGO Democracy through Culture (Survey, 2018) was: “In your opinion,
what is the main national dish?” 99% of respondents gave a definite answer:
borsch.
In conclusion
Coming from ancient times, borsch in Ukraine, in all its varieties remains
a popular meal, representing not only traditional food preparation but also
cultural and social habits, knowledge about the world around and diversity
of expressions. It is a real living heritage of the Ukrainian people transferred
from generation to generation, covering all regions of Ukraine and all
social groups. Despite globalization and the influx of fast food, borsch has
maintained its position in the life of modern Ukraine, receiving worldwide
recognition. However, it faces some challenges. Those challenges include
bad quality of water, especially in cities, environmental factors reflecting
on the quality of borsch components (vegetables and plants), alteration of
cooking process transforming it in fast food preparation or “ethno-cuisine”
for tourists. We can say that safeguarding and further developing food
culture such as borsch demand coordinated efforts in different areas: culture,
education, ecology, agriculture, etc.—that is, a comprehensive program.
With this aim, several non-governmental, public and private organizations
Oleksandr Butsenko and Valentyna Demian 175
Résumé
Venant des temps anciens, le borsch en Ukraine dans toutes ses variétés reste
un repas populaire, représentant non seulement la préparation des plats
traditionnels, mais aussi les habitudes culturelles et sociales, la connaissance
du monde et la diversité des expressions. C’est un véritable patrimoine
vivant du peuple ukrainien qui est transmis de génération en génération, qui
couvre toutes les régions de l’Ukraine et concerne tous les groupes sociaux.
En dépit d'une mondialisation et d'une restauration rapide (fast-food)
difficiles à freiner, le borsch a maintenu sa position dans la vie de l'Ukraine
moderne et jouit d'une reconnaissance mondiale. Cependant, il fait face à
des défis. Ceux-ci incluent : la mauvaise qualité de l’eau, en particulier dans
les villes ; certains facteurs environnementaux ayant une incidence sur la
qualité des composants du borsch (légumes et plantes), et l’altération du
processus de cuisson au profit d’un type de restauration rapide ou d’une «
cuisine ethnique » pour les touristes. Nous pouvons dire que la sauvegarde
et le développement ultérieur d'une culture alimentaire telle que le borsch
exigent des efforts coordonnés dans différents domaines au sein d’un
programme complet : culture, éducation, écologie, agriculture, etc. À cette
fin, plusieurs organisations non gouvernementales, publiques et privées
(Centre de développement Démocratie par la culture, ONG WOMEN Plus,
Union nationale des maîtres d’art populaire d’Ukraine, Société nationale
karaïte Djamaat, festivals Borsch in a clay pot et Borsch'yiv, la chaîne de
restaurants écologiques Bat'kivska Khata), en collaboration avec l'Académie
nationale des arts de l'Ukraine et certaines universités, ont lancé des activités
de recherche, de promotion et de préparation de la culture alimentaire
ukrainienne (en particulier le borsch et les traditions liées au pain) pour
son inscription au Registre national du patrimoine culturel immatériel de
l'Ukraine.
176 Chapter 11 The Eldest Meal is Borsch
Bibliography
Green borsch. (2019). Brief survey of social networks. Development through
Culture Surveys, 2019. Democracy through Culture, Kyiv
Language: living and modern culture. Development through Culture, 2019.
Available at: http://demcult.org/en/language-as-a-treasure-trove-of-
the-past-and-the-foundation-for-the-future/ (Accessed:29 March
2019).
Survey about borsch. Development through Culture Surveys 2018.
Democracy through Culture, Kyiv, 2018.
Артюх Л. (2006). Традиційна українська кухня в народному календарі.
Київ: Балтія-друк, 224 с. (Artiukh L. (2006). Traditional Ukrainian
cuisine in the popular calendar. Кyiv: Baltia-druk, 224 p. in Ukrainian)
Борщовий делікатес (2019). Available at: https://ua.vkadri.com/video/tsn-
tsiny-na-ovochevyi-nabir-dlia-borshchu-byut-rekordy.html (Accessed:
30 March 2019)
Бугай А. (2018). “Олена Щербань розказала, яким був борщ її бабусі”,
Область. Онлайн, 13.08. Available at: https://pl.oblast.online/news/
olena-shherban-rozkazala-yakim-buv-borshh-yiyi-babusi/ (Accessed:
27 March 2019)
Денисенко Л., ред. (1960). Українські страви. 3-е видання. Київ:
Державне видавництво технічної літератури. С. 3 (L. Denysenko,
ed. (1960). Ukrainian dishes. 3rd edn. Kyiv: State Publishing House of
Technical Literature. P. 3 (In Ukrainian).
До джерел (2013). Available at: http://batkivskahata.com/do-dzherel/
(Accessed: 30 March 2019)
Експерти порівняли вартість борщу в Україні та за кордоном (2018).
Available at: https://tsn.ua/groshi/eksperti-porivnyali-vartist-borschu-
v-ukrayini-ta-za-kordonom-1194243.html (Accessed: 30 March 2019)
Запорізький обласний методичний центр культури і мистецтва (2018).
Страви різних національностей (Zaporizky regional methodological
center for culture and art (2018). Dishes of different nationalities. In
Ukrainian)
Смоляр В.І. (2008) “Формування і розквіт української кухні”, Проблеми
харчування, № 12, c. 63-66 (Smoliar V. (2008) «Formation and
flourishing of Ukrainian cuisine”, Problems of nutrition, № 12, p. 63-66.
In Ukrainian)
Oleksandr Butsenko and Valentyna Demian 177
ChAPtER
12
the Masters of Ceremonial Dishes in turkey
Traditional Female Cooks
Introduction
In Turkey, it is mostly traditional female cooks who prepare wedding dishes
in most villages, although their numbers have declined. Traditional female
cooks have almost always been at the center of my culinary field research. I
carried out an important part of this research in the villages and small towns
of the Aegean (Izmir, Aydın, Manisa), Mediterranean (Adana), Marmara
(Balıkesir, Çanakkale), and Central Anatolia (Çorum) regions between 1998
and 2018. The data I obtained by interviewing and observing techniques in
groups that describe themselves as immigrants, natives, Alawis, Yoruks, or
Turkomans in these settlements showed that traditional female cooks who
prepare ceremonial dishes, especially for weddings, have some common
equipment and knowledge. This equipment included the ability to control
the material, cooking and presentation techniques of ceremonial food and
to transfer the traditional knowledge, skills, and experience of food to future
generations.
During my field research, I had the opportunity to observe traditional
female cooks closely during the preparation of ceremonial dishes. Besides
the ceremony, I tried to get in-depth information through interviews. I
watched their self-confident, calm but serial moves in between other work
like cleaning, cutting, and chopping vegetables, cereals, and meat. I listened
to the orders, suggestions, and warnings they gave to the women helping
them and witnessed them understanding the state and taste of the dishes by
just observing or smelling the dish. They answered my questions during dish
preparations, cooking processes, and related efforts. Through the face-to-
face interviews, I gathered information about the process of them becoming
cooks, the role of traditional cooks in rituals, and the “traditionality”
dimension of the dish. I learned more about the dish fact, which is one of
the visible and dynamic areas of cultural identity, and means for groups
and communities. Through these observations and interviews, I tried to
understand how traditional knowledge about culinary culture and food
is formed and the ways this accumulation is maintained, developed, and
transmitted. I saw that the characteristics these women should have to be
accepted as traditional cooks by the community are clearly defined within
the tradition. To “cook well” was a priority, but not a sufficient measure to
be a traditional cook. Female cooks were expected to have other qualities
and even some personal characteristics. What lies in the knowledge, skills,
and experience of these tradition transmitters? In other words; what are the
Nihal Kadıoğlu Çevik 181
To give halva a hardened consistency, all these ingredients are mixed for a
long time, rested, and shaped. If baklava will be served at the ceremony, the
family hosting it prepares or buys it in advance.
