Revista del CESLA ISSN: 1641-4713 ISSN: 2081-1160
[email protected] Uniwersytet Warszawski Polonia La Alquimista de los Sabores: Gastronomic heritage, gender, and the tourist imaginary in Mexico Hryciuk, Renata E. La Alquimista de los Sabores: Gastronomic heritage, gender, and the tourist imaginary in Mexico Revista del CESLA, no. 24, 2019 Uniwersytet Warszawski, Polonia Available in: https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=243360777012 DOI: https://doi.org/10.36551/2081-1160.2019.24.75-100 PDF generated from XML JATS4R by Redalyc Project academic non-profit, developed under the open access initiative Debate La Alquimista de los Sabores: Gastronomic heritage, gender, and the tourist imaginary in Mexico La Alquimista de los Sabores: Patrimonio gastronómico, género e imaginario turístico en México Renata E. Hryciuk
[email protected] University of Warsaw, Polonia hp://orcid.org/0000-0002-6740-0514 Abstract: rough multi-sited fieldwork carried out in 2011 and 2014-17 in central Oaxaca and an analysis of secondary sources, this paper scrutinizes the rise of a culinary celebrity, Zapotec cook Abigail Mendoza Ruíz of Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca, in the broader context of a Mexican cultural politics of food as heritage. Focusing on food- Revista del CESLA, no. 24, 2019 related biography this essay reveals vernacular dynamics of heritagization of native Uniwersytet Warszawski, Polonia foodways and the role renowned female cooks (cocineras) have played in this process. I scrutinize negotiations and contestations as well as open conflicts related to the Received: 04 February 2019 representation of heritage, the politics and rights between different actors engaged over Accepted: 14 July 2019 the years in (re)constructing a social imagery of ethnic female cooking for the benefits DOI: https:// of the tourism industry, and, more broadly, state attempts at re-branding Mexico as a doi.org/10.36551/2081-1160.2019.24.75-100safe gastronomic destination.