Abstract
In Costa Rica, transnationalisation of consumption gives rise to a fear of losing the national food culture. This fear results in a rise in publications and cookbooks on the national cuisine. This chapter examines the construction of a new concept of the national cuisine occurring in the course of this process of rescue and publication and—taking the relevance of the local food cultures as markers of both national and regional identities into account—investigates how the institutional concept is negotiated on a local level.
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Notes
- 1.
Richard Wilk distinguishes different phases of globalization. The period of “cultural globalization” is characterized by processes of mass immigration and mass tourism, as well as the challenges of nation building and integration into the global market. On a global level, one can observe a growing appreciation for, as well as a revival of the local (Wilk 2006, 25, 155–158).
- 2.
Even before the issue of cultural plurality became a matter of academic interest, it was present in the realm of literature, in the works of Carlos Luis Fallas (Mamita Yunai) and Joaquín Gutíerrez (Cocorí) in the 1940s and again from the 1970s onward in works of Afro-Caribbean writers such as Quince Duncan and Eulalia Bernard. However, it was only with the growing academic interest in the topic of ethnic plurality and racism in Costa Rica, that it became a topic of political interest (Molina Jiménez 2008, 112).
- 3.
I am focusing here predominantly on cookbooks published by Marjorie Ross González (2001), Patricia Sedó Masís (2008), Yanori Álvarez Masís (2005), and Giselle Chang Vargas (2001), as these scholars are engaged in the efforts to rescue the Costa Rican national cuisine and providing an insight in the academic discourse from different academic and political perspectives.
- 4.
Tortillas: thin corn pancake; Tamal: dish made from corn flour, usually stuffed with meat and other ingredients, wrapped in a banana leaf or cornhusks and boiled in water.
Atol: hot corn flour drink
- 5.
All translations in this chapter are mine.
- 6.
Gallo Pinto: literally: Spotted rooster. Dish made from rice mixed with red or black beans; Olla de Carne: Beef soup; Chorreadas: sweet corn pancake; Arroz con Leche: rice pudding; Picadillos: dishes made from minced vegetables and tubers, sometimes with minced meat added.
- 7.
Arroz de Maíz: literally: Rice made from corn; dish made from grinded white corn;
Carne en Vaho: also Carne en Bajo, Carne al bajo; literally: Meat beneath; dish made today by putting water into a deep recipient, covering the bottom of the recipient with branches, then putting meat, vegetables, and tubers on top in layers, covered with banana leaves. The meat and vegetables are then cooked by steam.
Chicheme/Chicha: alcoholic drink made from purple corn, with ginger and sugar added;
Empanadas: turnover;
Marquesotes: sweet made from corn flour;
Pinol: corn flour drink;
Rosquillas: pastry, small rings made from baked corn flour;
Tortillas con Queso: flat corn flour pancake with cheese;
- 8.
Atol de Maíz Pujagua: hot beverage made from a species of purple corn
- 9.
Sopa de Albondigas: Dumpling soup;
Tamal de Cerdo: corn flour paste, stuffed with pork and other ingredients, wrapped in a banana leaf and boiled in water;
Tanela: pastry made from corn flour mixed with cane sugar and grinded cheese, baked in an adobe oven.
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Nikolić, M. (2019). The Formation of a National Cuisine in Costa Rican Cookbooks and its Impact on Regional Cuisines as Markers of Identity. In: Dürrschmidt, J., Kautt, Y. (eds) Globalized Eating Cultures. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93656-7_2
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