The knowledge and experience of the traditional cook with regard to
cooking appliances as well as the edible ingredients affects the quality and
duration of the cooking process. It is observed that they develop practical
solutions with regard to cooking and serving thanks to their knowledge,
skills, and experience. For example, to protect the copper boilers set from
the wood fire, they put a lye paste under the boiler, which also provides
equal heat distribution and makes cleaning easier after cooking. They
put special fabrics around rice pots to keep them warm and rested. If the
number of participants is more than expected, additional measures are
taken. For example, instead of serving the meat dish and rice separately, the
plates are prepared by placing the meat with broth on top of rice and thus
time is saved until the next rice is cooked.
Some female cooks have their own personal rituals with regard to
abundance. They would not place the entire dish in the ladle onto the plate
while serving a ceremonial dish. They believe symbolically that this would
increase the abundance of the dish. Or, before starting to cook, they would
say “the hand is not mine, but of Hadrat-i Fatima’s” with reference to the
religious personality in the Islamic belief. In doing so, they believe that the
ceremonial dish will be delicious, abundant, and plentiful.
organizational Knowledge
It is expected that the focus dishes of the ritual that is bringing hundreds of
people together are prepared and served in line with traditions. The role of
these cooks in the dish gaining and maintaining importance as a common
cultural code for the participants of the ritual is significant. In this regard, it
can be said that the female cooks are the “directors” as well as the “leading
actresses” of the ceremonial dishes for the relevant community.
The host of the ceremony talks with the female cook beforehand
about the dishes to be cooked for the ceremony. The ingredients, number
of participants and the budget of the ceremonial dishes are determined.
Managing the catering part of the ceremony requires organizational skills
and knowledge. The cook would have her understanding of division of labor
in line with her cultural codes. The ingredients are cleaned and chopped
by other women participating in the preparations under the supervision
Nihal Kadıoğlu Çevik 185
of the cook. The cook controls fire-heat for the dishes to be prepared with
open fire. The cook makes a spatial arrangement in the place where the
ceremonial dish will be prepared and served. The cook also serves the dish.
Because the traditional knowledge that requires a sort of mathematical
knowledge, such as how much meat or broth will be placed on which plate
or the common plate is recorded in the memory of the cook. As the wedding
ceremony is still a three-day ceremony in the rural areas, the female cook
participates in almost all of the ceremonial process. The traditional cook is
involved in all the organization regarding the dishes, including the plans
made for situations that cannot be foreseen such as calculating the dishes
to be served to those attending the ceremony late. In this regard, the female
cooks should also be successful in risk management.
While meeting the expectation of the community that the ceremonial
dish should be delicious and plentiful, they also calculate the costs to not
cause waste. The preparations, cooking, and distribution of the ceremonial
dish require knowledge and experience in issues overcoming the food
context, related to organization, cost calculation, and edible ingredients as
well as the social status, age, and gender of the participants.
also protects the dishes from direct sunlight that would spoil them. She also
determines the place where the dishes will be washed to prevent the guests
from seeing this mess. All these ensure that the venue is used effectively for
cooking. Thus, the traditional cook builds up a complex kitchen, which is
temporary but serving hundreds of people.
There was an old female cook at a wedding. While she was preparing
the wedding dishes, I was peeling the onions and potatoes, washing
them and helping her. She told me to watch her with eagle eyes. Then
she asked me to take the ladle and take care of the food. She guided and
warned me when I was roasting the onions and adding the broth to the
dish. She is no longer alive, but now I’m practicing the cooking skills
I observed and learned from her. Like her, I'm trying to teach what I
know to the girls who are willing to cook.
Characteristic Features
It is not enough for the cooks to have technical knowledge regarding
applications or personal skills. Traditional female cooks are the tradition
transmitters that have been “approved” by the community with regards to
culinary culture. For this approval, personal characteristic features are also
considered. For example, the hygiene consideration of the cook should have
been approved by the community. For example, she has to be discreet. The
cook has concrete information about the budget of the ceremony spared
by the host. (Whether or not the cook receives material remuneration for
cooking, the issues like the variety and quantity of the meat to be used are
related to the family’s budget. If the budget is limited, the cook might be
190 Chapter 12 The Masters of Ceremonial Dishes in Turkey
asked to prepare the keşkek with chicken meat instead of veal. Or, the cook
who knows about the situation might use cheaper ingredients to increase
the quantity of the dish). These are included in that oral or verbal contract
and require being discrete.
With regards to the personal characteristics features again, the female
cooks are expected to have the skill to be kind but firm. The cook is
responsible for whether the ceremony meets the expectations, ends without
problems and with less gossip. She has to be quick but careful, tolerant
but decisive, controlling but composed, patient enough to answer calmly
the rushed questions, and competent enough to manage all aspects of the
ceremonial dishes.
Most of the time, all these traditional knowledge and skills and the
accumulation of traditional female cooks with regard to the culinary culture
are deleted from the memories without a chance to be transmitted to the
next generation. Recently institutionalized restaurants or firms are replacing
traditional cooks. The jobs of cooks at ceremonies like circumcisions,
engagements, and weddings are now mostly taken over by men. Thus,
it is witnessed that the dishes with meaning for the community are not
given a place in the ceremonies, or standard menus are set with standard
techniques.
In addition to the large copper cauldrons in which ceremonial dishes
are cooked and are the common property of the village community, wooden
cooking utensils and copper or zinc service plates are washed together after
the ceremony and are carefully preserved until the next ceremonial dish.
This equipment has begun to be replaced by plastic table d’hôte containers.
Although these containers provide ease of use, since recycling is difficult in
rural areas, they create environmental pollution.
Conclusion
Food has an impact that strengthens communal belonging, supports the
harmony between socio-cultural groups, and unites. We see that this
uniting effect of food is stronger in common community ceremonies. The
traditional cooks who prepare these dishes for specific ceremonies are
tradition transmitters who provide knowledge transfer between generations.
The knowledge that she has gotten from the elderly women of the family and
other traditional cooks within the kitchen since her childhood, that which
Nihal Kadıoğlu Çevik 191
has remained from her observations and the meanings that she has gathered
from the food stories told constitute genuine data in the memory of the
cook. The knowledge, skill, and experience of traditional female cooks, who
manage the crowded and multi-tasked ceremonial dishes, different from the
daily cooking practices, constitute a continuously updated field of cultural
heritage.
Traditional female cooks, who are the leading representatives and
transmitters of rural culinary culture, have an important role in transmitting
“knowledge based on experience related to nature and universe” as defined
in the UNESCO 2003 Convention. The analysis of knowledge transmission
regarding the preparing, cooking, and serving the dishes and creating and
producing food related to different ethnic, religious, and cultural groups is
important. A regional inventory work in the name of the Cultural Research
Foundation (KAV) is being carried out regarding traditional female cooks.
