Cozinhas, milpa e coleta: resistências culinárias locais no litoral totonaco, em Veracruz (México)

Abstract

Local cuisines can be considered spaces of resistance for knowledges and culinary practices in the presence of the implementation of various tourism and heritage projects. Some of these resistances are the transmission of knowledges, rituals around cooking, and the sale of harvested and collected products. In consideration of the above, this article aims to show through ethnographic analysis the resistance carried out by Totonaca women with the sale of products harvested and collected in milpas and the mountain, which are acquired and used in daily and ritual foods, or as basic ingredients in the preparations of restaurants on the Totonaca coast of Veracruz. The fieldwork was conducted in different periods (between 2019 and 2022), privileging ethnographic recording, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews. Market tours were also carried out, as well as reviews of printed recipe books of Totonaca cuisine. The conclusion evidenced that resistances—such as the sale of harvested and collected edible plants—have made possible the construction of the so-called Totonaca cuisine, a cuisine that, although it has incorporated new and varied ingredients throughout its history, continues to have an intimate relationship with the milpa system and harvesting.