Cozinhar e festar: os sabores do Divino na Festa de Pirenópolis, Goiás

Abstract

The Holy Devine Spirit Festival occurs in Pirenópolis, in Goiás State, for over 200 years and occupies a significant space in the local imagination. Especially when it comes to its food, which makes it possible to think over it not only by its nutritional value but also by the identity and cultural aspects that it represents to those who prepare and consume it. In this study, we used as thematic cutout the phases of the Festival. It was understood as the Folia (initial stage), The Empire (central nucleus), and the Cavalhadas (closure of the festivities). Through field visits to observe and assist in the production of the food served at each stage of the Festival, dialogues were woven. It made it possible to map and point out which and how its food is purchased and produced for that event, as well as knowing the stages of production, the processes developed in the kitchen environment, the work, and cultural belonging relationships created and maintained through culinary activities. This insertion in the field visits, the dense observations and the interviews contributed to support the researcher's experiences also as a participant of the Festival. The production and distribution of food is remarkable and generates a great involvement of the population that strives to produce the menu for each stage of the festival, when different forms of work arise, whether or not they are paid. These relations of commensality and collective production allow the festival to happen, generating a significant web of sociability and an extensive circulation of “Godsend”. The Food occupies a ritual function, with symbolic and sentimental value for the ones who produce and consume it. The table is a place of emotion, meeting and sharing between those who celebrate today and their ancestors, a celebration between God and men. The study addressed in this dissertation sought to understand whether food, preparation, and socialization continue to be a symbolic action of communion. Given the technological innovations that alter the productive process in the countryside, the new forms of food present in the festivities, the changes in the culture that is dynamic and not static, the Party continues to happen, even within its traditions and rituals, for more than two centuries