In addition to inventory studies, KAV is carrying out studies to
convey the knowledge and skills of traditional female cooks to urban
environments. The aim of these studies is to enable traditional female cooks
to communicate traditional knowledge within their context in academic
institutions where cooking education is given, in education centers affiliated
to local governments and formal education programs, and in NGOs. A
report is being prepared on the establishment of environments that will
enable this transfer and recommendations for the protection of places where
food traditions can be practiced.
It is thought that the culinary knowledge and experiences of traditional
female cooks can only be carried to urban life through widespread
education.
Résumé
De nombreux aliments syriens sont associés à des coutumes et à des
événements sociaux, et il est essentiel de documenter ce patrimoine
immatériel en tant que partie intégrante de l'identité culturelle des
communautés et du développement d'une nation et de sa civilisation. De
nombreuses recherches sur la cuisine syrienne ont été présentées dans des
ouvrages et des encyclopédies, tels que La gastronomie de la femme au
foyer damascène de Munir Kayyal, L’Encyclopédie d’Alep de Khair Al-Deen
Assadi ou La cuisine aleppine de Lina Baydoun.
192 Chapter 12 The Masters of Ceremonial Dishes in Turkey
note
1. Personal communication with N. Mıhçı (Traditional Cook, age 55),
Çorum, October 2000
2. Personal communication with M. Köseoğlu (Traditional Cook, age 57),
Çanakkale, June 2010
3. Personal communication with M. Demir (Traditional Cook, age 65),
Balıkesir, May 2014
4. Personal communication with Ş.Kublay (Traditional Cook, age 61), İzmir,
July 2016
5. Personal communication with Fevziye K. (Traditional Cook, age 50),
İzmir, May 2017
6. Personal communication with A. Kuru (Traditional Cook, age 48),
Manisa, March 2018
7. Personal communication with L.Özcezar (Traditional Cook, age 64),
Kastamonu, May 2018
Bibliography
Unesco.org. (2019). UNESCO - Intangible Heritage Home. [online]
Available at: http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/ [Accessed 10 Sep.
2019].
Folk-portal.org. (2019). Oltu Cağ Kebabı. [online] Available at: https://folk-
portal.org/category/doga-ve-evren-ile-ilgili-bilgi-ve-uygulamalar/
yemek-tarifleri-kislik-hazirliklar-mutfak-araclari-ascilik-toren-
yemekleri-tarim-hayvancilik [Accessed Aug. 2018].
Çevik, N. K.(2012). Traditional Female Cooks and Transfer of Knowledge-
Experience in Urban Life, International Congress of Turkish Folk
Culture, p.9.
194 Chapter 12 The Masters of Ceremonial Dishes in Turkey
Nihal Kadıoğlu Çevik 195
ChAPtER
13
the Pastellessa between
Music and traditional Food
Emanuela Esposito
Coordinator, ICARO Consortium
Vincenzo Capuano
Associazione Sant’Antuono & le Battuglie di Pastellessa
196 Chapter 13 The Pastellessa between Music and Traditional Food
Since ancient times, in areas with difficult geography and during times
of adverse weather conditions or abject poverty, chestnuts were the only
Emanuela Esposito and Vincenzo Capuano 197
source of income. Over the centuries, the extent of reliance gave chestnuts
the name “tree bread.” They are consumed in a lot of ways—roasted, boiled,
or even ground for use as a flour—as a fruit, they’re particularly calorific
(100 grams are equivalent to 174 calories). They are rich in minerals and
vitamins, with high antioxidant content. They reduce cholesterol and are
high in carbohydrates and gluten-free. Chestnuts can be turned into a bread,
pasta, or flour, indicated for people with coeliac disease (Cocolo, 2018).
Even though Macerata Campania is situated in flat plains and has a mild
climate, from the reading of a few ancient documents, it emerges that in the
nineteenth century, in the locality Caturano, there was chestnut production,
currently non-existent (Capuano, 2017). The existence of a booming
chestnut trade as early as the eighteenth century, helped by the proximity
to hilly area of Roccamonfina, Italy, known for centuries for its chestnut
production, can be confirmed too. In fact, in the census of 1754 the ancient
craft of chestnut dealer is recorded, practiced by a man named Marcantonio
Iannotta, a chestnut merchant and shopkeeper who, in addition to his wife
had nine sons, two of whom, Cesare and Francesco, of 18 and 14, practiced
the same activity as their father. On this occasion Marcantonio Iannotta
defines himself as a chestnut merchant and a foodstuffs salesman (Massaro,
1987).
So no wonder that past’ e ‘llessa has been elected as typical dish of the
Feast of Sant’Antuono; it turned out to be, over the years, an exclusive and a
representative element of the culture of Macerata Campania, in Italy and the
rest of the world.
Such a culinary activity let the users express their capacity, respect
their commitments, realize a product, and keep and develop special skills
to achieve greater autonomy and personal fulfilment. To have a “made
together” meal represented an intimate emotional moment of sharing,
lived not by the usual group but by a wider and (above all) different one.
Preparing a traditional meal linked to a particular moment of happiness
allowed a cultural exchange, approaching a common tradition and story
well known from a musical point of view. Furthermore, preparing past’ e
‘llessa was an environmentally sustainable choice, by using typical regional
products.
The long-term goal is to facilitate the development of skills related
to the gastronomic field and to promote public events, attributing to
disadvantaged people new social roles to be expressed through participation
as well as to combat the stigma of mental health.
So, food and music are the instruments used by the Better Together
project to
Emanuela Esposito and Vincenzo Capuano 201
❶ ❷
© Vincenzo Capuano
Method ❶ The ingredients of the past’ e ‘llessa
❷ The past’ e ‘llessa, pasta with boiled
1. Take a large pan and start your soffritto, by lightly frying a clove of
chestnuts
garlic and some chili in olive oil, until garlic gets brown.
2. Then complete your soffritto, by adding some boiled chestnuts
3. Make a basic sauce by adding some blended chestnuts.
4. Let everything simmer for a few minutes (so that a richer flavor can
develop).
5. Boil a pot of water and cook the pasta, adding salt to taste.
6. Drain the pasta “al dente” (cooked until it’s just firm)
7. Stir-fry the pasta with the soffritto
8. Serve the dish steaming, add parsley if you like
Variant
• before adding chestnuts, add a lightly fried bacon (100 grams for 4
people) and a little jowl bacon
• Cook until all the ingredients are brown.
204 Chapter 13 The Pastellessa between Music and Traditional Food
Résumé
Les principaux ingrédients sont les châtaignes, comme toujours un élément
essentiel de la cucina povera italienne (littéralement « cuisine pauvre »),
appelées « pain aux arbres » au fil des siècles. En fait, elles sont si bonnes et
nutritives qu’elles peuvent être consommées de nombreuses façons : rôties,
bouillies ou même moulues et utilisées comme farine.
Les marronniers revêtent une importance considérable du point de vue
social et économique, en particulier en Campanie. En effet, cette région est
le plus grand producteur de châtaignes d'Italie, et la couverture de ces arbres
montre, outre un intérêt économique, un aménagement paysager, un rôle
récréatif et environnemental joué par les châtaigneraies, permettant aux
communautés locales de mettre en œuvre une politique de développement
durable.
