{"id":360206,"date":"2020-11-09T16:19:28","date_gmt":"2020-11-09T19:19:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=360206"},"modified":"2020-11-17T15:46:19","modified_gmt":"2020-11-17T18:46:19","slug":"a-feast-for-historians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/a-feast-for-historians\/","title":{"rendered":"A feast for historians"},"content":{"rendered":"

From humans\u2019 harnessing of fire to the advent of fast-food restaurants, dietary habits can provide clues about different societies\u2019 ways of life over time. Recent studies have revealed how patterns in food and beverage production, marketing, and consumption both shaped and were shaped by political, economic, and cultural changes in Brazilian cities between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. The papers illustrate how food history, a relatively new field of research (see sidebar<\/em><\/a>), can provide insight into aspects poorly explored by traditional historiography, which often pays little attention to such a mundane activity as eating. In recent years, explains Leila Mezan Algranti of the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences at the University of Campinas (IFCH-UNICAMP), new research has shed light on local nuances of urbanization and metropolization processes in Brazil. \u201cThese studies delve deeper than just finding out what people ate in the past,\u201d says the historian, a pioneer in the field in Brazil.<\/p>\n

The practice of eating out is a good example of how economic dynamics created new eating habits in eighteenth-century S\u00e3o Paulo City. As trade intensified and new ports were built in 1808, products such as pasta, cheese, sausages, and dried fruits were introduced into the diets of the city\u2019s wealthy, who could afford to savor these foods in casas de pasto<\/em>\u2014the precursors of modern restaurants\u2014and in taverns more sophisticated than those frequented by the less affluent. \u201cAround 1820, the upper classes began venturing out of their homes to frequent public eating establishments, attracted by the possibility of varying their daily menus and enjoying moments of leisure and social interaction,\u201d explains historian Rafaela Basso, who explored the subject in a doctorate thesis she recently defended at UNICAMP.<\/p>\n

The period she investigated, between 1765 and 1834, was marked by profound changes in S\u00e3o Paulo, including the restoration of the city\u2019s administrative independence after 17 years of subordination to the Rio de Janeiro government. \u201cThe new administration began efforts to reorganize and promote trade and agriculture,\u201d says Basso. \u201cIn the city, small food businesses began to flourish and to attach new meanings to food.\u201d By the turn of the nineteenth century, she says, the city was integrated into vast food supply chains. Goods were imported from Europe via the Port of Santos, to satisfy the tastes of the elite and newly arrived Europeans.<\/p>\n

The bustle of people on the streets of the provincial capital led to the emergence of facilities to cater to their needs, says Basso, who investigated the early commerce of food products in the city and the beginnings of Mercado das Casinhas, the first public marketplace in S\u00e3o Paulo for products such as corn, beans, flour, and pork. City Hall documents the historian researched reveal complaints from residents about garbage and litter left by street vendors, for whom the increasing flow of pedestrians was an opportunity to market their goods. The discontented residents complained of meat and fish leftovers strewn on the streets, and obstacles blocking their passage.<\/p>\n

Measures to organize food markets and contain the proliferation of street vendors would only be implemented in the early twentieth century, says historian Francis Manzoni, author of the book Mercados e feiras livres em S\u00e3o Paulo<\/em> (Indoor and open-air markets in S\u00e3o Paulo; Edi\u00e7\u00f5es SESC, 2019), which explores the development of public markets between 1867 and 1933. \u201cS\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s demographic growth with the arrival of migrants from Europe and other parts of the country created new demand for housing, food, and transportation,\u201d explains Manzoni. \u201cOrganizing the city’s food supply became one of the government\u2019s priorities.\u201d The solution was to build indoor markets to accommodate street vendors and keep them off the streets.<\/p>\n

