Social:
Author: Alicia Conquest
School/Organization:
School of the Future
Year: 2024
Seminar: The Past, Present, and Future of Latinx Studies
Grade Level: 9-12
Keywords: Abya Yala, Alkebulan, Cooking in class, Decolonization, Foodways, Sancocho, World Language
School Subject(s): Global History, Language Arts, Social Studies
This paper serves as an examination of identity in what is traditionally called “Latin America.” The term Abya Yala is used to reference the 48 nations that technically make up “Latin America.” The focus is a dish called sancocho and how using foodways to trace its origin help to create a sense of identity among nations with missing histories and pasts. The purpose of this paper is to amplify Abya Yala indigenous and Alkebulan voices in the Spanish curriculum in the School District of Philadelphia. Through recipes, cooking and communal activities I am offering a way to reexamine history and find common ground and connections, while also teaching Spanish. Seven sancocho recipes are presented along with one for dafina and gofio and ideas for experimenting with potatoes and corn. Through foodways we can find answers and perspectives about identity.
Download Unit: Conquest-A-Unit.pdf
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STEP 1 “Black people have no history.” I have no history. I have no history of my great-great grandparents, except for the fact that my great great grandfather was named Lace and froze to death in Chincoteague working on the docks around 1870? I have no knowledge of the songs they sang. I have no knowledge of the food they ate, of the places they lived, of the waters they loved, nor of what they held dear. I think this is why I am always on the hunt for traditions and cultures, things that have been held sacred for generations and especially things that have been forgotten. To paraphrase Dra. Hey-Colón, in our search for “truth” sometimes what we do not know can be just as useful as what we “do” know. This sentiment is where the inspiration for this unit comes from. As a Spanish educator in Philadelphia I believe it is my duty to not only introduce my learners to the language but to the cultures and histories that oftentimes predate it. I am very intentional about giving voice to Afro Diasporic and Indigenous people who are often forgotten in traditional Spanish/ Romance languages curriculum. Much like my ancestors, the voices and perspectives of these groups are literally buried and disregarded in Spanish and Latinx studies. In her book Channeling Knowledges, Dra. Hey-Colón demonstrates that lost and overlooked history can be traced and pieced back together through various pathways. She shows how history can be traced through water and religion. Water serves as a way of finding identity. “Akin to how being at sea is a way of being nowhere and everywhere at the same time, Mami Wata challenges notions of belonging and place. As part of not one spiritual tradition but many… Mami Wata (is) ‘a water spirit widely known across Africa and the African diaspora…(and) thoroughly incorporated into local beliefs and practices” (Hey-Colón 47). This unit will employ foodways as another path for this recovery. Through food, cooking, recipes and traditions I hope to reclaim and reexamine history and the concept of identity in our little corner of the world. Trying to teach where and why Spanish is used in the world has been problematic for me. I have been teaching for 25 years but have never felt like I have done this well. Navigating the complexities of colonialism, social constructs, language and identity is challenging enough without having to also teach vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. The closest I have ever come to feeling like I adequately conveyed or explained the development of “Spanish-communicating” nations is when we have cooked in class. There is NO way to give adequate acknowledgement to the rich culinary traditions and history that are the base of what we call “Latin America,” but this unit aims to quite literally give learners a “taste” of that richness. It is my hope that learners will continue to seek more knowledge about these topics and find what intrigues them and speaks to them. By giving honor to Indigenous and Afro Diasporic voices I hope my learners will find their own. The unit title, “¿Pero las manos de quién?” symbolizes our shared histories and the constant need to question who is telling the story and why. I hope their confidence in themselves, their language skills and their cultural and communal awareness will increase with each recipe we prepare this year. STEP 2 Latin American anthropology has traditionally been a balance between viewing those domestic others-the oppressed and marginalized ethnic and racial groups as subaltern and developing ideologies of racial and cultural hybridity. (Gonçalves 3). In this unit the Indigenous names for land masses and nations will be included to the best of my knowledge and research. This is not to exclude or diminish other names that have been used but rather to increase indigenous voice and recognition of original nations as macroculture and not footnotes or what Gonçalves refers to as subaltern. In their essay about disability in Abya Yala Alexander Yarza de los Ríos offers a comprehensive explanation of what the term Abya Yala is. “Abya Yala is a toponymy that revitalizes an ancient wise word of the Guna People, Elder Brothers from Colombia and Panama, whose meaning is land in full ripeness, blossoming, or land of vital blood. Abya Yala is an old word that replaces for us the concept of Latin America. In fact, the intellectual Arturo Escobar (2017) introduces the expression Abya Yala/Afro/Latino/America to make colonial languages stutter.” (de los Ríos 1). During our class we discussed what it means to be “Latinx, Latina, Latine or Latino.” We came up with various definitions and ways of approaching this conversation. Is identity defined by where a person lives? Is it defined by where they once lived? Is it defined by the language they use or are forced to use? Is it defined by what they eat? Is it defined by their ancestors? We never came up with a clear answer. For this unit the term Abya Yala and the idea of defining nationhood through foodways will serve as a way to sort this out. Abya Yala is somewhat controversial because some see it as a means of taking away the conventional geographic term, “Latin America” and replacing it with an Indigenous term used to describe current day “Panama” and “Colombia.” Some argue that the Guna/Kuna people did not subscribe to the idea of continents and used this name only for the land they could see but, in this unit, Abya Yala is used to reference the nations of what is traditionally called lower North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean and Alkebulan is used to refer to Africa. In their article “Abya Yala’s Disability: Weaving With the Thread and Breath of the Ancestors, de los Ríos explains that, “Historias (y palabras) de antigua (Stories and words of old) or origin stories… contain lessons and keys for the interaction between… worlds and living beings… they are connected to the ancestors’ wisdom before Conquest and colonialism.” Generalization and universality are not the goal when using Indigenous naming but rather serve as a way to lay the