The Bitter and the Sweet

Journal of Ethnic Foods, 2020

Algarroba (Prosopis alba) beer, known as aloja de algarroba (abbreviated aloja) in local Spanish, is the ancestral alcoholic beverage par excellence of the Wichís and other indigenous peoples of South American Gran Chaco, but nowadays is in disuse. Mentions on the recipe exist, but they are relatively few, concise and/or partial, and most of them were not registered within ethnobiological studies. The aims of this study were to (a) describe in detail the preparation process of algarroba beer and (b) analyse the process from a holistic approach, integrating Wichí concepts and biological explanations. Any morphological type of Prosopis alba fruits is useful, except those with poor mesocarp. Aloja must be prepared from relative fresh fruits, ground into pieces and not from flour alone. Through the senses, mainly taste and smell, the procedure is followed until optimal fermentation time is reached, which occurs at 24-48 h. When aloja is ready, it tastes tapay (bitter-sour) or nusuy (sour-salty). From the Wichí perspective, fermentation is both a maturation and a cooking process, and it is the "strength" (qahay, qahnayaj) of the pods, an intrinsic property, which allows fermentation to occur, with alcohol production. All interviewees' remarks about the recipe are also explained by microbiological concepts. Altogether, results expand the knowledge on Wichí ethnobiology and are also useful to other disciplines interested in traditional food systems. Besides, they constitute a contribution to the rescue of the know-how on this traditional beverage for future generations and ultimately to food sovereignty.

Alcohol and Humans: A Long and Social History, 2019

This chapter is an ethnographic case study of the fermentation of cassava beer among the indigenous Makushi people of southern Guyana. The chapter constitutes the first in-depth anthropological study of parakari, a unique kind of cassava beer fermented via the cultivation of a domesticated species of saprotrophic fungus (Rhizopus sp.). Herein, I explore Makushi theories and practices of fermentation, and, more broadly, the ways in which alcoholic drinks operate as catalysts for processes of social and cosmic reproduction and transformation in indigenous Amazonia. For the Makushi, as I argue, the production and consumption of cassava beer is understood as a more- than-human process of person-making, harnessing the vibrant agency of a diversity of vegetal, animal, microbial, and spiritual entities and forces. Fermentation, in this frame, is treated both as a socio-technical system and a cosmo-ecological system.

Research, Society and Development, 2022

Social perceptions about the pattern of use of cachaça among indigenous peoples of the Maxakali ethnic group in Brazil Percepções sociais sobre o padrão de uso da cachaça entre povos indígenas da etnia Maxakali no Brasil Percepciones sociales sobre el patrón de uso de la cachaça entre los pueblos indígenas de la etnia Maxakali en Brasil

Proceedings of the 9th Conference of the International Committee for Design History and Design Studies, 2014

According to a common dictionary definition, "artisan is someone who practices a nonagricultural activity, oriented to the processing of goods, through his own work and of his family", and yet, "… according to rules determined by his experience and study". Let us consider the expression "his own"-it refers to the propriety of the tools and to the time of work, but also to the technical and cultural heritage that derives from the work of transforming and the research inherent to it. Manioc is at 'the root' of Brazilian food culture from the earliest times, and whose legacy of ancestral practices, created for its processing and consumption, is still practiced in some communities in different regions of Brazil. This is what we will observe in the configuration of artifacts and processes developed, and remain preserved by rare craftsmen, singularly, in the region of Bragança, northeastern Pará, to benefit manioc [mandioca in Portuguese], by which name it is known edible species and more widespread genus of manihot, composed of several varieties of edible roots. This paper intends to document, especially, an important acquis of Brazilian material culture, consisting of what we approach here as 'popular project': that one whose authorship must be attributed to humanity itself, and that is still maintained, shared and transmitted, by tradition, through generations, by means of observing and of the acquaintanceship in community environments. "Manioc: Root of Brazil" aims to be a record of a set of knowledge comprising, essentially, the relationship between man and the nature of its surroundings, his terroir. Manioc: Root of Brazil theme 4 technology strand 3 Design and Technology Floury: Knower, learned, acquainted with the subject matter. "Floury" in History. Flour is synonymous with abundance, wealth, crowd. CÂMARA CASCUDO (2004, p. 241) According to a common dictionary definition, "artisan is someone who practices a nonagricultural activity, oriented to the processing of goods, through his own work and of his family", and yet, "… according to rules determined by his experience and study".

Rescue of black corn as an ancestral Andean product ap-plied in a macerate based on a traditional Ecuadorian drink (Atena Editora), 2023

The purpose of the research is to recover ancestral ingredients that have been passed down for years, transforming them into innovative products that are consumed by new generations. This research is based on the knowledge and use of purple corn, as is the case in the preparation of colada morada, being a traditional drink that has been consumed historically, especially on Nove-mber 2 as an offering to souls. The experimental phase for the use of corn occurs through the preparation of a macerate with vodka-based spices, which will present characteristic aromatic notes, similar to colada morada, thus giving a different approach to this traditional drink, which is why this liquor was tasted, determining visual, olfactory and taste analysis parameters.

