RESEARCH PROJECT

Researchs- Odara Horta Boscolo, Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), Brazil

Dauro Mattia Zocchi, Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastonomiche (UNISG), Italy
Andrea Pieroni, Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastonomiche (UNISG), Italy

CONSTRUCTION OF THE GASTRONOMIC IDENTITY OF THE VENETIAN COMMUNITY

IN SÃO JOÃO DEL REI (MG) - EVOLUTION AND ADAPTATION STRATEGIES OF FOOD
PRACTICES CULINARY PRACTICES

INTRODUCTION
Human Ecology is a multidisciplinary scientific field that studies the relationships and
interactions between humans (or society) and their environment, both natural and human-made (or
artificial) – remembering that these relationships are mediated by culture and its transmission. The
cultural transmission propagation (já tem um “transmission” uma frase antes) would be the ability
to learn and transmit knowledge between generations and can be seen in three levels: vertical
(parents to sons), horizontal (same generation) and oblique (between generations) (Ávila-Pires,
2009; Cavalli-Sforza & Feldman, 198l).
Taking into account that local populations have a knowledge about environments which
they occupy, this has a value for their adaptation, and (conectivo, senão ficam frases soltas sem
conexão) the accumulated know-how is and can be transmitted orally throughout the generations.
This knowledge is dynamic and new knowledge is added to local knowledge (Olfield & Alcorn,
1991). In this perspective, food culinary practices express the culture of those who practice it; it is
a depository of traditions and group identities. It is a vehicle of self-representation, an intermediary
between different cultures, opening the culinary systems to all forms of inventions, crosses
crossings and contaminations. Cultural identities change constantly and are redefined, adapts to
new situations, determined by contact with diverse cultures. The confrontation with the other allows
also to create its own diversity (Montanari, 2009).
The promotion and preservation of local food and gastronomic heritage has been at the heart
of Slow Food activity since its conception. The starting point of this movement is the mapping and
cataloging of traditional food products, carried out by the Ark of Taste project. Created in 1996, it
currently consists of more than 140 countries (https://www.fondazionslowfood.com/en/what-we-
do/the-ark-of-taste/). It is a catalog of food and food products that has strong links with the culture,
history and traditions of a specific area, for which there is a considerable reduction in production
and consumption, and therefore run the risk of disappearing from the local agro-food (é isso
mesmo?) and gastronomic patrimony (Milano et al., 2016; Fontenfrancesco, 2017). This project
received a boost with the collaboration with the Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastonomiche
(UNISG), as results, increased reports throughout the world and initiatives were developed to
understand the peculiarities of a certain environmental, social and cultural context, taking advantage
of the local food heritage. The Ark of Taste aims to identify and catalog food products and related
gastronomic practices. The innovative component in preserving food biodiversity is to improve
food processing, which is considered to be the heritage of local communities. These products are
the result of the knowledge transmitted from generation to generation, and in many cases are the
results of an adaptation process. Traditional practices and knowledge linked to artisanal processing
techniques allow products, rather than the raw material, to recount the history and culture of a
particular community. This information is also valid for immigrant communities (Milano et al.,
2016).
One of the constants in Brazilian history is the ability to assimilate practices and customs of
foreign cultures with (sem “with”) which it came into contact, making them an integral part of its
own. This process of fusion and cultural mixtures from the gastronomic point of view has led to an
increase of products, culinary techniques and gastronomic practices. In order to better understand
the characteristics of the current food and gastronomic patrimony, it is necessary to analyze the
historical (sem parênteses) role of the cuisine of the immigrants, you’re the formation process, and
at the same time to understand the role of immigration in the formation of the gastronomic identity
of these communities.
With the italian unification in 1871, emigration became a social phenomenon. Italians
imigrated in large numbers to Brazil between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In
Brazil, the problem of labor was acute, especially after the abolition of slave trade in 1850. Workers
were needed mainly for coffee plantations, both to form new coffee plantations and to keep existing
ones (Buzatti 2007).
Minas Gerais was in perfect agreement with the Brazilian Empire policy, which favored
the settlement of its territory through the creation of colonial nuclei. The São João del Rei
Government created two colonial nuclei in this city: Várzea do Marçal and José Theodoro farm. In
December of 1888 arrived the first 102 settlers-colonial (“settlers” já tem o sentido de “colonial”),
constituting 22 families.The railroad construction was another attraction of the city (Teixeira,
2011) The italians who settled in Minas Gerais, mostly from the Veneto region, dedicated
themselves to a type of mixed farming, which involved brazilian e italian typical products
cultivation. In the first moment was produced maize, which allowed the italians to make their
traditional polenta, a (não esquecer do artigo) cheap and excellent substitute for bread. And then,
cassava, rice, beans, barley, coffee, tobacco and sugar cane. Among the colonies, communication
routes were not very developed and vast areas of depopulation separated the different settlements,
and this favored the preservation of italian culture in Brazil (Teixeira, 2015).
As the number of immigrants and their descendants increased, Brazil changed its customs,
just as immigrants changed their own. From the innumerable contributions of the italians to Brazil,
stands out the introduction of typical italian elements into several dishes that were incorporated into
the Brazilian diet (Franzina, 2006).
Studies on food practices and their biocultural heritage have become important in the last
decades, in order to promote strategies for food sovereignty and security (Pieroni, 2016). Pieroni et
al. (2012) also point out that knowledge among immigrant communities provides crucial insights to
understanding not only their beliefs and practices, but how they have changed over time, how
different environments and social factors affect maintenance, loss, erosion, adapting and replacing
of this knowledge (Medeiros et al., 2012).

