ARIES ANUARIO DE ANTROPOLOGÍA IBEROAMERICANA 2020 Food and Foodways Narratives: Recipes of Social Memory1 Denise Amon and Renata Menasche [Translation by Théo Amon] Denise Amon PhD in Psychology, independent researcher, consultant, lecturer, vice leader of the research group Ideology, Communication and Social Representations (http://dgp.cnpq.br/dgp/espelhogrupo/9479077623952541) [email protected] Renata Menasche PhD in Social Anthropology, professor and researcher at the Graduate Program in Anthropology at Universidade Federal de Pelotas and at the Graduate Program in Rural Development at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, researcher at Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, leader of the Study and Research Group in Food and Culture (https://www.ufrgs.br/gepac/) [email protected] 1 A version of this article, originally in Portuguese, was published in the journal Sociedade e Cultura, see Amon and Menasche (2008) and was later included as a chapter of the book Psicologia Social da Comida (Amon 2014), see Amon and Menasche (2014). This article is a reworked version. Abstract In this paper, the authors address the cultural dimension of food brought out through social action. Building their reflection on experiences lived by a Sephardi Jewish family established in Brazil and reviewing recipes of some daily dishes, the authors discuss how a community may manifest emotions, systems of relevance, meanings, social relationships, and collective identity through its food. They analyze the recipes and suggest that food and foodways can constitute themselves as narrative of a community’s social memory arguing that these food narratives also build communities. As proposed by anthropology, it shows that a specific research territory can create questionings and open the way for more comprehensive analyses and interpretations. This pathway implies framing by the contextual and socio-historical influences, different from what is usual in other social sciences, where the individual instance is chosen because of its representativeness according to pre-existing criteria, serving as an illustration of analytical categories established at the formulation of an initial problem. The story told is not detached from a collective cultural symbolic system; rather, it is embedded in the social fabric of the symbolic products built and negotiated in culture and social milieus. Keywords: recipes; social memory; narrative; identity; Jewish foodways. 2 From a Cooking Recipe Notebook: I would like to learn where you Introduction three were born, the name of the town, when you left, where you Late 1994, São Paulo. The grandmother of went to, when you arrived in Brazil, one of the authors of this paper was in the which language you spoke then, hospital, dying. Soon thereafter, one of her also about the food, who cooked at sisters (the closest one, also treated as a your house, how was the arrival in grandmother) would also pass away. Only Brazil, how was living with one of the siblings remained, living in Rio Brazilian food, and anything else de Janeiro. At that time, the sisters were you might find interesting. My between 90 and 100 years old. intention is to keep history alive. In 1996, the granddaughter wrote her I hope this won’t be too much of a grandaunt a letter, from which we transcribe burden, but if you don’t feel like an excerpt: writing about all this, please save yourself the trouble, all right? Hi, grandma Miriam: As soon as I have the booklet ready I’ll send over a copy to you. At mom’s suggestion, I’m writing to you for the following reason: I Many kisses started to write down the recipes of 2 our family’s dishes, those that The reply is transcribed in full below: grandma Judith, grandma Rachel and you taught us to like, in order Rio May 16, 96 to make a booklet that I’ll give away to all our relatives as a gift. Darling, Then I realized that we from the third generation do not know how it was awkward receiving a letter to cook these foods we ate at our from you, as you remembered I still mothers’ and grandmothers’, and exist. that this is our history, which shouldn’t get lost. With this 2 Both letters were published in full in a Cooking motivation, I started to write down Recipe Notebook, gathering family recipes that was the recipes together with mom and distributed exclusively among all descendants up to aunt Stella, and to put them in the the fourth generation from the immigrants in this family. It is not available to the public in general. The computer so I could prepare the Cooking Recipe Notebook was writen in Portuguese booklet for us. Well, today I was at except for the recipe's titles that