foundation for a cultural ethic (de los Ríos 2). STEP 3 1492 is the traditional year that comes to mind when discussing the origins of Abya Yala. The vision of Columbus sailing towards the shores of Arawak and Lucayan land and thus forever changing this society, its people and their descendants has been taught for decades. The year 1492 marks a turn. (Webber). For the indigenous population of the Americas, it signifies the closure of self-determined history and the beginning of settler-colonialism. From the vantage point of Spanish and Portuguese rulers, the same moment signals the ascent of far-reaching feudal empires and the concomitant rewards of extraordinary geographic preponderance. Asymmetrical encounters of Europeans, Amerindians, and Africans over the next centuries trace their origins to this calendric notch. For Latin Americans and the Latino diaspora today, the resonances of 1492 nestle in every crevice. (Webber) Set to a backdrop of political violence, greed, imperialism, and brutality, Abya Yala began to change into what we call “Latin America” at the hands of Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United States. The traditional narrative has been that they brought products and perspectives to the places that they were interacting with; however, this unit seeks to create a larger understanding of the fact that the Indigenous cultures contributed to and are still contributing to the cultures that colonized them. As stated above, this unit will use foodways to explain some of the history of Abya Yala and a dish called, sancocho will be the focus. However, something did not feel right about highlighting a dish that came out of colonization, extraction and pain without somehow honoring the civilizations that had been established before the recipe even came to be. Latin America is defined as 33 countries and 15 dependencies in Lower North America, Central America, South America, the Caribbean and Alkebulan. However, there are over 800 different ethnic groups with more than 500 different languages who occupied this land before European colonization. (Bárcena 2). https://adockrill.blogspot.com/2012/05/map-of-contemporary-latin-america.html The word sancochar is Spanish for “to parboil.” Sancocho/sancochado and the use of one pot cooking are prolific components of the concept of “latinidad,” but I felt the need to explore what various Indigenous groups may have called it. The Lencas of current day Honduras, may have called it K’u’um, meaning stew corn mix or chaakbil meaning boil. The Arawaks in Colombia and the Greater Antilles of Quisqueya, Aityi and Borikén may have named it boka, meaning boil or dwada for pot. It may have been called challa, meaning pot or eltun, meaning to bury by the Mapuche of Argentina and Colombia or manka, meaning pot, by the Quechua of Peru and Ecuador (see the Indigenous dictionaries in the resource area). Perhaps we will never know. The resources for finding these translations are scarce but hopefully this paper will help change that. If you are reading this and have information about any indigenous languages/words of Abya Yala please reach out. (acconquest@philasd.org) STEP 4 “A lo largo de la historia, el intercambio económico, el desarrollo industrial, y los contactos étnicos y culturales, han provocado la aparición de alimentos nuevos, modas y técnicas culinarias al interior de la cocina de un país o región…se readaptan platos antiguos con nuevos ingredientes, nuevas formas de cocción y nuevos significados. ” (In English…Throughout history, economic exchange, industrial development, and ethnic and cultural contacts have caused the appearance of new foods, fashions and culinary techniques within the cuisine of a country or region…old dishes are readapted with new ingredients, new ways of cooking and new meanings.). (Ortiz, 88) The idea of food as archaeology is the anchor for this unit. Tracing the roots and evolution of sancocho is a way to present a broader picture of identity in present day Abya Yala. It is a way to tell the story of how people who were once worlds apart became inextricably connected. It is a way to understand what happened many years ago and how these events still manifest themselves in the nations and people of present-day Abya Yala. The idea that cultures, in this case food cultures, influence each other through trade, forced labor, exploration and travel is not novel but the examination of the unevenness of this exchange is. Two important crops in sancocho are potatoes and corn. Indigenous diets, crops and food culture can play a major role in history and anthropology. The potato dates back to 2500 BC with the Inca empire. Even though it is just a small tuber, it reveals significant information about the importance of examining food in history. The Inca learned to cultivate the potato on Lake Titicaca in what is present day Peru. (Fitzpatrick) The article theorizes that the potato did not leave the “South American” continent until the Spanish came in the 15th century. Looking at the geography of what is called the Caribbean one can hypothesize that travel and interaction amongst them, whether by land or sea would have been feasible, especially with the lower sea level of that time. Archaeological evidence indicates that the people of the Greater Antilles (Arawak, “Taino”) used canoes with no sails to go back-and-forth among these islands. (Max Planck Society) Furthermore, the theory that intercoastal interactions (more threads) between these islands and the northern and central parts of Abya Yala is supported by shared culture and diets. (Hoffman, 10) The Inca are known for their cultivation of the potato and more recently corn. Traditionally, corn is centered around the Maya and Aztec cultures and what is referred to as “Mesoamerica.” However, the Inca empire is gaining more recognition for its successful cultivation of corn. (In Mayan culture maize (maize and corn are used interchangeably in this unit) was so important that rituals and Gods were centered around it, and it was believed that people were actually made from it. It was considered to be the most important crop not only because it sustained life but also because it was a literal symbol of life for them. It is difficult to quantify how much information is missing or has been omitted surrounding these cultures and their way of life. According to Crosby “… our lack of knowledge of ancient farming is an elite-centric bias in archaeological research (particularly in the Maya Classic Period…This has resulted in lack of informed reconstructions of farming, producing a view of farmers as passive and non-influential in social and political histories (Erickson 2006: 353; Robin 2012: 1-4). Elizabeth Brumfiel (1992) emphasized the problematic assumptions often made in the absence of archaeological data, stating: [W]hen archaeologists fail to (pay specific attention to) …ethnic groups], dominant groups in contemporary society are free to depict them in any way they please. Most often, dominant groups will overstate the historical importance of their own group and undervalue the contributions of others, legitimating inequalities… professional archaeologists make implicit assumptions about their roles and capabilities, resulting in the widespread acceptance of untested, and possibly erroneous, interpretation of archaeological data [Brumfiel 1992: 553]. Rather than a passive backdrop, agricultural production was a daily and structuring force in ancient Maya society. (this can lead to)…under-theoriz(ing) the importance of agricultural production to the creation of past societies. – The fact that two ancient Indigenous crops are still major staples in a recipe that evolved from extractive beginnings in Abya Yala is testament to the strength of ancestral ties and connections that cannot be limited by arbitrary borders. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/06/13/481586649/a-map-of-where-your-food-originated-may-surprise-you—— Thousands of miles away a small archipelago called the Canary Islands would become a major part of sancocho’s journey to Abya Yala. It acted as a bridge between East Asia, the Mediterranean, North Alkebulan and Europe and Abya Yala. The quote, “The Andes end in the Canary Islands” is reflected both in the relationship between the biodiversity of Andean and Canary Island potatoes and in the similarity of agricultural practices and conditions on the island of Tenerife. According to Fernando Ortiz,cultures in contact transform each other and create new culture, different from the original one and the process of cultural contact and change never moves in one direction (Gonçlves 14). Sancocho is a metaphor for this concept of transculturation. The majority of articles tracing the origins of sancocho place its beginnings to 15th century Spain but research indicates that the roots of this recipe are centuries older. The origin of sancocho can be roughly traced back to the 15th century. Adafina, a meat and chickpea stew prepared by Spain’s Sephardic Jews in advance of the Sabbath is believed by culinary historians to be the predecessor of the Spanish stew called cocido. If we dig a bit deeper, we find that “Dafina,” the much older predecessor of Adafina and subsequently of cocidos, had been around since the 4th century. However, there is little mention of it in mainstream history. (My Jewish Learning) Dafina means “buried” in Old Spanish Arabic. Name provides a succinct description of dafina as it relates to transculturation. -Dafina reflects the migration of Sephardi Jews and foods they adapted (because of coming in contact with many different groups of people). Potatoes (later) in lieu of (traditional) bulgur; fava beans or chickpeas; paprika and other hot peppers instead of long pepper, which was common in the Middle Ages. North Africans added whole red peppers. One hard-boiled egg, called hamine, per person in its shell was also included. Sephardi spices included pepper, saffron, and ground coriander seed. When the Sephardic Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, many fled to northwestern Africa across the Straits of Gibraltar. The hamin was changed, adjusting for local ingredients and then called dafina (covered) in Morocco… (the dish was slow cooked in a pot in the ground and covered).. Every family seems to have its own version. ” In the article, Adafina Brings Alive Childhood Memories, Azagury notes that potatoes were added centuries later through Spanish colonialism. This speaks to the fact that pre or coexisting cultures are prioritized based on who is telling the story; based on whose hands the pen is in. This multi-layered approach to discussing history is a way to explore commonalities as well as celebrate differences. Spanish and Portuguese Jewish people began arriving in the Canary Islands in the late 15th century after facing a third religious expulsion from the peninsula. Many of their traditional dishes, including adafina, began to move beyond the Sephardic Jewish community and came to be known as cocido (slow cooked stew) in Spain. Sancocho is considered to be a cocido with an African/Alkebulan/Ahmazig influence (Palmer). Here, in the Canaries they encountered A group of people called the Guanches (Amazigh origin). They had been here since the second millennium BCE. This merging of cultures played a significant role in the evolution and prevalence of sancocho in Abya Yala. By 1492, European sailors knew they could not sail straight west to Abya Yala so they had to start by heading south, past the northwest coast of Alkebulan, to pick up the west-bound trade winds. (cite) For the Spanish, the Canary Island, specifically Tenerife and Gomera, were the first stop on the way to the “new” world. According to Crosby, “Dogs, sheep, goats, pigs, barley, wheat, peas” were already found on the islands. The Europeans added “cattle, asses, camels, rabbits, pigeons, chickens, partridges, ducks, grape vines, melons, pears, apples.” This is notable, “…because the ‘first’ horses, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, and honey bees to arrive in America likely originated in the Canaries, the last stop before the transatlantic crossing. This was ‘the last chance to take aboard fresh food and live animals’(Crosby, 20).” I mention this fact because these islands were part of an important food way for fresh new ingredients between continents. Another important crop to mention here is sugar. The introduction of sugar cane created a tremendous demand for the coveted crop and would transform the Canaries and Abya Yala forever. With the population of enslaved indigenous people decreasing due to violence, unrealistic production expectations and disease, Spain began to enslave people from Alkebulan to meet the demand. By 1502, slave ships were arriving in Quisqueya (The Dominican Republic) and they kept coming and going for three more centuries. Most people know what happened next… I am including the transatlantic slave trade in this paper because it has played a significant role in shaping shared characteristics in Abya Yala but it does not necessarily define the people who live there. STEP 6 Exploring the various sancocho recipes in several regions of Abya Yala creates a broader view of the influences and factors surrounding the origins of “Latin America” but deciding which nations to choose seemed random at first. A simple google search of sancocho and any of the 48 nations considered to be part of “Latin America” will yield something related to sancocho, whether it is sopa de res, ajiaco, sancochado or bouyon bef. In a work entitled, Shifting Territories: The Production of Space on Eighteenth-Century Hispaniola, Nathalie Bragadir explains how, “Boundaries separate people . . . and the separating qualities of boundaries influence interaction between them… borders are… ‘a region where two (or more) civilizations face each other and overlap’ (quoted in Baud and van Schendel 1997, 216; italics in original). In other words, while borders create political, social, and cultural divides, they also reveal the existence of networks of communication across them.” (25) Upon further research I decided to focus on sancocho canario (Tenerife) and the sancocho recipes from the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Panamá (Kuna Yala), Borikén and Venezuela. I chose these nations based on three factors of proximity: geography, racial identity and colonial ties. In terms of geography, all of these nations are relatively close to each other and their coasts create a circle. The second factor demonstrates how each of these nations went through phases of whitening, browning and blackening. According to George