Nixtamalización como herramienta contra la alienación gastronómica

Abstract

A trend towards alienation is observed in gastronomy. Part of this problem is due to the evolutionary and technological transition that we are undergoing. Consequently, a certain detachment from the gastronomic identity emerges, which in turn is related to cultural memory. An essential agent for the conservation of this cultural and gastronomic memory are the ancestral cooking techniques. Since they generate a strong emotional attachment in the societies in which they are practiced. The study of nixtamalization allows us to observe how the dissemination of customs occurs and a link with the territory and its gastronomic identity is generated. Studying nixtamalization from a panoramic perspective, its durability over time is understood. In this same way, the causes of cultural alienation related to it are also analyzed. Due to industrialization and its consequent search for profitability, the human linkage factors studied seem to lose relevance. In this way, a methodology is proposed that warns of similar events, to preserve the cultural value of such valuable ancestral techniques.