Valuing Native Eating: The Modern Roots of Peruvian Food Heritage

Abstract

In different regional contexts, heritage politics are encouraging the revitalization and promotion of particular and “traditional” food products to increase cultural recognition and market potential. Accordingly, Peruvian cuisine recently burst into the political arena. This article focuses on the preliminary stage of the construction of Peruvian food heritage, that of awareness of the new values that food cultures could embrace. I argue that paying close attention to social and economic contexts helps to further understanding of the value-adding processes that foster this sort of heritage. The methodology combines bibliographical data, qualitative fieldwork in Lima consisting of interviews with chefs, food studies scholars and restaurant owners, and ethnographic observations in gastronomic restaurants.