Même si Macerata Campania est située dans des plaines et se caractérise
par un climat doux, il ressort de la lecture de quelques documents anciens
qu’au XIXe siècle, il existait une production de châtaigniers qui n’existe
plus aujourd’hui. L’existence d’un commerce florissant de châtaigniers peut
également être confirmée par le recensement de 1754.
Il n’est donc pas étonnant que le past’ e ‘llessa ait été élu comme plat
typique de la fête de Sant’Antuono ; au fil des ans, il s'est révélé être un
élément exclusif et représentatif de la culture de Macerata Campania, en
Italie et dans le monde, ajouté en 2011 aux 150 plats traditionnels les plus
représentatifs de la culture et de l'histoire italiennes. De plus, en 2012, les
autorités municipales ont attribué à Macerata Campania la dénomination de
« Ville de la Pastellessa », ce qui témoigne d'un lien étroit avec le patrimoine
culturel immatériel de la communauté, conformément à la Convention de
l’UNESCO de 2003.
Emanuela Esposito and Vincenzo Capuano 205
Bibliography
Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (2015) Ricette di altri
tempi, La cucina povera. Available at: http://www.istruzione.it/
allegati/2015/Ricette di altri tempi - La cucina povera.pdf (Downloaded:
14 August 2018).
Capuano, V. (2017) Sant’Antuono e le battuglie di pastellessa, Fede e
tradizione a Macerata Campania. Macerata Campania: Centro Studi
Historia Loci.
Cocolo, S. (2018) Castagne: proprietà nutrizionali e benefici per la salute,
Available at: https://www.viversano.net/alimentazione/mangiare-sano/
castagne-proprieta-controindicazioni/ (Accessed: 14 August 2018).
Massaro, A. (1987) Aspetti di vita a Macerata e Caturano nei secoli passati.
Macerata Campania: Parrocchia San Martino Vescovo.
Sapere Sapori and Associazione Nazionale Città del Vino (2011) Un’Italia:
150 anni, 150 piatti, 150 vini, 150 territori. Napoli: Ci.Vin.
Municipality of Macerata Campania (2012) Decision of the Municipal
Council N° 29 of 21 November 2012 “Interventi di salvaguardia e di
sostegno del patrimonio culturale immateriale e della diversità culturale
della comunità di Macerata Campania e riconoscimento della festa di
Sant’Antuono”. Macerata Campania: The Stationary Office.
Esposito, E. and Capuano, V. (2017) ‘Traditional Medicine and Music: The
Pastellessa as Musicotherapy’, in Falk, E. (ed.) Traditional Medicine.
Sharing Experiences from the Field. Republic of Korea: ICHCAP and
#Heritage Alive, pp. 63-70.
Cristinzio, G. and Testa, A. (2006) Il castagno in Campania. Problematiche
e prospettive della filiera. Available at: http://www.agricoltura.regione.
campania.it/pubblicazioni/pdf/castagno.pdf (Downloaded: 14 August
2018).
Le terme « pastellessa » représente une combinaison extraordinaire de
nourriture, culture, musique et folklore à Macerata Campania, une
petite ville du sud de l’Italie. Ce terme vient du plat typique « past’ e
‘llessa » – des pâtes aux châtaignes cuites – préparé à l’occasion de la fête
de Sant’Antuono, c’est-à-dire de saint Antoine abbé.
206 Chapter 13 The Pastellessa between Music and Traditional Food
Emanuela Esposito and Vincenzo Capuano 207
ChAPtER
14
the Safeguarding and Diffusion of native
traditional Foods of Baja California, Mexico
Carolina Gutiérrez S.
Doctoral Program in Environment and Development, Food Studies Specialty,
Autonomous University of Baja California
Introduction
Traditional food systems of native peoples around the world are critical to
cultural identity and customs as well as to the continuation of biological
genetic diversity. However, such traditional cuisines are becoming
increasingly vulnerable due to the advent of global food systems, agro-
industry, and changing lifestyles as well as to shifting preferences and
ignorance of original ingredients. Furthermore, territorial transformations
and distancing from ancestral lands have led to the loss of knowledge
regarding the benefits of diverse ecosystems and their natural resources.
This narrative focuses on traditional native foods of the indigenous
peoples of the Baja California peninsula of northwestern Mexico. The
natives of this region stem from the Yuman-cochimi language family of the
southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, groups characterized
by a nomadic lifestyle that allowed them to take advantage of seasonal
variations in the ecosystems. Their principal subsistence activities of hunting
and gathering allowed them to adapt to extreme environments (Rogers,
1945:167-198), and seasonally move between inhospitable territories and
those that offered enough water to allow them to stock up for future need.
The native population was eventually subdivided into clans: the Kiliwa,
Cucapá, Paipai, and Kumiai, distributed in different areas and ecosystems
of the current state of Baja California (Martinez, 2011:608). These clans
developed a relationship with the land and the ingredients it provided,
which are still found in the cuisines of native communities.
There follows a description of the traditional native cuisines of Baja
California and the actions that have been implemented in recent years to
maintain and revive them. We obtained the information by interviewing
native elders about the ingredients of their traditional cuisines and their
preparation and customs surrounding their consumption.
However, this was not always the case. The Kumiai of 200 years ago were still
a semi-nomadic group that lived permanently in one place during certain
times of the year and moved according to the seasonality of food availability.
Doña Jobita is one of the elders who knows the traditions of the
Kumiai, and only sometimes cooks traditional food. She says that she
prefers ’ancestral food over Mexican food, recalling: “The bread was baked
with lard, there was no oil, only lard and pork were used to cook in the
communities. The kitchens had to be separated from the rooms, [because]
they used the brown stick to light the fire and cook. The utensils were made
Carolina Gutiérrez S. and Christine Alysse von Glascoe 211
of clay and the knives [were fashioned from] stone.” (Personal conversation
with Jobita, in the Kumiai community of La Huerta, B.C., Friday, May 13,
2016).
Acorns constituted one of the basic elements of their traditional diet.
During acorn season (from October to November), they would settle down
in the valleys to collect enough to have for the whole year. The women were
in charge of making the mystical “atole de bellota”, a thick drink made with
acorn flour. It is described as “mystical” because only one person had the
knowledge required for its preparation. The atole was accompanied by dried
venison meat, a “delicacy” for those who still remember. That delicious
combination is still consumed in traditional festivals and on special
occasions (in modest amounts due to the regulation of deer hunting).
“Now, I followed the tradition and I still make acorn atole. Yes, not
everyone likes the taste. But we eat it with food with salecita, although
some people add honey or sugar and milk.” (Personal conversation
with Beatriz Carrillo, in the community of San José de la Zorra, B.C.,
Thursday, July 21, 2016).
Ingredients
From the harvest…
500 gr. of acorns
2 gr. white sage seed
200 gr. wild greens
10 pieces white sage (leaf)
50 ml. wild honey.
The complements…
Pinole (traditional wheat drink), made from 80 gr. ground toasted
wheat, 20 ml. wild honey, and 200 ml. of cow’s milk
216 Chapter 14 The Safeguarding and Diffusion of Native Traditional Foods of Baja California, Mexico
Preparation:
Acorns are harvested from October to November. Doña Beatriz remembers
that during her childhood they “filled baskets for the whole year” (personal
communication, August 2017). After the harvest, the acorns are left to dry
and then subjected to a special process wherein they are beaten to remove
the yellow seed. The acorn seeds are then ground using a stone mortar to
create a yellow powder that is placed in a cloth filter and washed several
times to remove the bitterness. The final consistency is thick, like a dough.
