Sharing Community: Histories and Traditions in Food Preparation

Abstract

Sharing Community:Histories and Traditions in Food Preparation Elizabeth Coonrod Martínez In 2012, when we were newly embarked on the expansion to biannual publication of Diálogo, we began advertising a series of themes on these pages to identify interests in Latin American and U.S. Latino topics, as well as new directions in scholarship. Our ideas were presented in general terms to allow for particular disciplinary, and interdisciplinary, interests. A few of our Editorial Board members stepped up to explore some of these themes, beginning with last year’s issue on Poetry in the 21st century, compiled by Norma E. Cantú and Juana Iris Goergen. For the present volume, Editorial Board member Rafael Chabrán, emeritus professor at Whittier College in California, expanded the idea for a suggested theme on mestizaje, to “Mestizaje and Gastronomy: What Latinos Eat.” The response from contributors brought a wide array of disciplinary approaches, from perspectives on agricultural origins in the Americas to diet to popularized practices and political economies. They represent a variety of regions, both in the U.S. and Latin America, with dialogues around Indigenous and African influences, fusion with European practices and ingredients, and contemporary productions. The contributors engage disciplines of history, science, anthropology and ethnography, literature, economics and popular culture. The final result is a stupendous collection of provocative articles and interviews. It is always fun to talk about food. I can’t help but wonder if the idea came to Dr. Chabrán in the autumn of 2012, when we hosted wonderful Guatemalan writer/critic Arturo Árias here on our campus, to celebrate his lead article in our 15th anniversary issue. Editorial Board members Chabrán and Hilda Chacón were present as we celebrated with dinner at a local restaurant after the reception; Arturo and Rafael talked on and on about the cuisine of various nations and cultures, a conversation as delectable as any items described. Several years ago it generated great interest in Mexico when the magazine Arqueología mexicana released the special issue, “La cocina prehispánica,” with images from the ancient codices: tamales, and other foods native to Mesoamerica, brimming in pots set before rulers. That issue promoted a majority of recipes and ingredients with pre-contact origins, which inspired new interest in products and practices native to this hemisphere. Since then, other special issues of Arqueología mexicana have featured “The chiles of Mexico” (more than 200); El maíz (the special gift from the gods, as often portrayed in Mesoamerican literature); the sumptuous El cacao; the versatile El maguey; and La calabaza, el tomate y el frijol (similar to the Mesoamerican indigenous peoples’ reference to the “three sisters” of corn, beans, and squash). Those issues and recent books and scientific studies have now brought credit to important “foods the Americas gave the world” (to borrow from the title of one book).1 Scientists refer to the significant era after European contact as the Columbian exchange (I’ll leave aside my sentiment that it should have been the “Indigenous exchange”), the process during initial colonial decades when European livestock and crops such as wheat brought change to the American continent, while Native agricultural products were transported to Europe and changed lives. Potatoes, previously unknown outside the Americas (cultivation beginning between 8 and 5000 BCE in the Andean region), fed Spain’s armies throughout Europe, quickly contributed to the economy in England, became a staple for Ireland, and constitutes an important ingredient for Russian vodka. Maize and peanuts grew especially well in areas of southern Africa, where such crops were much needed. Historians document that this “exchange,” an Indigenous gift to the world, kept people in Europe and Africa from starving, and in fact, aided in the expansion of populations. For the thirteen British colonies during the 17th century, maize, squash and fish made possible their survival, as well as that of the incipient nation-to-be. We could not live today without the exotic vanilla and chocolate indigenous to this continent, which became popular in Europe (the latter once mixed with milk), and now, centuries later, we celebrate the exchange (diseases and other problems caused by European contact are...