appear in Ladino, as mom’s place asking some things they were usually refered to in the family context. It about the story of you three and she comprises an introduction, featuring both letters; 43 couldn’t answer me, suggesting recipes; a map showing Turkey in relation to Europe, Asia, Africa and other countries in the Middle that I should write you asking to Eastern; Turkey's political map showing the city of tell me this story by letter. In the Kirklareli; and the facsimile of the letter handwritten booklet’s introduction, I’d like to by the grandaunt. The front cover shows the title and tell a little of your story and the a photograph of the grand grandmother, the history of these Turkish foods we grandmother, and three grandaunts. The back cover shows a photograph of the grandmother and two learned eating with you. So, if I’m grandaunts (all the three were referred to as not pushing the envelope, I’d ask grandmothers by the granddaughter), the one who you to write me; aunt Judithinha wrote the letter and the other after which the Cooking could bring me the letter when she Recipe Notebook was named. All real names comes back from Rio de Janeiro. mentioned in this paper were substituted by fictitious ones. 3 I cannot recall anymore the recipes Universelle. Currently, Turkey has you're asking; as chance would adopted catholic characters. have it, Judith [referring to her The Great War was declared in daughter, the same Judithinha of 1914, many allied countries against the previous letter, a namesake of Germany, Turkey, Austria- Miriam’s sister Judith] is bringing Hungary, Romania etc. you a work, similar to what you My father was held prisoner of war have in mind, by the members of in Romania, in labor camp. When Wizo3 in Rio, a very well-done the armistice came, time of the affair. You might copy some recipes epidemics, the famous spanish flu, that interest you and your mother. my father died in Bucharest. The History of the grandmothers little last time I saw him I was 8 years interesting, interspersed with wars. old. We were born in the european 1918, my mother was now a Turkey at the beginning of the penniless widow amidst very rich century, at that time a part of the and selfish relatives in a backward ottoman empire, in a little town on town, where it was unusual for a the border with Bulgaria, almost woman to work. Judith was a nestled in the Balkans, called Kirk- teacher at the school, I was still a Klisse at the time, now Kirklar Ele. student. Mother sent to Istanbul, Family name M., 4 sisters Stella, the capital,formerly Rachel, Judith, Miriam. Family Constantinople. religion sephardic jews, that is Stella was engaged when the war stemming from jews driven out of broke out, her fiancé not willing to Spain in 1592, time of the be drafted, set out for Cuba. When Inquisition.4 the war ended, he requested Stella The ancestors probably lived in to go to Cuba, where they got Italy at one time or another, hence married. The son, Jeremias R., is the family name M. your mother’s cousin, and an My father was a tailor called important accountant here in Rio. Jacob, my mother, a heroin, was The C. brothers, who led the called Ruth. business with the aim of returning We spoke archaic spanish with to Turkey, decided to give up in some turkish and french words. order to avoid going to the war. As children, we watched the They arrived once more in Porto turkish-bulgarian war, our town Alegre and founded a shop dealing being occupied 3 times by the with silk and fine foreign articles, enemy. as there was no domestic Education at the turkish schools manufacturing. It was the famous A was free of tuition, the turkish la Ville de Bruxelles. Isaac, the characters were arabic. eldest of the C. brothers, had We studied at french school proposed marriage to Judith when supported by the Aliança françaisse he was in Turkey, at that time the mother didn’t give her consent to such a far-reaching travel. After the war, distances became shorter. He 3 Established in England in 1920 and arriving in repeated his entreaty. She came Brazil in 1926, the Women’s International Zionist Organization defines itself as a global organization of along with the P. family, wedded in Jewish women who do voluntary charity work. See P. Alegre and had a daughter, http://www.wizors.org.br/ Sara. Later, the sons. Isaac’s 4 The correct date is 1492. 4 brother, Samuel, who became my this universe was strange, on the other hand husband, went to live at his the usual character of these flavors gave rise brother’s, where I met him when to and supported an everyday sense of my brother in law Isaac caused us communality with people she was not to come from Turkey.