Beatriz remembers that they collected the white sage seeds from the
dried flowers still on the bush. The seed was consumed directly, at times
to quell hunger on long trips. They also used the stems of sage bushes for
hydration during long treks across dry areas. The leaves were, and are still
used as incense for festivities or ceremonies, traditional medicine, and
cooking of stews with game meats. They are also sold in small bundles to
those who lack access to the bushes.
As described by Rigoberto and his wife Magda, from the community
of La Huerta, the dried meat can be of deer or beef (depending on
availability). After hunting or slaughter, fillets are cut, sprinkled with about
1½ tablespoons of salt, and left to dry in the sun. After drying, a machaca is
formed by crushing the meat in elongated stone mortars until it crumbles
into small pieces. The final dish is accompanied by the acorn atole, wild
greens, freshly made wheat tortillas, and a nice portion of ranch cheese.
Rigo and Magda gather wild greens around their ranch and community.
The flowers, leaves, and fruits are used, depending on the species. For this
recipe we use the ejotillo del monte (peritoma arborea), from which the
flowers and beans are used. The flowers are placed in boiling water and
then drained and placed in fresh boiling water. This procedure is repeated
as many times as necessary to remove the bitterness. They prepare this dish
whenever the plant is available, incorporating different ingredients such as
onion and scrambled eggs.
For the people of the community who cook, it is important to transmit
traditional flavors to the new generations so that the knowledge and taste of
their natural milieu are not lost. “The community grew up with [Magda’s]
grandmother, who taught them their customs,” and how to use ingredients
found in nature to create flavors that typify these communities (Rigoberto
Aldama, personal communication, August 5, 2018).
Carolina Gutiérrez S. and Christine Alysse von Glascoe 217
Résumé
Cet article fournit un exemple de la façon dont la cuisine traditionnelle
des peuples autochtones peut être revitalisée, dans le contexte de pratiques
actuelles et historiques qui reconnaissent la valeur d'utiliser des éléments
naturels sur lesquels a reposé leur subsistance pendant des millénaires.
Les cinq peuples autochtones de la Basse-Californie (Kumiai, Paipai,
Kiliwa, Cochimí et Cocopah) ont développé leurs connaissances et leurs
pratiques conformément aux modes de vie nomades qui les obligeaient
à s'adapter à différents écosystèmes pour survivre. Pour ces groupes, le
recours aux pratiques culinaires traditionnelles – en décroissance globale –
connaît actuellement un effort de revitalisation. Ces groupes autochtones
sont actuellement confrontés à des inégalités économiques, écologiques,
politiques et en matière de santé. Dans une certaine mesure, les défis
auxquels ils sont confrontés conditionnent et reflètent les formes modernes
d’alimentation et de préparation des aliments. Face à ce type de situation,
la FAO reconnaît les systèmes alimentaires traditionnels des peuples
autochtones, leur régime alimentaire traditionnel et leur gestion durable
des ressources naturelles en tant que moteurs de la diversification des
alternatives alimentaires. La recherche sur les cuisines traditionnelles est
associée à des interventions réalisées en collaboration avec les communautés
autochtones de la région, afin de générer des propositions impliquant
des ingrédients traditionnels, la conservation du patrimoine culinaire, la
revalorisation des ressources de la nature et la promotion de pratiques
d'alimentation ancestrales.
220 Chapter 14 The Safeguarding and Diffusion of Native Traditional Foods of Baja California, Mexico
Bibliography
Martinez, P. L. (2011). Historia de la Baja California. Instituto
Sudcaliforniano de Cultura, La Paz, Baja California Sur. Archivo
histórico Pablo L. Martinez, p.608.
Rogers, M. J. (1945). An outline of Yuman prehistory. Southwestern Journal
of Anthropology, 1(2), pp.167-198.
Gutierrez, S.C. (2016). La cocina tradicional del grupo Kumiai de Ensenada
Baja California: su preservación en un contexto de globalización. Tesis.
Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit. Tepic, Nayarit.
Garduño, E. (2015). Yumanos Pueblos Indígenas de México en el siglo XXI
(Comisión N). Av. México-Coyoacán 343, colonia Xoco, Delegación
Benito Juárez, C.P. 03330, México, D.F.
Carolina Gutiérrez S. and Christine Alysse von Glascoe 221
ChAPtER
15
traditional Food in Syria
Introduction
Long known as the cradle of civilization, the area that bounds from the
fertile valleys of Al-Hasakeh, across the ancient deserts of Palmyra, and
westward to the Mediterranean Sea, includes present-day Syria. Due to
the vastness of the region, it is no wonder that Syrian cuisine boasts a rich
culinary heritage defined by exceptional diversity and human creativity.
With the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Syria and
its culinary skills, which were influenced by the caravans and expeditions
that once travelled the Silk Road, have thrived and developed as part of the
cultural and social expressions of Syria’s ethnically and culturally diverse
communities. A heterogeneous mixture of Muslims, Christians, Armenians,
Kurds, Circassians, and others lends extreme importance to preserving
these traditional skills and knowledge to guarantee their transmission as
part of the intangible cultural heritage of communities and a tool for socio-
economic development.
The diversity of Syria’s ethnic, religious, and cultural fabric is
complemented by its fertile natural environment. Traditionally, Syrians do
not consume canned or processed goods—their food relies on fresh local
ingredients and spices free from artificial additives, as there is an abundant
supply of vegetables, fruits, and grains produced from family-owned
gardens and orchards, milk from their own livestock, and fresh yogurt and
cheese prepared at home. With these essential and easily accessible food
products, most families in rural areas are nutritionally self-sufficient, and
certain dishes are specifically associated with particular cities and villages,
allowing each area to offer a distinctive set of aromas, flavors, and colors as
A folkloric performance in Sweida before symbolic markers of their cultural identity.
the feast © Syria Trust for Development
Syria Trust for Development 223
unofficial title of the nation’s most exquisite cooks. Like most confident
culinary masters, they all laid claim to the crown.
Mansaf
South Syrian communities, such as Sweida, Daraa, and Golan prepare a
renowned, a deep circular two-handled platter filled with a thick layer
of cooked burghul and kibbeh (fried burghul balls stuffed with minced
meat) and topped with large pieces of lamb boiled in a liquid of spices,
until tender. Sometimes, chicken substitutes the lamb, but in communities
with strong practices and traditions associated with honoring one’s guest
are prevalent, a mansaf with a large serving of meat signifies the host’s
generosity and his honoring of an important guest, especially when offering
224 Chapter 15 Traditional Food in Syria
the more costly lamb over chicken. In some cases, an entire lamb is cooked
whole and placed to sit on top of the burghul; this is called karrouf mkattaf,
which translates to ‘crossed-arm lamb.’