GOALS
From point of view of Human Ecology, we intent to analyze the evolution over time of the
food practices of the italian-descendant community established in São João del Rei city, to know the
strategies of adaptation, changes in the diet of the immigrants and if there was the preservation of
the gastronomic identity of the Venetian community.
Specific objectives:
1. Analysis of the migratory flow of the Veneto region to Brazil (1870-1945).
2. Bibliographical survey of Venetian food in IXI (em QUAL século???) century, before the
beginning of immigration.
3. Identification of products and recipes in the nineteenth century related to the Venetian
context.
4. Elaboration of a animal and vegetable list of products consumed in the period prior to
the immigration flow.
5. To investigate food patterns of the first generation of Venetian immigrants in São João
del Rei. And the same for the second and third generations to verify the continuity and/or
discontinuity of the gastronomic traditions (products and recipes).
6. Identify products of Brazilian origin introduced into the diet of the Venetian immigrants.
7. Inventory of food products and gastronomic practices that characterize the cuisine of the
migrant Venetian community in São João del Rei.
JUSTIFICATION
The research focus in the state of Minas Gerais, and more specifically in São João del Rei
city, is linked to multiple factors: in the first place, the analysis of the sources related to italian
immigration into Brazil made it possible to highlight a large concentration of immigrants of
Venetian origin in this region of the Brazilian territory. Second, although there are several studies
on Italian-Brazilian (é maiúsculo?) gastronomy in urban communities, such as in São Paulo
(Frenda, 2015; Ruggiero, 2018), the gastronomic practices of the Vetian immigrants descendants,
especially those settled in the areas in the state of Minas Gerais, have not been studied in depth. In
this context, this partnership with the Ark of Taste Project and UNISG will allow the analysis of the
gastronomic identity of the Italian-Brazilian (é maiúsculo?) community, identifying and
documenting the products and preparations around which the cuisine of the immigrants was built.
Giving attention to products and preparations rised from the interaction between local biodiversity
and the traditional culinary practices of the Venetian immigrant community.

METHODOLOGY
The research will be carried out in two institutions: LABOTEE-(Laboratory of Economic
Botany and Ethnobotany) of Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), RJ, Brazil, and the
Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastonomiche (UNISG), Pollenzo, Italy. The field research will
be held in São João del Rei city, MG, Brazil.

Survey of immigration and food habits in the 19th century

Specific objectives 1, 2, 3 and 4 will be carried out at the UNISG. Through the books, documents
and bibliographies about the researched subject.

Elaboration of data collection instruments

The first instrument is the Free and Informed Consent Term (TCLE). Forms will also be
made with open and closed questions (Rea & Parquer, 2000) to investigate the evolution and
dynamics of food practices in generations preceding immigration.

Study area
 Minas Gerais is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth state with the
largest territorial area and the second in number of inhabitants, located in the Southeastern Region
of Brazil. Its territory is subdivided into 853 municipalities, and São João del-Rei is one of them,
located at 21º 08 '00 "South and 44º 15' 40" West (IBGE, 2018).
Fieldwork
For the informants selection will be used Purposive Sampling (Tongco, 2007) and Snowball
technique (Bailey, 1994).
The semi-structured interviews will be held on days and times pre-established by them. It
will also be applied the methodology of Life History (open and subjective approach), where
communication is conducted in the first person and where (já tem um “where” antes) the historical
facts informed by the interviewed are transformed into narrative (Albuquerque & Lucena, 2004).
And Finally, for the confrontation between the plants and products used in Brazil and in
Italy, the Artefato Interview (Albuquerque & Lucena, 2004) will be applied through photos, when
there is difficulty in identifying any of these.
Issues to be investigated with informants: Age, place of birth, immigrant generation, marital
status, mixed marriages, occupation, instruction, place of residence, family relationships, reasons
for immigration to Brazil, first contacts with the local population, relations with other foreign
immigrants, diet in the country of origin, products and recipes, frequency and context, purchases
and consumption of italian food, how they are obtained, substitution criteria, abandonment of
traditional recipes due to impossibility of replacing, exchange of recipes with the Brazilian
community and other immigrants, preparations on commemorative dates, diet and practices,
introduction of new products, transmission of family recipes to the new generations, mechanisms to
strengthen their own regional identity and “What it is to be Italian”?
Meetings with informants will be recorded through a field diary, digital camera and digital
recorder.

Processing and Identification of the collected plants

After collecting the material cited by the informants, it will be pressed and herborized (Mori
et al., 1989). To identify the collected material, a stereomicroscope will be used and analytical keys
and specialized taxonomic literature will be consulted. The vouchers will be compared, when
necessary, with materials deposited in the Herbarium of the Museu Nacional (R) and Herbarium of
the Jardim Botanico do Rio de Janeiro (RB). The classification system adopted will be the APG III-
2009. After the identification and herborization of the collected plants, they will be included in the
UFF herbarium.
Making the Database
The information obtained in interviews, forms, recordings and personal observations will be
organized into a database in the Excel®.

EXPECTED RESULTS
• To increase the history of this community and their relationship with the environment and food
practices.
• Encourage the direct use of plants and products raised in this research.
• Creation of new opportunities of investment for this community, given the increase gastronomic
tourism.
• Subsidy for public policies that favor these identities.
• First step for creating, classifying, indexing and implementing the Ark of Taste for immigrant
communities.
• Replication of this study in others latin-american countries where there is a strong italian
presence (Peru and Argentina).
• Design of a Multiannual Project on the Venetian community in Brazil.

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