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Food as Heritage: Peruvian Foodways’ Road to UNESCO

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From the Plate to Gastro-Politics

Part of the book series: Food and Identity in a Globalising World ((FIGW))

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Abstract

This chapter engages critically with proposals for inscribing Peruvian foodways to the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. It investigates circles of power and among individuals vested with the responsibility of producing nomination files throughout three consecutive attempts (in 2010, 2012, and 2023). The analysis of the explicit and implicit discourses contained in these documents show that, from an initial willingness to recognise Peruvian foodways as elements with strong ties to indigenous populations, and for which Peruvians could be proud of, the candidatures for intangible cultural heritage status eventually veer away from their initially intended directions to instead support development programmes based on economic and cultural competition.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In 2008, the Ministry of Production, through Ministerial Resolution No. 708-2008PRODUCE, declared June 28 as the national cebiche day. In 2010, through Ministerial Resolution No. 0441-2010-AG, the Ministry of Culture declared each third Sunday in July as the “pollo a la brasa day”.

  2. 2.

    “Inca Kola combines with everything” and “The drink of national flavour”.

  3. 3.

    See also, https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/branding-lessons-from-inca-kola-the-peruvian-soda-that-bested-coca-cola/, Accessed May 22, 2023.

  4. 4.

    See https://elpais.com/diario/2007/08/25/revistaverano/1187992827_850215.html, Accessed May 9, 2023.

  5. 5.

    As the majority of these informants are still holding public servant positions or working closely with state institutions, I chose to anonymise their names.

  6. 6.

    Inscribed were the ‘Traditional Mexican cuisine—the Michoacán paradigm’, the ‘Gastronomic meal of the French’, ‘The Mediterranean Diet’, the ‘Gingerbread craft from Northern Croatia’ (2010), the Turkish ‘Ceremonial Keşkek tradition’ (2011), the ‘Kimjang, making and sharing kimchi in the Republic of Korea’, and the ‘Washoku, traditional dietary cultures of the Japanese’ (2013).

  7. 7.

    This information was provided by a member of the Peruvian diplomatic delegation at UNESCO through an email exchange on January 23, 2014 (the same person mentioned when referring to the interview from July 7, 2011), and by the officer of the Division of Intangible Heritage of the Ministry of Culture during the interview of August 8, 2011.

  8. 8.

    Interview, March 17, 2014 in Berlin, Germany.

  9. 9.

    The main content of the first dossier has been published in Cánepa et al. (2011).

  10. 10.

    Interview, Ministry of Culture, August 8, 2011.

  11. 11.

    See http://elcomercio.pe/politica/gobierno/alan-garcia-le-ofrecio-gaston-acurio-ministro-cultura-2010-noticia-1673645, Accessed May 23, 2023.

  12. 12.

    As we will see in the next chapter, Acurio played a prominent role in a multi-sectoral mobilisation which forced the government to suspend the introduction of genetically engineered seeds.

  13. 13.

    Interview, July 7, 2011, in Lima.

  14. 14.

    A pollera is a big, colourful, and embroided flared skirt used in Andean regions of South America.

  15. 15.

    Interview, Peruvian Embassy in Paris, June 16, 2011.

  16. 16.

    Sequences of this event are available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_FMJ9cQZgM, Accessed May 2, 2023.

  17. 17.

    See https://www.gob.pe/institucion/cultura/noticias/25676-elemento-de-la-cocina-peruana-postulara-a-la-lista-representativa-del-patrimonio-cultural-inmaterial-de-la-humanidad-de-unesco, Accessed May 9, 2023.

  18. 18.

    “It is clear that Peru’s application cannot be limited to one dish or a handful of recipes, nor can it cover all of the national culinary richness (as was intended to be done a few years ago), since it is a convention that privileges, precisely, specific cases of intangible heritage that combines ancestral knowledge and community practices with permanence over time”. See https://redaccion.lamula.pe/2019/08/15/propuesta-picantera-para-la-lista-del-patrimonio-cultural-inmaterial-de-la-unesco/redaccionmulera/, Accessed May 22, 2023.

  19. 19.

    On the latter, see Cornejo Velásquez (2006) and Alvarez (2016).

  20. 20.

    See https://sociedadpicanteradearequipa.pe/

  21. 21.

    Available at https://redaccion.lamula.pe/2019/08/15/propuesta-picantera-para-la-lista-del-patrimonio-cultural-inmaterial-de-la-unesco/redaccionmulera/, Accessed May 22, 2023.

  22. 22.

    Kitchen utensil composed of a flat stone and a grinding stone.

  23. 23.

    In Ibero-American countries, tertulias are social events with political or artistic overtones. Composed of likeminded people, the gatherings are usually scheduled in public places such as bars or a restaurants, although some are held in private spaces.

  24. 24.

    Available at https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=3052868801394690&ref=watch_permalink, Accessed April 30, 2023.

  25. 25.

    Information taken from a video and a preliminary slideshow of the candidature, available at the UNESCO website, https://f5vip11.unesco.org/en/files-2023-under-process-01248?include=slideshow_inc.php&id=01952&width=620&call=slideshow&mode=scroll#https://ich.unesco.org/img/photo/thumb/16359-HUG.jpg and https://ich.unesco.org/es/expedientes-2023-en-curso-01248?include=film.inc.php&id=66748&width=700&call=film, Accessed, 22 May 2023.

  26. 26.

    Available at https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=214364817405287, Accessed April 25, 2023.

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    Raúl Matta

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Matta, R. (2023). Food as Heritage: Peruvian Foodways’ Road to UNESCO. In: From the Plate to Gastro-Politics . Food and Identity in a Globalising World. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-46657-1_6

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