Sistema alimentar e patrimônio imaterial: o chouriço no Seridó

Abstract

This paper is a presentation of ethnographic material on the Pig Slaughter Feast and on the production of a sweet made in the Seridó region of the Rio Grande to Norte, Brazil: the chouriço. This sweet is one of the defining components of the“Seridoense” identity and here we will analyze it as an immaterial heritage. Given that the consumption of food is associated with times, places, practices, events and manners collectively lived and imagined, by investigating this eating practice we have the opportunity to explore a food system that reveals the “Sertaneja” society ́s symbolic logic and organization. The Pig Slaughter Feast is an occasion for exchange, distribution and retribution. It is the time to practice reciprocity, even though a series of taboos and interdictions shroud the food. During the feast, we can observe elements of the local symbolic systems (values,beliefs, representations and taboos) and social aspects. The strong symbolism involved in the pork meat and blood, as well as in its ingestion, is related to symbolic, social and imaginary factors responsible for the transformation of this forbidden food into “gift-food.” Such “gift-food” generates social relationships and reveals a still performative traditional culture.