CU 351 - Food as an Expression of Culture

“There is a communion of more than our bodies when bread is broken and wine drunk.”— M.F.K. Fischer, The Gastronomical Me

As culinary historian Massimo Montanari argues, everything related to food — from the choices made by hunter gatherers to contemporary patterns of consumption — represents a cultural act. In this sense, Chilean and Latin American cuisine are not merely systems of nourishment, but expressions of history, identity, memory, territory, migration, and social transformation.

This interdisciplinary course combines food studies, anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, environmental science, humanities, and contemporary history to explore food as a vehicle for cultural expression in Chile. