Cuisine, stories and popular education

learning from macaensian black cooks

Abstract

Food holds a wealth of symbols and meanings that cannot be transcribed only in the composition of nutrients. This article outlines the history of food in the city of Macaé, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from the life narrative of black women, who are referred here as traditionalists. The immersion with this group of interviewees was built and made possible based on the theoretical and methodological referential of popular education. The prestige of orality is due to the importance that the oral language has in Africa and its diaspora. The valorization of black voices is due to the fact that this population does not have prestige in history, being always portrayed in a stigmatized way. When talking about food and cooking, the woman is focused because she is always reduced to the place of production and reproduction. In African religions, these same women have places of privilege and specific duties. Valuing Afro-Brazilian food and highlighting its importance for the city, these narratives are devices that express the collective memory and can function as an inventory capable of feeding back the actions of popular education in the field of university teaching, research and extension.