AL MOMENTO ESAURITO

Diálogos Ser.: Que Vivan Los Tamales! by Jeffrey M. Pilcher (1998, Trade Paperback)

Connections between what people eat and who they are--between cuisine and identity--reach deep into Mexican history, beginning with pre-Columbian inhabitants offering sacrifices of human flesh to maize gods in hope of securing plentiful crops. This cultural history of food in Mexico traces the influence of gender, race, and class on food preferences from Aztec times to the present and relates cuisine to the formation of national identity. The metate and mano , used by women for grinding corn and chiles since pre-Columbian times, remained essential to preparing such Mexican foods as tamales, tortillas, and mole poblano well into the twentieth century. Part of the ongoing effort by intellectuals and political leaders to Europeanize Mexico was an attempt to replace corn with wheat. But native foods and flavors persisted and became an essential part of indigenista ideology and what it meant to be authentically Mexican after 1940, when a growing urban middle class appropriated the popular native foods of the lower class and proclaimed them as national cuisine.

Author
Jeffrey M. Pilcher
Format
Trade Paperback
Language
English
Topic
Latin America / Mexico, Regional & Ethnic / Mexican, Agriculture & Food (See Also Political Science / Public Policy / Agriculture & Food Policy), Customs & Traditions
Publication Year
1998
Type
Textbook
Genre
Cooking, History, Social Science
Number of Pages
253 Pages

Lc Classification Number
Tx716.M4p54 1998
Reviews
This fascinating and very readable account indicates how much we can learn about people from a study of the food they eat. Vivan los tamales!, [A] delightful approach . . . . This well-written book highlights the interaction of the regional and national and the role of women in developing a national identity., Que vivan los tamales!provides the foodies with a great addition to their librar[ies]. . . . Politics, society, economy and food history converge like a grand stew with all the right fixings.
Publication Name
Que Vivan Los Tamales!
Copyright Date
1998
Lccn
97-046508
Dewey Decimal
394.1/0972
Intended Audience
College Audience
Series
Diálogos Ser.
Dewey Edition
21
Illustrated
Yes

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