Eating à la Criolla : Global and Local Foods in Argentina, Cuba, and Mexico

Abstract

This essay examines the changing meanings of local and global foods in Argentina, Cuba, and Mexico. Nineteenth-century Latin America is often viewed as a period of liberal ascendancy when imported goods were highly valued, while on the contrary, the twentieth century is seen as a time of populist nationalism that embraced local culture and, at least until the neoliberal era, rejected European and North American imports. Nevertheless, liberals sought to balance their international sophistication with a patriotic affection for the local, while revolutionary middle classes aspired to their own versions of cosmopolitanism. These changing meanings become particularly evident through an examination of the divergent usages of the term “criollo” to refer to local foods. The paper argues that national cuisines emerged throughout Latin America not from the rejection of the global in favor of the local but rather through a blending of the two in a culinary sensibility that combined patriotism and cosmopolitanism in pursuit of social distinction.

Keywords

• Latin America
• cuisine
• material culture
• nationalism