Reid Andrews each of these phases between 1880 and 2000 manifested themselves in similar ways in all of these nations. They seem to have the least desire for a proximity to whiteness compared to other nations in Abya Yala. (Reid,153-190) I would attest that this would make it more likely for them to identify with a “national” dish that has clear Alkebulan and Black roots.” The only outlier I can find is Cuba. Many people identify with a dish called ajiaco according to Gonçales,. This dish is named for the Arawak word, ají, meaning hot pepper. The only “research” I was able to find about indigenous/Alkebulan names for sancocho was anecdotal on a you tube post about sancocho in which a person said they call it sufuria, Swahili for pot. (How to Make Sancocho Dominicano With LaMamaMuse). I would attest that there are more indigenous and Alkebulan names for sancocho but the best way to find them is through talking to people and visiting these places. I hope this unit will be a catalyst for uncovering and recovering some of this “missing” information. The last factor, which eliminates Brazil and Aiyti (and the other non-Spanish colonies), is their proximity to Spanish colonialism. Dishes like feijoada and bouyon bef are very similar to sancocho in their preparation and several ingredients but they also contain obvious traits of their respective colonizing nations. I also chose sancocho canario (from the Canary Islands) because it seems to be the predecessor of the sancocho recipes of Abya Yala. STEP 7 “Food is who we are in the deepest sense, and not because it is transformed into blood and bone. Our personal gastronomic traditions—what we eat, the food and foodways we associate with the …moments around the table, celebrations—are critical components of our identities. To recall them in desperate circumstances is to reinforce a sense of self and to assist us in our struggle to preserve it.” — Cara DeSilva, “In Memory’s Kitchen: A Legacy from the Women of Terezin” Note about each recipe This section contains the recipes we will actually be preparing in class during the year along with a summary of the history behind each recipe. A discussion of the specific ingredients should be included before or during the cooking session. J This section contains an overview of what sancocho is along with a picture and recipe for each nation. I put them in the order of contact with Spain from 1358- 1526. Using the map of indigenous people of Abya Yala, the native crops map and the pictures and ingredient list is a visual way of depicting sancocho’s evolution. Sancocho was traditionally meant to feed a lot of people while having to deal with scarcity and relying on what was available or given. Using what was available was a way of life for the indigenous people of Abya Yala. Root vegetables, beans and corn were vital to their survival. They perfected ways to live off the land and created sustainable crop rotation. This coupled with the one pot slow cook tradition is a part of all the following recipes. In her piece, Feasting on Sancocho Before Night Falls: A Meditation, Nelly Rosario describes the history of the word sancocho as “Spanish for ‘pig slop,’. (It’s) all about raising the least to the most, the ordinary to the extraordinary, and-for good Marquezian measure-the earth to the heavens. Call us alchemists. The African Diaspora’s always done what it could with what it’s had, transmuting base metals into gold. We’ve turned table scraps into feasts.” (Rosario, 259) Sancocho Canario (Contact with Spain 1358) Sancocho canario was prepared in the same manner as adafina in Spain. Because of its coastal location this type of sancocho contains fish in addition to root vegetables (potatoes after the 15th century). Each component is prepared and then layered on the next. It is usually served with gofio, an ancient grain dish eaten by the Indigenous Guanches to sustain them during the physical demands of farm and slave labor and is said to be a lasting part of present day identity on Tenerife (https://www.webtenerife.co.uk/tenerife/gastronomy/local-produce/el-gofio/ ). It is interesting to note that slaves during this time were given leftovers when possible. There was still a measure of dignity. However this changed when the dish reached Abya Yala. https://www.tasteatlas.com/sancocho-canario Ingredients *Note – I was not able to find a recipe without some form of tomato but the traditional dish existed before the arrival of the tomato. Ingredients for 4 people: 1 kg salted white fish. 1 kg potatoes. ½ kg yellow sweet potato. For the pella or dough: Gofio flour. Salt. Sugar. Water. Mojo picón sauce: 1 head of garlic. Cumin. Paprika. 1 ripe tomato. 1 hot pepper. Salt. Olive oil. Vinegar. Water. Preparation The salt fish should be soaked at least overnight to desalt it, changing the water 2 or 3 times, in a cold place. Put the potatoes, the sweet potatoes cut into large pieces, and the desalted fish into a large pan with water. Bring to the boil over a high flame, then drain and set aside. Presentation The fish, potatoes and sweet potatoes are served in a serving dish, accompanied by mojo picón and gofio dough. (https://www.spain.info/en/recipe/sancocho-canario/) Dominican Sancocho (Contact with Spain 1502) Described as a “…levanta muertos, or “raiser of the dead,” also…Good for hangovers and colds… Good for general sadness. Comfort food… Sancocho’s perceived curative properties are much like those attributed to chicken soup. From Panama City to Cali to Jerusalem, cultures the world over insist on the healing powers of their own particular soups and stews.” (Rosario, 261) It is traditionally made with whatever meat was available but usually that meant scraps of pork during the times of slavery. People had to work with what was given to them and with what was available. Enslaved people were given scraps to dehumanize and devalue them. Like the slop for the pigs, the civility of leftovers had gone out the window. Rosario describes sancocho evolution in the paragraph below: Sancocho’s trajectory, in particular,covers a wide range. Culinary author Emma Duprey de Sterling points to the ancestralAfrican custom of always keeping a pot of soup, as gift and welcome to any visitor, and as a way of recycling table scraps to have at one’s disposal when hunger strikes (65). A bleaker, commonly held belief about sancocho’s origins points to the days of slavery, during which there was surely little difference between the table scraps thrown to the troughs and what was tossed aside to the slave quarters. Later, sancocho came to refer to the “plantation stew” cobbled together by folks from neighbors’ crops. Creole chef Jean de Boissiere describes it as an “all-filling, midday meal of rich and poor alike on the plantations of Trinidad and Tobago” (qtd. in DeWitt and Wilan). Today, sancocho has ascended as the revered national dish of the Dominican Republic (DR) (263). Like all of the recipes to follow, Dominican sancocho contains mazorca and potatoes. What makes it distinct is yautía blanca, ñame, yuca, plátano verde, y auyama, which are all indigenous to the island. The following recipes also contain some of these ingredients because the recipe has traveled from place to place but there are usually substitutions and nuances based on availability and regional and familial preferences.