In practice, however, only those who could afford the stall fees were accepted in indoor markets, mostly European immigrants who had previously plied the trade. Blacks, caipiras <\/em>(country folk), and poor whites continued to sell their goods on the streets, illegally. But food prices and the overall cost of living soon began to increase in S\u00e3o Paulo\u2014an effect of rising real estate prices and the collection of market stall fees and taxes on certain products. Street vendors were eventually accommodated in open-air markets created by Mayor Washington Lu\u00eds (1869\u20131957) in 1914, says Manzoni, as part of a strategy to regulate food commerce by charging lower fees than those for indoor market stalls. The institutionalization of open-air markets, explains the researcher, allowed vendors to pay more reasonable fees and offer food at more attractive prices than those in market halls. Manzoni also notes the hygienist undertone to the efforts to create public markets in S\u00e3o Paulo. \u201cDuring the coffee economy, city expansion was modeled after large European cities as an ideal of civilization,\u201d he explains. \u201cIn order to \u201cclean up\u201d the city\u2019s streets, and remove blacks and the poor from its sidewalks, eugenic ideas were put into practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Francis Manzoni Archives<\/span><\/a> Workers in the inner court of a market on Rua 25 de Mar\u00e7o: the facilities were built to keep street vendors off the streetsFrancis Manzoni Archives<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Foods such as rice, beans, corn, cassava, cabbage, pork, and dried meat were all part of the city\u2019s diet at that time, says the historian. Some had been a staple since the pioneering Bandeirantes<\/em> expeditions in the sixteenth century. \u201cThe triad of S\u00e3o Paulo cuisine\u2014cassava, beans, and corn\u2014had its origins in indigenous cultures. The Bandeirantes<\/em>, most of whom were of mixed indigenous and Portuguese ancestry, learned to survive in the forests and to eat foods that were readily available from hinterland plantations. They also learned to eat wild animals like armadillos, pacas, deer, monkeys, snakes, larvae, and ants, as well as wild fruits.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was only at the turn of the twentieth century that S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s cuisine was further expanded by European immigrants. Italians were largely accountable for the introduction olive oils, sausages (such as baloney and salami), olives, pasta, polenta, tomato sauce, breads, cheeses, and antipasti, while the Portuguese introduced the production and consumption of pork and pork products. \u201cImmigration played a key role in diversifying the foods people ate in Brazil, including foods not previously grown in the country,\u201d says Manzoni.<\/p>\n

The transformations in the city also had an influence on S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s Iberian-styled taverns, where alcoholic beverages and snacks were served. \u201cThe city\u2019s taverns, largely owned by Portuguese, eventually succumbed to successive urban reforms, expropriations, and real-estate speculation,\u201d says Daisy de Camargo, who explored the subject in her doctoral thesis in history at S\u00e3o Paulo State University (UNESP). During a trip to Spain, the historian was surprised to find that taverns in Madrid, some dating back the mid-nineteenth century, were still in business. \u201cI decided to investigate how local eating habits survive the relentless advance of globalization,\u201d explains Camargo, who delved into the subject during a postdoctoral internship at the Federal University of S\u00e3o Paulo (UNIFESP). She documented her research in the book Fale com eles \u2013 Uma leitura das tabernas da cidade de Madri a partir da hist\u00f3ria da alimenta\u00e7\u00e3o<\/em> (Go talk to them! \u2013 An exploration of Madrid\u2019s taverns from a food-history perspective; Alameda, 2019).<\/p>\n

Camargo sees the taberna<\/em> culture as a form of resistance to today\u2019s hurried lifestyle and standardized foods. The cocido madrile\u00f1o<\/em>, a typical dish served in Madrid\u2019s taverns, takes hours to prepare and varies regionally in its ingredients. \u201cFast food came as a response to today\u2019s hurried urban lifestyles. To streamline production and consumption, chains like McDonald\u2019s created menus with very few variations,\u201d she observes. For Camargo, Madrid’s taverns have endured because of, among other reasons, their status as symbols of political resistance in difficult times in Spain\u2019s history. \u201cTienda de Vinos, a tavern founded in 1888 and still in business, survived more than just the Happy Meal,\u201d she notes. In previous years, between 1939 and 1975, it served as a meeting place for socialists and trade union members who fought against General Francisco Franco\u2019s (1892\u20131975) regime.<\/p>\n

Unlike Madrid’s taverns, which succeeded in their resistance to culinary homogeneity, at least one major city in Brazil saw its eating habits significantly change under the influence of US culture in the early twentieth century. During that period, the northeastern city of Recife experienced a wave of Americanism, fueled first by Hollywood in the 1930s and, in the following decade, at the height of World War II, by the presence of US military bases in northeastern cities. \u201cPeople in the city were regularly in contact with Americans who wandered around the city with showy uniforms, jeeps, and dollar-filled wallets,\u201d says historian Francisco de Oliveira Toscano, who investigated the phenomenon in a doctoral thesis he defended at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP). \u201cMany of the city\u2019s residents initially viewed those soldiers\u2014who drank Coca-Cola straight from the bottle and ordered whiskey in the city\u2019s bars\u2014with suspicion. But suspicion soon gave way to admiration, and eventually most people were keen to imitate the gringos<\/em>,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

Documents he researched from the period show that Recife\u2019s elite quickly adopted new and American ways of partying and entertaining guests at their homes: formal banquets around dining tables were replaced by American-style cocktail receptions, where canap\u00e9s were offered that guests could eat with their hands. Sandwiches, a British invention popularized by Americans, were also introduced. \u201cHot dogs became popular at fairs and festivities,\u201d says Toscano, who spent six months in the US researching documents in Washington. There, he found records of military shipments of supplies to Brazil.<\/p>\n

<\/a>For Toscano, the history of food in Recife provides insight into the cultural evolution of both the elites and the masses. \u201cIt shows how local eating habits have been modulated by foreign cultures, and provides a critical view of how much our society can be influenced by what is served on the dinner table,\u201d says Toscano. The history of food plays another important role, adds Manzoni. “That of putting a spotlight on characters forgotten by history books, such as market and street vendors.\u201d<\/p>\n

A recent field of study<\/strong>
\nStudies on the history of food first gained prominence in Brazil in the 1990s<\/em><\/p>\n

Early research into the history of food dates back to studies in the mid-1960s by European historians such as Jean-Louis Flandrin (1931\u20132001) and Fernand Braudel (1902\u20131985), of France. In Brazil, the field gained prominence in the late 1990s with the publication of a review of scientific literature in the Proceedings of Paulista Museum, in 1997. In the article, historians Ulpiano Toledo Bezerra de Meneses and Henrique Carneiro, both of USP, describe some of the attributes of food history as a field of research.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile historiography about Brazil has not failed to take food into account, it has almost always done so as a footnote,\u201d wrote the authors, citing the book Caminhos e fronteiras<\/em> (Paths and borders; 1957) as an example. In this work on Brazil\u2019s territorial expansion by the Bandeirantes<\/em>, historian S\u00e9rgio Buarque de Holanda (1902\u20131982) dedicates a chapter to what he describes as a \u201ccorn civilization.\u201d \u201cThe history of food is very much a territory still to be discovered,\u201d they conclude.<\/p>\n

The article has become a landmark in the field in Brazil, says historian Leila Mezan Algranti of UNICAMP. \u201cTwenty-three years later, it is still widely cited. Meneses and Carneiro helped to make food a primary object of study in some graduate programs,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The historical study of food is now well established in Brazil, providing insights into the ways that, for example, different social classes and cultural and religious traditions coexisted together. \u201cBy analyzing aspects such as food production and consumption, we can also learn about economic and political factors.\u201d The main research groups in this field in Brazil, says Algranti, will be found in institutions such as USP, UNICAMP, the Pontifical Catholic University of Paran\u00e1 (PUC-PR), the Pontifical Catholic University of S\u00e3o Paulo (PUC-SP), the Federal University of Paran\u00e1 (UFPR), the Federal University of Par\u00e1 (UFPA), the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), and the Federal University of S\u00e3o Paulo (UNIFESP).<\/div>\n

Projects<\/strong>
\n1.<\/strong> Yes, we have Coca-Cola: US practices and influence on eating habits in Recife (1930\u20131950) (n\u00ba 15\/02436-6<\/a>); Grant Mechanism<\/strong> Doctoral (PhD) Fellowship; Supervisor<\/strong> Henrique Soares Carneiro (USP); Beneficiary<\/strong> Frederico de Oliveira Toscano; Investment<\/strong> R$186,068.70.
\n2.<\/strong> History of food and culture: A historical exploration of Madrid\u2019s tabernas (n\u00ba 12\/12883-1<\/a>); Grant Mechanism<\/strong> Postdoctoral Fellowship; Supervisor<\/strong> Jaime Rodrigues (UNIFESP); Beneficiary<\/strong> Daisy de Camargo; Investment<\/strong> R$229,120.58.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New studies help to explain how changing eating habits shaped culture and the economy in S\u00e3o Paulo and Recife ","protected":false},"author":421,"featured_media":358421,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[165],"tags":[241,251],"coauthors":[740],"class_list":["post-360206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humanities","tag-history","tag-nutrition","position_at_home-sumario"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/421"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=360206"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":360207,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360206\/revisions\/360207"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=360206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=360206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=360206"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=360206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}