Due to the social and cultural connotations of this dish, it is prepared on
special occasions, such as weddings and Eid celebrations, where hundreds
of people may be invited to the feast to share the meal. When preparing
for these feasts, women gather the day before to prepare the burghul and
the kibbeh while male relatives arrive in the early morning to slaughter the
animals according to certain rituals that are believed to bring blessings to
the home. “We are known to make mansaf for only special occasions, and
A Halaweh Homsiyeh street vendor- Homs, while outsiders might say that it gets boring eating the same thing, mansaf
Syria © Syria Trust for Development
to us is an expression of our communal values—it represents honor and
unity among our community, and we all understand it as such,” says Abu
Mazen from northern Sweida.
When lunch is served, and before the guests are invited to start eating,
the male host, or someone chosen by him, pours a supersized ladle of a
warm yellow yogurt (called mlehiyyi or mleihi) over the dish, followed
by a ladle of hot samneh (intensely flavored animal ghee). As this ritual
takes place, the host and the guests exchange pleasantries and wishes for
wealth and abundance, and then it’s time to eat—ya hayyala. (A traditional
community phrase used specifically in Sweida to greet and welcome guests.)
halaweh homsiyeh
Halaweh homsiyeh, also known as halawa khubziyeh, is a bright pink and
white layered confectionary with a sweet honey-like taste. This sticky treat is
usually cost effective to make, which is one of the reasons why it is so widely
consumed across the country.
The tasty Homs trademark of central Syria is made from a mixture of
different flours, salt, and water and kneaded until thick. Pink coloring is
added to half the mixture, which is then rolled out into thin sheets, torn into
uneven bite-sized pieces and then tossed into hot oil. After the pink and
white pieces are deep-fried separately, they are smothered in a sugar syrup
and then layered shaped into a pyramid- tower or stacked into containers.
When sweetening, it is important that the syrup is warm, so it is completely
absorbed by the pastry.
Each year, the people of Homs celebrate the Halaweh Thursday Festival
the week before Easter. During the festival, the city is decorated in floral
Syria Trust for Development 225
pink and white, the colors of the halaweh, to signify the welcoming of
spring. Families flock to the streets to purchase the halaweh for their friends
and distribute servings to the poor in memory of their lost loved ones. The
halaweh can be found in almost every corner store in Homs and piled onto
the carts of street vendors. Visitors to the city consider it a must-purchase
before they travel home.
Burghul wa hommus
Burghul wa hommus, or burghul with chickpeas, is a traditional dish passed
down through generations of Syrians hailing from Syria’s coast. Meat and
chickpeas are boiled in water with laurel leaves, rosemary, and dried lemon.
After this, the meat and chickpeas are removed from the water to cool, only
to be put back in for a second time to slow cook with the dried burghul until
softened. Before eaten, servings are drizzled with pure home-pressed olive
oil, accentuating earthy flavors of this homey meal. Burghul wa hommus
© Syria Trust for Development
226 Chapter 15 Traditional Food in Syria
But the addition of meat to this staple dish was integrated at a later
stage. Burghul wa hommus was previously prepared by the farmers of
Lattakia and Tartous without meat, due to the abundance of chickpeas and
burghul in the area and the low accessibility of these ingredients to low-
income communities providing them with a cost-effective protein-rich
sustenance for a day’s work in the fields.
Communities say that this dish was consumed since the early Islamic
periods and that it now carries cultural and spiritual meaning when
prepared during religious events, such as the celebration of Nusf Shaaban or
the middle of the month of Shaaban, which precedes the month of Ramadan
on the Islamic calendar. Ansaf Alloush from Lattakia says “We cook burghel
wa hommus and feed it the poor and disadvantaged as part of our religious
obligations.” During this religiously significant celebration, communities
commemorate the Prophet Mohamed taking refuge in the Sawr Cave during
his migration to Medina. Other events associated with the dish include Eid
Al-Ghadeer, also known as the Event of Ghadeer Khum, celebrated in to
mark the appointment of Imam Ali Bin Abi Taleb as the successor of the
Islamic prophet in 632 CE.
The skills, knowledge, and practices associated with burghul wa
hommus are still prevalent today, and despite its humble beginnings, this
preferred traditional food can be ordered by diners in many high-end
restaurants, each time sparking a conversation about its history and its place
in the cultural memory of communities.
Syria Trust for Development 227
Kebab halabi
Although kebab is prepared in many cities around the world, Aleppo is
the citadel of kebab, with twenty-six varieties of mouth-watering grilled
deliciousness. Minced lamb, nuts, onions, parsley, and a pinch of salt are
added to the original mixture before being hand-molded onto long skewers
and grilled over glowing hot embers. Different types of Aleppan kebab
include vegetables, such as eggplant, hot peppers for spiciness, lemon juice
for sourness, or pomegranate molasses, which gives a tangy taste. Farangali
kebab includes tomatoes and peppers while thyme-infused kebab has a
dry and minty aroma. The epitome of Aleppo’s large ensemble of kebab,
however, is kebab bi karaz, or cherry kebab. Communities in Aleppo prepare
this dish by first picking washneh cherries, a type of cherry characterized by
its smaller size and sour taste that is natively grown in Syria’s north.
Round balls of Kebab mixture are either pan-fried or barbequed and
set aside. Fresh cherries are pitted, halved, and hand-squeezed over a bowl
to extract their juices, which are then set to simmer on top of a stove before
adding beef broth, lemon juice, sugar, seven spices, and cinnamon. Once
the juice has simmered down to a thick liquid, the cooked kebab is added
and allowed to further simmer. The deep-red sweet and sour concoction of
cherries and kebab is served over a shallow tray lined with Arabic flat bread,
with the inner side of the bread facing upwards to allow the bread to soak
up the cherry juices, and the tray is garnished with toasted pine nuts and
parsley. Kebab bi karaz is a seasonal dish, mostly prepared in June and July,
when the washneh cherries are ready to be picked.
Unlike their coastal compatriots, Aleppo’s industrialist communities
came from a higher economic social class, which is why their food is
overwhelmingly based on meat and always decorated with pine nuts or
pistachios. The prime location of their city on the Silk Road enabled them
to import ingredients from far-away cities, adding to the creativity of their
culinary inventions. Kebab bi Karaz- Aleppo, Syria
© Syria Trust for Development
228 Chapter 15 Traditional Food in Syria
Mbarak ma Ijak
Preparing Damascene Rose jam- Mrah,
“Mbarak ma Ijak” is Syrian saying to congratulate the birth of new baby. Rural Damascus
As in most cultures, the welcoming of a new baby holds its own traditions. © Syria Trust for Development
table Manners
In Syria, people are told to satisfy their eyes before their tummy, meaning
that the dinner has to not only taste good but look good as well. Family
mealtimes traditionally begin with speaking the phrase “Bismillah” (in the
name of God), and end with “Alhamdillah” (thanks be to God). Although
not followed as strictly as before, families refrain from conversation during
mealtimes, which is traditionally considered a form of respect for the
blessing of food.
Many Syrian foods are accompanied with flat bread, and should there
be a guest during dinnertime (most of the time there will be), the bag of
bread is placed next to the guest to make it easier and more convenient for
the guest to reach for more.
Traditionally, Syrian communities stored food in an ornate brass
container called the safertas to keep the food warm. The safertas are much
heavier than modern plastic containers and comprise of several stacked
layers with a handle over the top. Syrian housewives, keen to impress their
husbands at work, would fill each layer with a different dish and place them
outside their front doors ready for collection at noon by a delivery boy
who knew which safertas needed to be delivered to which merchant. The
delivery boy could be seen around noon with several safertas dangling from
a wooden stick held atop of his shoulders.
