“Sabores de México” is a platform that brings together a series of videos and documentary photographs that show the diversity and richness of ingredients and recipes of Mexican gastronomy, as well as its community, festive, traditional and ritual ties.
This platform, presented by the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico, through the General Directorate of Popular, Indigenous and Urban Cultures (DGCPIU) and its Directorate of Food Culture, and Google Arts & Culture is available as of today, September 13, on the eve of the commemoration for the 200 years of the Consummation of the Independence of Mexico (September 27, 1821).
They will find visual and audiovisual material
In “Sabores de México” Mexican and world users will find visual and audiovisual material that shows the richness of Mexican biodiversity and its influence on seasoning; the work carried out by producers, traditional cooks and chefs in the creation, dissemination and safeguarding of Mexican gastronomy, coupled with stories that intertwine ritual, festive practices, and traditions that bring together a community and families around the table.
The Secretary of Culture of the Government of Mexico, Alejandra Frausto Guerrero, has expressed that food culture is one of the most important issues for this administration and that through various actions it has sought to know, recognize and recover some practices and traditions of the cultures indigenous, Afro-Mexican and popular, linked to the production, preparation and consumption of food. “Food culture, like the 68 languages of Mexico with its 364 variants, is still alive as our greatest strength”, and has emphasized that “by avoiding the disappearance of one more language, one more traditional recipe, we will have a country with greater wealth and food sovereignty ”.
It will protect more than three thousand images and 200 stories
“Sabores de México” will protect more than three thousand images and 200 stories created by 30 institutions, among which are, in addition to the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Tourism of the Government of Mexico, the secretariats of Culture of the states of Jalisco and Oaxaca, the Chocolate Museum (MU-CHO), the Franz Mayer Museum and the Cuauhtémoc mayor’s office in Mexico City. These contents can be seen both on the page https://artsandculture.google.com/project/mexican-food, and in the application for mobile devices, available for iOS and Android.
On the part of the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico, netizens will enjoy materials that are derived from actions promoted in the DGCPIU, in which the culinary vitality of the Mexican indigenous peoples is praised, as well as the persistent idiosyncrasy in the traditional and popular cuisines.
Gastronomic Contest What does the country taste like?
As an example, the finalist videos in the collective Category of the “Gastronomic Contest What does the homeland taste like?”, In which Mexican cooks and chefs were invited to share recipes made with ingredients that Mexico gave to the world, such as corn, cocoa, chili, tomato and avocado, among others of a local or endemic nature. In these videos the elaboration of traditional dishes is observed such as the Xincoyote stuffed with escamoles and palm flower in corn leaf, prepared in the municipality of Santiago de Anaya, Hidalgo; the Tlatonile de colorines, from Tixtla, Guerrero; the Mole de Calpan, from Puebla; the lunch or mayordomia invitation, from Santa Lucía del Camino, Oaxaca; and the “Kaaxil sikil” (Chicken nugget), from Chichimilá, Yucatán.
In the same way, selected videos will be shown from the “Pica, pero sabe” video-recipe contest. And the Regional Units of the DGCPIU located in Morelos, Michoacán, Quintana Roo, Sonora, Nuevo León, Puebla, Durango, Querétaro, Chihuahua, the city of Tijuana, in Baja California, and the cities of Xalapa and Papantla join this initiative. , in Veracruz. Likewise, the State Units of Zacatecas and Guanajuato, as well as the Secretary of Culture of the state of Hidalgo, the National Coordination of Anthropology of the INAH and producers of Tlaxcala. All will contribute to nourishing this platform with audiovisual and photographic material in which the faces of traditional cooks and cultural carriers, ingredients, dishes and community eating practices typical of their regions can be appreciated.
A recognition of the culinary wealth of Mexico
In 2010, traditional Mexican cuisine was added to the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in recognition of the culinary wealth of Mexico. , whose knowledge comes from the heritage of indigenous peoples, the influences of the ingredients of European cultures, mainly the Spanish during the Colony, and the contributions of others such as African, Arab and Chinese, among others, that have The food diversity of our country has grown and it is distinguished in the world.
The alliance between the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico, through the DGCPIU, and Google Arts & Culture allows the gastronomic legacy of our country to be discovered and recognized at a global level, so that more and more people delve into the meaning, the cultural value and the importance of preserving and strengthening the food cultural heritage. It should be noted that, in this purpose of celebrating history, culture and heritage from its food, Mexico is preceded in this project promoted by Google Culture & Arts with its respective alliances, the countries of Japan, Nigeria, Spain and Russia.