ABSTRACT
Food and cuisine are some of the most distinctive ways to communicate culture, and we learn a great deal about other people by learning what they eat, how, why, when, and with whom. This chapter explores the history and many-sided meanings of food and cuisine. I start off by highlighting the cultural significance of food and then turn to a historical sketch of some of LAC’s most important foods. After looking into the two-way flow of crops and animals between Europe and LAC after the conquest, I focus on how and why it was important for European colonials to transform indigenous foodways. Afterwards, I shift to how eating and drinking – who eats and drinks what and with whom – is a marker of social distinctions, and cooking an opportunity for those at the bottom of social hierarchies to display agency. As we know when we have dinner with family or friends during holidays, eating together sparks memories and a sense of belonging, a subject that I then turn to. Next, I center on how food is important in religious rituals and for national identity. Eating well and staying healthy are of course related to each other, a relationship that I explore by focusing on the distinction between hot and cold foods. This chapter ends with how Latino food tastes are profoundly shaping cuisines in the US.