Authentic Recipe for Dominican Sancocho – Hearty Soup with Root Vegetables and Meats Ingredients: Meats: Vegetables and Starches: Herbs and Seasonings: Colombian Sancocho (Contact with Spain 1510) Sancocho de Pollo, a hearty soup almost like a stew, is a traditional dish in the Antioquia region of Colombia that combines potatoes, yuca, corn, plantains, and chicken. (Payne) It is typically cooked with a whole chicken, including the feet and served with a side of avocado. https://www.skinnytaste.com/colombian-chicken-sancocho-8-pts/ Ingredients: Sancocho de Guna Yala (Contact with Spain 1513) In the article entitled, Panama’s Sancocho Is a Soup That Can Cure It All, Antonia Mufarech interviews chefs about the importance of sancocho in Panama. Chef Alba describes sancocho as “… an integral part of being Panamanian. (Also called) sancocho de gallina Panameño, the dish originated in the Azuero Peninsula of southwestern Panama.” In the article she describes how the sancocho in this nation is distinct from the others but also highlights the similarities between it and other regions. She describes a Podcast called Sancocho Talks to further explain how much sancocho is a part of Panamanian identity. (Please see the resource section for the transcript of the podcast). One very important thing Alba highlights is that “…the best part about sancocho is not consuming it, but rather being in a circle with family and cooking together. It really brings people together. It’s like family bonding.” (Mufarech) https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/259059/panamanian-sancocho/ Ingredients: Sancocho in Boriken (Contact with Spain 1519) Ingredients: Sancocho I started this section with the ingredients because there are two major changes here. The introduction of tomatoes and sofrito are very indicative of regional preferences and nuances. I could do a whole unit on the tomato alone and how that has traveled and influenced cuisine in Abya Yala and Europe and another one about the origins of sofrito in Boriken, but with just one more recipe to examine, this paper is coming to an end. https://gypsyplate.com/puerto-rican-sancocho/ Sancocho in Venezuela (Contact with Spain in 1526) The Sancocho recipes I found from Venezuela are the most distinct from the previous ones in my opinion. I theorize that this is because a quarter century of cultural exchange had been occurring between Spain and the nations mentioned above and those exchanges and transformations were carried with them. This along with regional availability birthed Venezuelan sancocho. Traditional Venezuelan sancocho is made with oxtail (beef short ribs are sometimes substituted), carrots, potatoes, corn on the cob, and yuca. The soup is usually served with arepas, avocado, a tomato wedge, and a lime wedge. (Payne) Arepas are a national staple in Venezuela and note that the tomato has also made its way into the recipe. The final point I would like to mention about sancocho is that it is usually served with rice and can be accompanied with avocado. Tracing this phenomenon is another way to piece together history. I will continue to work on tracing foodways and look forward to the emerging research and work focusing on indigenous and under-recognized histories. Ingredients: Conclusion Similar to the way Ortiz uses a dish called ajiaco to adopt a more sociological and cultural approach to Cuban and more specifically “Afro-Cuban” identity, sancocho can also serve as a tool to answer the question of identity in all of Abya Yala. Ortiz suggests defining Cubanness as a process rather than one singular event or symbol. The word ajiaco comes from the Arawak word ají meaning hot pepper. It is important to note that the term ajiaco has indigenous Abya Yala origin and sancocho does not, but both offer a viable approach to discussing the idea of nationhood vs statehood. They quite literally provide roots for Abya Yala. “We can understand… culture by seeing it as a ‘mestizaje of races, mestizaje of cultures” and by examining the various cultural elements (and ingredients) that compose(d) it. Furthermore, “…ideologies envision national cultures as the result of racial and cultural admixture betweenEuropean, African, Amerindian and to a lesser extent, Asian elements.” (Gonçlaves 4). It is up to each individual to decide what that means for them. Is somebody Guna vs.Panamanian, Ciboney vs Cuban, Boricua vs Puerto Rican or Arawak vs. Dominican? The discussion lies in the vs. If vs is substituted with not, or and; or is rejected all together in favor of la madre patria (mother/colonizing) country what does that mean? This particular foodway is another approach to figuring out who we are and finding what resonates with us. Abya Yala is a place where “… mestizo culture is composed of multifarious cultural ingredients- mainly European and African, but also Asian, North American and Amerindian- that blend to different degrees.” (Gonçlaves 18) The issue is knowing as much of the story as possible and understanding that this decision is fluid just like the sancocho and its cousins throughout Abya Yala. In conclusion, if identity is determined in part by geopolitical borders that does not necessarily have to separate people. On the first day of the 2024 Afro Cumbre conference Nyya Toussaint, a scholar of the sociology of religion, linguistics and Black affairs, shared these words (paraphrased), “When an earthquake happens along the ridge in the Antilles we all feel it (Quisqueya and the Caribbean and beyond).” Borders are not stronger than the ties that bind us. Just as nature transcends borders, so has food. The focus of this paper was using a dish called sancocho to explore identity but if we look past the name we can find even more answers about who we are and who we want to be. Looking past the name allows us to find refuge in the in-between, in the spaces of uncertainty, on the borders that were meant to separate us. It allows us to look to the past, thrive in the present and imagine a future that reflects and respects us all. Exploring food offers metaphorical bread crumbs that lead us home and ultimately, the power to determine where we end up lies in our hands.