Economic Botany, 2004

ETHNOBOTANY OF PRU, A TRADITIONAL CUBAN REFRESHMENT. Economic Botany 58(3):381-395, 2004. Gouania polygama (Jacq.) Urban, Smilax domingensis Willd., and Pimenta dioica Merr., are three species widely used within Cuban ethnobotanical traditions and practices. Pru is a traditional refreshment and medicinal drink produced by their decoction and fermentation with sugar. It is claimed to have hypotensive, stomachic, depurative, and diuretic properties. Pru has long been confined to a number of traditional villages in eastern Cuba, and its origin may be traced back to the ethnobotanical knowledge of French-Haitian people that migrated to Cuba from the end of the 1700s. With the economic crisis of the early 1990s that resulted in the disappearance of industrial soft drinks and in the search for new income sources, pru spread across almost the entire island. This has resulted in the commoditization of the drink and related traditional knowledge, and possibly in increasing pressure on the species' wild populations.

Latin American Antiquity, 2013

As dates of earliest use of Theobroma cacao in ancient Mesoamerica are established, interest is shifting to how cacao was used. One approach is to consider combinations of ingredients—the recipes for ancient cacao use. Beverages made from cacao seeds and maize have a long history in Mesoamerica. We began testing the hypothesis that there is qualitative evidence of this beverage type in the Postclassic archaeological record in a region where such a beverage, tejate, is a culturally significant food today. We looked for evidence of tejate ingredients in residue samples from eight Postclassic and one contemporary vessel from the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. Detection of morphologically specific maize phytoliths was accomplished by taxonomic analysis and comparison with a reference collection. Tejate ingredients Pouteria sapota and Quararibea funebris were also processed for phytolith detection. Testing for methylxanthines characteristic of Theobroma species used high-performance liquid ch...

Intersecciones en Antropología, Special Issue Nº 1 (Karen Borrazzo & Celeste Weitzel, guest editors) Taphonomic Approaches to the Archaeological Record: 35-53, 2014

Ancient Mesoamerica, 2011

Many scholars have thought the Classic period Maya did not cultivate the root crop manioc, while others have suggested it may have been an occasional cultigen in kitchen gardens. For many decades there was no reliable evidence that the ancient Maya cultivated manioc, but in the 1990s manioc pollen from the late Archaic was found in Belize, and somewhat older pollen was found in Tabasco. At about the same time of those discoveries, research within the Ceren village, El Salvador, encountered occasional scattered manioc plants that had grown in mounded ridges in kitchen gardens. These finds adjacent to households indicated manioc was not a staple crop, and vastly inferior to maize and beans in food volume produced. However, 2007 research in an agricultural area 200 m south of the Ceren village encountered intensive formal manioc planting beds. If manioc was widely cultivated in ancient times, its impressive productivity, ease of cultivation even in poor soils, and drought resistance su...

Recent literature on the role of alcohol in the ancient world has shown that the production and consumption of fermented beverages played a key role in the organization of many prehistoric political and household economies. The study of alcohol as a lubricant in social dynamics is especially salient in the Andes, where reciprocity is the primary form of traditional economic interaction. Despite the fact that scholars studying ancient Peru have long acknowledged the central role that the production and consumption of beer made from fermented grains or fruits (collectively referred to as chicha) played in traditional Andean societies, few fi eld projects have focused on how to recognize the loci of small-scale chicha production in the archaeological record. In this paper, which presents the results of ethnoarchaeological research in eastern Cuzco province, Peru-where this type of research has not previously been undertaken-we use both new data and existing studies to identify fi fteen independent indices capable of aiding archaeologists in the recognition of domestic brewing in the archaeological record. To do so, this study focuses on the material correlates of small-scale household chicha production, with an explicit emphasis on quantitative, rather than qualitative, data, including ceramic morphology and use wear; the particularities of vessel assemblages; the preponderance of tools, refuse, and residues; and the characteristics of brewing facilities. Previous studies demonstrate that, in spite of both variation in technology and organization across the region and cultural differences through time, ethnoarchaeological observations of modern production and consumption of chicha in traditional settings can generate valuable information pertinent to the interpretation of the archaeological record. This paper builds on these studies by verifying as well as questioning previous fi ndings and by proposing new analogs. In doing so, this paper demonstrates that ethnoarchaeological observations of the modern production of chicha can provide valuable interpretive information not just for Andeanists but for any archaeologists seeking to identify and interpret the archaeology of brewers and brewing.