Doces regionais, identidade local e tradição: um estudo com as doceiras do Seridó/RN

Abstract

Gastronomy, for many times in history, was the main reason for the displacement of people. In the case of tourism, it is no longer just a complement to become one of the attractions. The objective of this research is to analyze how the Seridó's regional confectionery in Rio Grande do Norte is constituted as part of the local culture and identity. It is a qualitative and quantitative research, exploratory and descriptive, in order to examine the specificities of the object of study. Data were obtained by literature search and on-site collection with semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. The analysis was made by graphical representations and content analysis. The results indicate that candies such as "chouriço" and "filhós", passed as inheritance to the current confectioners, refer to the memory of the interviewees, being classified as those that represent Seridó. It is concluded that the sweets of the region are considered as gastronomic cultural symbol, a memory that must be preserved and valued.