STEP 5
Many of my learners and I benefit from kinesthetic and visual learning. We will frequently use interactive maps, timelines, recipes, cooking sessions and edpuzzles in this unit. It can be shortened into three lessons or expanded over the course of a year and used for closing activities for each of the units in the SDP Year at a glance for Spanish 1 and 2. It could also be tailored for use during Black History month, Hispanic Heritage month and Indigenous People’s month and for several science and social studies lessons. We will start our class for the year with an open discussion about, “How we got here” We will look at and discuss several different maps of Abya Yala, The world and the indigenous food map. We will refer to these maps often throughout the year. (Visual learning) Daily routine to start our Spanish class: Grammar points – Use of ser and hay, use of ir +a + infinitive, use of tener + que + infinitive, use of commands. As we prepare each recipe, we will build on the suggested grammar concepts outlined in the School District of Philadelphia world language year at a glance documents. We focus on a lot of comprehensible input and encourage our learners to also present what they are learning at my school. We will be using videos and edpuzzles but also want them to make presentations. Learners will move from being able to identify and say the ingredients in a recipe (Hay papas, yuca y…, es delicioso) to (using voy a to say three things they will do when they are cooking), to using (tengo or tiene que to say what has to be done to prepare the recipe) and finally to using conjugation to recognize and say commands (Pon sal a tu gusto).– Use of presentations)
I am vegetarian so we do not use meat when we prepare sancocho. Here is the recipe we used when we made it last year. I try to find recipes that are less than 90 minutes long. If you do choose to use meat I would suggest marinating it beforehand to cut down on cooking time. I suggest using vegetarian recipes to cut down on the risk of pathogens and cross contamination also. We will prepare sancocho six times throughout the year once we have completed the ATOAH and ATOLH training, the knife safety training and returned the cooking in class waivers. We will do an edpuzzle for each unit, towards the end of the units outlined in the Year at a glance. Copy of HS1 YAG Year at a Glance Vegan Sancocho – Traditional Dominican stew minus the meat- https://www.hispanic-ish.com/2020/11/14/vegan-sancocho-traditional-dominican-hearty-stew/#recipe A delicious hearty Dominican classic stew without the meat. This sancocho is 100% vegan made with only whole foods and zero additives. Packed with nutrients and full of fall and Latin flavors, this stew is the perfect comfort food recipe for those colder fall and winter days. Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour Equipment: Ingredients: Instructions: Notes Objectives of the lessons Puedo: Monthly Activities *Learners will take the ATOAH and ATOLH through the oldways program cooking classes and earn certifications for both classes before we start cooking. (Self paced learning) *Edpuzzles and youtube videos for each month: vegan colombian sancocho – YouTube
Azagury, Y. (2022, April 15). Adafina Brings Alive Childhood Memories from Tangier. https://. The Marzak Review. https://yaelleazagury.com/ Bragadir, Nathalie. (2018). Chapter Title: Shifting Territories: The Production of Space on Eighteenth-Century Hispaniola: Transnational Hispaniola Book Subtitle: New Directions in Haitian and Dominican Studies Book Editor(s): April J. Mayes, Kiran C. Jayaram. University Press of Florida, University of Florida Press. (2018) Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvx07bs1.5 Combs-Gonzalez, R. (2024). Queering Apocalypse: Queer Latinx Approaches to History and Hope in the Unending End Times of Western Modernity Cox, B., & Jacobs, M. (2001). Spirit of the Earth. Crosby, A. W. (1984). An Ecohistory of the Canary Islands: A Precursor of European Colonialization in the New World and Australasia. Environmental Review: ER, 8(3), 215–235. Dafina. (n.d.). My Jewish Learning. Retrieved June 20, 2024, from https://www.myjewishlearning.com/recipe/dafina/ Dixon, Christine Catherine . (2013). Farming and power: Classic Period Maya manioc and maize cultivation at Ceren, El Salvador. Fitzpatrick, S. M. (2015). The Pre-Columbian Caribbean: Colonization, Population Dispersal, and Island Adaptations. PaleoAmerica, 1(4), 305–331. https://doi.org/10.1179/2055557115Y.0000000010 Gonçales, J. F. (2014). The ajiaco in Cuba and beyond. HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 4(3), 445–454. https://doi.org/10.14318/hau4.3.031a Hey-Colón, R. L. (2023). Channeling Knowledges. University of Texas Press. Hofman, C., Mol, A., Hoogland, M., & Valcárcel Rojas, R. (2014). Stage of encounters: migration, mobility and interaction in the pre-colonial and early colonial Caribbean. World Archaeology, 46(4), 590–609. https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2014.925820 Madrid’s Signature Pork Stew Has an Incredible Jewish Backstory | The Nosher. (2023, July 26). My Jewish Learning. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-nosher/madrids-signature-pork-stew-has-an-incredible-jewish-backstory/ Mufarech, Antonia. Panama’s Sancocho Is a Soup That Can Cure It All. Smithsonian National Magazine. June 21, 2022 Nägele, Kathrin et al.,Genomic insights into the early peopling of the Caribbean.Science369,456-460(2020).DOI:10.1126/science.aba8697 Ortiz, C. M. (2020). De los plátanos de Oller a los Food Trucks: comida, alimentación y cocina puertorriqueña en ensayos y recetas Palmer, J., & Kahn, M. L. (2023, March 27). Understanding Adafina, the Shabbat stew of Spains Conversos. St. Louis Jewish Light. https://stljewishlight.org/jewishfood/understanding-adafina-the-shabbat-stew-of-spains-conversos/ Payne, L. (2024, January 11). sancocho. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/sancocho Puerto Rican Sancocho (Caribbean Beef & Vegetable Stew). (2022, October 14). GypsyPlate. https://gypsyplate.com/puerto-rican-sancocho/ Quiñones, S. M. (2024). When Strangers Arrive: Host-Visitor Protocol in the Pre-Contact Caribbean Reid Andrew, George. (2004). Afro-Latin America, 1800-2000. Oxford University Press. Ríos, D., Devaux, A., & Ruiz, I. (2023). Ancient Potato Varieties of the Canary Islands: Their History, Diversity and Origin of the Potato in Europe. Potato Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11540-023-09672-2 Rosario, N. (2007). Feasting on Sancocho Before Night Falls: A Meditation. Callaloo, 30(1), 259–281. https://doi.org/10.1353/cal.2007.0166 Yarza de los Ríos, A. (2021). Abya Yala’s Disability: Weaving With the Thread and Breath of Ancestors. Disability Studies Quarterly, Volume 41.No 4 Fall 2021. Additional resources: List of local foodbanks – https://www.hungercoalition.org/food-pantries – https://www.donorschoose.org/teachers Cooking Waiver: We are excited to begin cooking in Spanish class for! Please read over the information below and contact Mrs. Conquest at acconquest@philasd.org if you have questions. 🙂 I acknowledge and assume all risks associated with the cooking class, including, without limitation, cuts, burns, food poisoning, slipping and falling, any other personal injury, and equipment and facility conditions. I have read and fully understand this waiver and I waive and release The School District of Philadelphia, School of the Future and their respective officers, directors, shareholders, members, managers, employees and agents, and their respective successors and assigns, from any and all claims, liabilities or causes of action, including without limitation, death, bodily injury, property damage, or any other loss, damage or inconvenience whatsoever, arising from my participation in the cooking class. Further, I grant full permission to use my name, photograph, likeness, biography, voice and/or video for signage, posters, television, magazine articles, websites, social media sites (including, but not limited to, Facebook and Twitter), worldwide and without limitation, and without additional compensation or consideration, except where prohibited by law. Learner Name: ________________________________ Any allergies or dietary restrictions: __________________________________ Emergency Contact Telephone Number: _____________________ Emergency Contact email: _________________________________________________ Learner Signature: ____________________________________ Date: __________________________________________________ Parent or Guardian Signature: ______________________________ Parent or Guardian Name: _________________________________ Date: __________________________________________________ Donation solicitation template: “Esteemed Friends: 10/13/2023 I have been a Spanish educator in the school district of Philadelphia for 25 years. We cook in class every two to three weeks to reinforce Hispanocomunicante culture and how to follow directions in Spanish. We are not funded at all and I rely on donations and my own money to get ingredients. In the past I have had between 150 and 180 students each year. This year I am fortunate to have about 45 total because we got another language teacher. I am currently working at the School of the Future and have been here for 15 years. I am asking for donations for our upcoming cooking lessons surrounding family and Día de los muertos. We are making queso con tortillas hechas a mano and aguas frescas on 10/16 and then churros and horchata in the upcoming weeks. We will also be making pan de muertos and sugar skulls. Donations of block cheese, tortillas, tomatoes, garlic,cilantro, onions, chiles, flour, sugar, milk, fresh fruit and chocolate/caramel syrup would be very helpful but I can work with anything you can provide. Thanks for your continued support and generosity.” Oldways Website- https://oldwayspt.org/traditional-diets/latin-american-heritage-diet https://www.zerowastewisdom.com/post/how-to-grow-potatoes-in-a-bucket- How to grow potatoes in your class https://familiakitchen.com/the-story-of-sancocho/?fbclid=IwAR1rw2Noh3eODV9vlx8hkQ3W0bn4BUJcmzIcvpB_tCxw3n9Kl6NgL3t5rp0#wpzoom-premium-recipe-card- dominican sancocho https://www.hispanic-ish.com/2020/11/14/vegan-sancocho-traditional-dominican-hearty-stew/- vegan sancocho Recipe for Canary Island Sancocho https://www.spain.info/en/recipe/sancocho-canario/ https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/the-first-slaves-in-venezuela-presentation/560156— slavery in Venezuela ppt https://www.slavevoyages.org/assessment/estimates- Spanish slave trade chart from 1502-1526 https://wwnorton.com/college/history/ralph/referenc/amertime.htm- timeline of history in the “Americas” https://blog.ciat.cgiar.org/origin-of-crops/#- map of indigenous/”native” crops https://breadtopia.com/how-to-nixtamalize-corn-for-tortillas-tamales-posole-and-more/- how to nixtamalize corn for a classroom experiment https://www.nal.usda.gov/collections/stories/three-sisters#:~:text=The%20Iroquois%20and%20the%20Cherokee,squash%20throughout%20of%20the%20field.- three sisters article https://www.catersource.com/food-beverage/revolution-indigenous-foods- increasing indigenous cooking practices https://myweb.rollins.edu/jsiry/CaribbeanTimeline.html– timeline of the Caribbean https://eatourwords.wordpress.com/moorish-spain-711-1492-culture-and-cuisine/– sephardic jews (John Newton) https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34666– inca history https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.14318/hau4.3.031a#:~:text=But%20the%20centerpiece%20of%20%E2%80%9CThe,of%20pieces%20of%20assorted%20meats.– ajiaco and cubanidad https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00438243.2014.925820– Good explanation of pre-contact caribbean interactions https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-11-29-fo-4136-story.html– Short article about cholent and the Sephardic Jewish connection to sancocho https://www.cepal.org/sites/default/files/presentation/files/doc_pueblos_indigenas_cepal_barcena_ppt.pdf— Good visual of Abya Yala and the percentages of
Ingredients for 4 people: *OJO: kg salted white fish. 1 kg potatoes. ½ kg yellow sweet potato. (Learners enjoy converting kg to lbs. We always talk about why we don’t universally use the metric system).
The salt fish should be soaked at least overnight to desalt it, changing the water 2 or 3 times, in a cold place. Put the potatoes, the sweet potatoes cut into large pieces, and the desalted fish into a large pan with water. Bring to the boil over a high flame, then drain and set aside.
