From the Plate to Gastro-Politics

"… This well-researched and thoughtful volume. constitutes a welcome contribution to the global debates about food and its complex functions in nation-building projects." -Fabio Parasecoli, New York University, USA "… A brilliant analysis … a critical but nuanced and balanced description of the emergence of Peruvian gastronomy and the part played in it by chefs, food producers and media." -Steffan Igor Ayora-Diaz, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mexico "Matta masterfully succeeds to weave together reflexivity and critical thinking regarding a phenomenon that has captured national imagination and the aspirations of progress of Peruvians." -Gisela Cánepa K., Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Peru This book provides an interdisciplinary examination of Peruvian cuisine’s shift from a culinary to a political object and the making of Peru as a food nation on the global stage. It focuses on the contexts, processes and protagonists that have endowed the country’s cuisine with new meaning, coherence and prominence, and with the ability to communicate what is important for Peruvians after decades of political violence and economic decline. This work uncovers the central processes of the culinary project ranging from the emergence of gastronomy, to the refiguring of indigenous people as producers, and the use of cultural identity as an authenticating force. From the Plate to Gastro-Politics offers a critical reading of what has been called a “gastronomic revolution”, highlighting the ways in which claims to national unity and social reconciliation smooth over ongoing inequalities. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of food studies, cultural anthropology, heritage studies and Latin American studies. Raúl Matta is research associate at the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (UMR 208 PALOC), France. His research sits at theintersection of the anthropology of food, heritage and cultural studies, and the environmental humanities.