Résumé
De nombreux aliments syriens sont associés à des coutumes et à des
événements sociaux, et il est essentiel de documenter ce patrimoine
immatériel en tant que partie intégrante de l'identité culturelle des
communautés et du développement d'une nation et de sa civilisation. De
Young men in a Damascene Hammam
nombreuses recherches sur la cuisine syrienne ont été présentées dans des © Syria Trust for Development
ouvrages et des encyclopédies, tels que La gastronomie de la femme au
foyer damascène de Munir Kayyal, L’Encyclopédie d’Alep de Khair Al-Deen
Assadi ou La cuisine aleppine de Lina Baydoun.
Avec la participation des communautés locales, un certain nombre
d’éléments liés à la nourriture traditionnelle ont été ajoutés à l’Inventaire
national du patrimoine culturel immatériel de la Syrie afin d’encourager
leur transmission et leur continuité. Des efforts additionnels de sauvegarde
comprennent des festivals commandités par des ONG et des gouvernements,
tels que le Festival annuel de la nourriture de rue ainsi que d'autres festivals
folkloriques. En mai de chaque année, La Fondation syrienne pour le
développement s'associe aux communautés locales pour l'organisation du
Festival de la rose damascène, dans le but de connecter les publics urbains
à la campagne syrienne et de présenter les pratiques, les performances et la
gastronomie traditionnelles des agriculteurs de la rose damascène. Parmi
les mets réalisés et promus pendant le festival, on peut citer la boisson, la
confiture et les sucreries faites à la main à base de rose damascène.
Cependant, étant donné que la continuité et la transmission du
patrimoine culturel immatériel sont liées à bien des égards à la durabilité
économique des communautés, l'engagement de préserver le patrimoine
culturel immatériel repose essentiellement sur la reconnaissance du fait que
la culture peut avoir un impact positif bien au-delà de la seule préservation
en étant également un catalyseur d'opportunités économiques et de
revitalisation sociale. La Fondation syrienne pour le développement a mis
au point des programmes de microcrédit qui encouragent la revitalisation
du patrimoine culturel et la croissance économique dans les zones rurales.
Les sommes sont réparties en 700 différents fonds à travers la Syrie et
administrées par des comités de village, dont les membres sont élus sur la
234 Chapter 15 Traditional Food in Syria
Bibliography
Abdulkareem, D. (2006). Fried bulgur: the oldest snack in the Syrian coast,
viewed 15 August, 2018, <http://esyria.sy/sites/code/index.phpsite=tart
us&p=stories&category=community&filename=200908261950032>.
Ali, Haitham. (2011). ‘Mlehiyyi: the traditional dish passed down along
generations in Hawran’, viewed 15 August 2018, <http://esyria.sy/
sites/code/index.phpsite=daraa&p=stories&category=community&file
name=201102020905021>.
Ali, Nawras. (2010). ‘St. Barbara’s Feast: the rituals of sweets and fire’, viewed
20 May 2018, <http://esyria.sy/sites/code/index.phpsite=tartus&p=stori
es&category=community&filename=201012051310021>.
Ali, Nu’mah. (2014). ‘Traditional foods in Lattakia: a reflection of coastal
natura l pro duc t’, v ie we d 30 May 2018, <http://s ana-sy r i a.
org/?p=50691>.
Marqaby, Linda. (2009). ‘Traditional dishes: how important are they
to the people of Lattakia?’, viewed 15 May 2018, <http://esyria.sy/
sites/code/index.phpsite=latakia&p=stories&category=community&file
name=200903181410095>.
Meezer, Ahmed, (2012). ‘Damascene food: nutrition within tradition’,
viewed 22 May 2018, <http://esyria.sy/sites/code/index.phpsite=damas
cus&p=stories&category=community&filename=201201312015021>.
Sabek, Manal. (2015). ‘Damascene dishes: the occasion determines the
recipe’, viewed 16 May 2018, <http://esyria.sy/sites/code/index.phpsite=
damascus&p=stories&category=community&filena
me=201507212248092>.
Syria Trust for Development 235
ChAPtER
16
Cuire la « fille des cendres »
Témoignage de Mohamed Erzougui,
Marrakech, Maroc
Amina Laghidi
Etudiante en Master, Institut national des sciences
de l’archéologie et du patrimoine, Rabat, Maroc
Ahmed Skounti
Anthropologue, Institut national des sciences
de l’archéologie et du patrimoine, Rabat, Maroc
238 Chapter 16 Cuire la « fille des cendres »
qu’ils méritent (de Suremain et Cohn, 2015), tout comme certains acteurs
qui peuvent être qualifiés de « périphériques » tels que les consommateurs
(Chabrol et Muchnick 2011).
En lien avec les acteurs, la question du genre en rapport avec
l’alimentation est tout à fait pertinente. Elle nous intéresse particulièrement
ici où l’on s’intéressera à un genre alimentaire traditionnellement fait par et
pour les hommes. Il s’agit de la tanjia à Marrakech, un plat de viande spécial.
Il ne s’agit pas d’un article d’ensemble sur ce met, mais d’une présentation de
la pratique sous l’angle de l’un de ses acteurs clés : le fernatchi. A travers le
parcours de Mohamed Erzougui, il s’agira de décrire sur le terrain l’un des
plats emblématiques de la ville de Marrakech.
en temps des visites de ses amis qui viennent lui tenir compagnie. Avec eux,
il discute et joue la musique des Gnaoua. Il reçoit également des clients qui
veulent déposer leur tanjia ou le charger de la préparer pour eux. Il passe le
plus clair de son temps sur place, y compris la nuit. Il dit ne rentrer voir sa
femme et ses enfants que de temps en temps ; c’est eux qui viennent le voir
et lui apporter ses repas. Des touristes curieux entrent parfois dans son foyer
et bavardent un peu avec lui.
créée car ils ne se sont jamais mariés et devaient préparer leur propre repas
». Et « même quand ils sont invités chez quelqu’un, ajoute-t-il, ils apportent
leurs tanjia avec eux, car ils s’y sont habitués ». Par la suite, « la tanjia s’est
répandue parmi tous les hommes pour son goût et sa facilité de préparation.
De plus, ils n’ont pas à se prendre la tête avec sa cuisson ». Plus tard, « elle
s’est diffusée parmi les artisans, dont le travail exigeait de rester dans leur
boutique, jusqu’à ce qu’ils finissent leur travail du jour. Ils n'avaient donc pas
le temps de rentrer chez eux à l'heure du déjeuner ».
Selon le maâllem Hmed, « la tanjia est un plat typique de la gastronomie
de Marrakech ; c’est le signe, la couleur, le drapeau de la ville de Marrakech
; c’est son identité culturelle. Une personne ne peut être considérée comme
étant originaire de Marrakech si elle ne sait pas préparer la tanjia ; c’est un
savoir-faire qui est transmis de père en fils ». La transmission, poursuit-il, «
se fait par l’imitation et l’observation ». La cérémonie religieuse musulmane
de l’Eid l’Adha pendant laquelle chaque famille sacrifie un mouton est
l’opportunité pour les garçons de se rassembler pour préparer la taqwdirt,
une sorte de mini-tanjia, confectionnée d’après le savoir-faire cumulé en
observant les ainés. On leur donne de petits morceaux de viande et ils
complètent les ingrédients nécessaires à sa préparation.