The fish, potatoes and sweet potatoes are served in a serving dish, accompanied by mojo picón and gofio dough.
The School District of Philadelphia Year at a Glance for World Language 1 and 2 Standards used by ACTFL which are the basis of the School District of Philadelphia standards for all World Language Classes. They can be used as educators see fit in these lessons. Copy of HS1 YAG Year at a Glance 1.1: Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions. 1.2: Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics. 1.3: Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics. Cultures Gain Knowledge and Understanding of Other Cultures Standard 2.1: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the practices and perspectives of the culture studied. 2.2: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the products and perspectives of the culture studied. Connections Connect with Other Disciplines and Acquire Information 3.1: Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through the foreign language. Standard 3.2: Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through the foreign language and its cultures. Comparisons Develop Insight into the Nature of Language and Culture Standard 4.1: Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the language studied and their own. 4.2: Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studied and their own. Communities Participate in Multilingual Communities at Home & Around the World 5.1: Students use the language both within and beyond the school setting. 5.2: Students show evidence of becoming life-long learners by using the language for personal enjoyment and enrichment. COMMUNICATION 1.1: Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions. This standard focuses on interpersonal communication, that is, direct oral or written communication between individuals who are in personal contact. In most modern languages, students can quite quickly learn a number of phrases that will permit them to interact with each other. In the course of their study, they will grow in their ability to converse in a culturally appropriate manner. Sample Progress Indicators 1.2: Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics. Standard 1.2 involves one-way listening and reading in which the learner works with a variety of print and non-print materials. The context in which the language is experienced and the ability to control what they hear and read may impact students’ development of comprehension. As a result, the ability to read may develop before the ability to comprehend rapid spoken language. In addition, content knowledge will often affect successful comprehension, for students understand more easily materials that reflect their interests or for which they have some background. Sample Progress Indicators 1.3: Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics. This standard focuses on the formal presentation of information, concepts, and ideas in spoken and written form and is concerned, in most cases, with one-way speaking and writing. Students with little or no previous language experience are likely to produce written and spoken language that will contain a variety of learned patterns or will look like English with words in the other language. This is a natural process and, over time, they begin to acquire authentic patterns and to use appropriate styles. By contrast, home-background students will write in ways that closely resemble the spoken language. Moreover, they will control informal oral styles. Over time these learners will develop the ability to write and speak using more formal styles. 2.1: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the practices and perspectives of the culture studied. This standard focuses on the practices that are derived from the traditional ideas and attitudes (perspectives) of a culture. Cultural practices refer to patterns of behavior accepted by a society and deal with aspects of culture such as rites of passage, the use of forms of discourse, the social “pecking order,” and the use of space. In short, they represent the knowledge of “what to do when and where.” 2.2: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the products and perspectives of the culture studied. This standard focuses on the products of the culture studied and on how they reflect the perspectives of the culture. Products May Be tangible (e.g., painting, a piece of literature, a pair of chopsticks) or intangible (e.g., an oral tale, a dance, a sacred ritual, a system of education).Whatever the form of the product, its presence within the culture is required or justified by the underlying beliefs and values (perspectives) of that culture, and the cultural practices involve the use of that product. CULTURES 3.1: Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through the foreign language. Learning today is no longer restricted to a specific discipline; it has become interdisciplinary. Just as reading cannot be limited to a particular segment of the school day, so too can foreign language build upon the knowledge that students acquire in other subject areas. In addition, students can relate the information studied in other subjects to their learning of the foreign language and culture. Foreign language instruction thus becomes a means to expand and deepen students’ understanding of, and exposure to, other areas of knowledge. The new information and concepts presented in one class become the basis of continued learning in the foreign language classroom. Standard 3.2: Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through the foreign language and its cultures. As a consequence of learning another language and gaining access to its unique means of communication, students are able to broaden the sources of information available to them. They have a “new window on the world.” At the early levels of language learning, students can begin to examine a variety of sources intended for native speakers, and extract specific information. As they become more proficient users of the foreign language, they can seek out materials of interest to them, analyze the content, compare it to information available in their own language, and assess the linguistic and cultural differences. 4.1: Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the language studied and their own. This standard focuses on the impact that learning the linguistic elements in the new language has on students’ ability to examine English and to develop hypotheses about the structure and use of languages. From the earliest language learning experiences, students can compare and contrast the two languages as different elements are presented. Activities can be systematically integrated into instruction that will assist students in gaining understanding and in developing their abilities to think critically about how languages work. Standard 4.2: Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studied and their own. As students expand their knowledge of cultures through language learning, they continually discover perspectives, practices, and products that are similar and different from their own culture, and they develop the ability to hypothesize about cultural systems in general. Some students may make these comparisons naturally, others may not. This standard helps focus this reflective process for all students by encouraging integration of this process into instruction from the earliest levels of learning. CONNECTIONS COMPARISONS 5.1: Students use the language both within and beyond the school setting. This standard focuses on language as a tool for communication with speakers of the language throughout one’s life: in schools, in the community, and abroad. In schools, students share their knowledge of language and culture with classmates and with younger students who may be learning the language. Applying what has been learned in the language program as defined by the other standards, students come to realize the advantages inherent in being able to communicate in more than one language and develop an understanding of the power of language. 5.2: Students show evidence of becoming lifelong learners by using the language for personal enjoyment and enrichment. Each day millions of Americans spend leisure time reading, listening to music, viewing films and television programs, and interacting with each other. By developing a certain level of comfort with their new language, students can use these skills to access information as they continue to learn throughout their lives. Students who study a language can use their skills to further enrich their personal lives by accessing various entertainment and information sources available to speakers of the language. Some students may have the opportunity to travel to communities and countries where the language is used extensively and, through this experience, further develop their language skills and understanding of the culture.