Selon le maâllem Hmed, la tanjia est traditionnellement préparée par les
hommes et consommée en dehors du foyer familial, contrairement à d’autres
plats. Elle a depuis toujours été synonyme d'hospitalité de convivialité, de
sociabilité et de partage. La tanjia est préparée pour être consommée en
groupe. C’est un « ferment de société » (Frédéric 2014 : 42). Autrefois, le
week-end correspondait au jeudi-vendredi. Le jeudi, les groupes d'artisans
se rassemblent, préparent la tanjia par cotisation et la déposent tôt le matin
au fernatchi. Lorsqu’elle est prête en début d’après-midi, ils la partagent lors
d’un pique-nique connu sous le nom de nzaha. Il a lieu dans les jardins
publics ou privés. La nzaha, sorte de récréation joyeuse, donne lieu à des
chants accompagnés de musique et de danse. L’art du spectacle dit daqqa est
intimement lié à ces sorties divertissantes entre hommes. Le Marrakchi étant
connu pour son esprit hâbleur, l’occasion donne lieu aussi à des échanges
de toutes sortes de blagues, des plus salaces aux plus vulgaires. Entretemps,
leurs femmes pouvaient s’épargner la besogne de préparer le repas de midi
pour s’occuper d’elles-mêmes en prenant un repas léger et en allant au
hammam.
Tangia cooking in the hot ashes Pour le maâllem Hmed, la tanjia est associée aux moments de bonheur
© Amina Laghidi et joie ; elle est le symbole qui reflète la gaité et l’humour du Marrakchi. C’est
Amina Laghidi and Ahmed Skounti 243
Un autre type est appelé chwa. On met juste de la viande dans la jarre et rien
d’autre. On ajoute le sel, le poivre et le cumin au moment de la consommer.
Conclusion
De ce qui précède, il ressort que la tanjia, plat principalement masculin de
la cuisine de Marrakech au Maroc, compte un acteur majeur, le fernatchi.
La cuisson de la tanjia peut sembler comme d’une incidence mineure ou
marginale dans son travail. En réalité, elle peut y occuper une place centrale.
Tous les préposés aux foyers de hammams ne cuisent pas des tanjias ; ceux
qui le font ne s’y prennent pas de la même manière. Un savoir-faire est
accumulé pendant de longues années avant de se voir reconnaître le titre de
maâllem dans ce domaine.
Ce qui rend la tâche difficile est que le fernatchi n’a pas le droit d’ouvrir
la jarre pour jauger de la cuisson de son contenu. Seule son expérience et sa
dextérité lui permettent, année après année, de ne pas décevoir ses clients.
La tanjia est un plat d’hommes. Elle renseigne sur la division du travail dans
une société traditionnelle où les hommes ont imposé une forme de primauté
sur les femmes, largement appuyée sur la religion. Elle renseigne aussi sur
les traditions culinaires d’une catégorie, les artisans, qui les accompagnent
de pratiques récréatives faisant appel à la musique et au verbe.
La tanjia est aujourd’hui largement perçue comme un patrimoine
culturel. Elle fait partie de ces traits culturels qui distinguent la ville de
Marrakech et de Taroudant (où elle est également pratiquée) de leurs
semblables. Elle n’a pas cessé de se transformer au cours des décennies
récentes. Les ingrédients et les modes de cuisson se sont diversifiés à telle
enseigne qu’il est difficile aujourd’hui de parler d’une « tanjia typiquement
traditionnelle ». Elle est même rattrapée par la globalisation qui la fait
voyager aux quatre coins du monde grâce aux restaurants, aux chefs et aux
réseaux sociaux.
Summary
The article offers a presentation of practicing tanjia dish through the
perspective of one of its key participants: fernachi. A course of Mohamed
Erzougui describes the dish as part of the field of heritage dishes because of
the cultural traits that distinguish the cities of Marrakech and Taroudant.
246 Chapter 16 Cuire la « fille des cendres »
Bibliographie
Bessière, Jacinthe et Laurence Tibère, 2011, Editorial : Patrimoine
alimentaires, in Anthropology of food [En ligne], 8 | 2011, mis en ligne
le 15 juin 2011, consulté le 31 mars 2019. URL : http://journals.
openedition.org/aof/6782.
Chabrol Didier et Jose Muchnik, « Consumer skills contribute to
maintaining and diffusing heritage food products », Anthropology of
food [En ligne], 8 | 2011, mis en ligne le 13 mai 2011, consulté le 31
mars 2019. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/aof/6847.
Chlyeh, Abdelhafid, 1997, Les Gnaoua du Maroc, Paris, La Pensée Sauvage.
El Assimi, Latifa, 2015, Al-Tanjia al-Murrakuchiyya wa Adabuha Al-Chaabi
[La tanjia de Marrakech et sa littérature populaire], Marrakech, éditions
Al Afaq.
Frédéric, Marie-Claire, 2014, Ni cru ni cuit. Histoire et civilisation de
l’aliment fermenté, Paris, Alma Editeur.
Hell, Bertrand, 2002, Le Tourbillon des Génies. Au Maroc avec les Gnawa,
Paris, Flammarion.
Suremain, Charles-Édouard (de) et Clarice Cohn, « Patrimoines
alimentaires enfantins : Éclairages anthropologiques », Anthropology
of food [En ligne], 9 | 2015, mis en ligne le 22 octobre 2015, consulté le
31 mars 2019. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/aof/7881.
248 Epilogue
Epilogue
Dr. Seong-Yong Park
ICHCAP and ICH Courier
Epilogue
Dr. Seong-Yong Park
ICHCAP and ICH Courier
colombiens, est le moyen par lequel les jeunes peuvent avoir un impact fort
sur les traditions vivantes, hormis une scène grandiose, dans les rues et
notre vie quotidienne.
Traditional Medicine
Sharing Experiences from the Field (2017)
ISBN 9791195429493 93510
Traditional Food
Sharing Experiences from the Field (2019)
ISBN 9791196 260286
254 Chapter 16 Cuire la « fille des cendres »
LIVING HERITAGE SERIES
For the past several decades, UNESCO has been increasingly championing the importance
of culture as a driving force for the proliferation of cultural diversity and the sustainable
development of a global society. Sustainable development in this sense, however, is not
equated to economic growth alone, but also to a means to achieve an equitable intellectual,
emotional, and spiritual existence among the global community.
At the same time, societies around the world have been facing challenges in promoting the
values of cultural pluralism. As such, UNESCO has been an advocate for promoting culture
and intangible cultural heritage in particular since the 1980s with the Decade for Cultural
Development and later with the Living Human Treasures program (UNESCO EX/
and EX/). These promotions and programs culminated with the Convention
for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Convention on
the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Both of these
instruments recognize the importance of sharing and promoting intangible cultural
heritage to enhance understanding and appreciation of the cultural assets of the humanity.
In , ICHCAP, as a UNESCO category center in the cultural heritage field, started
the Living Heritage Series to promote cultural diversity and the safeguarding of intangible
cultural heritage In this publication project, ICHCAP teams up with other organizations to
share information about heritage beliefs and practices from cultures around the world in
the hopes that intangible cultural heritage can be sustained by communities and the broader
international society.
93590
9 791196 260286
ISBN 979-11-962602-8-6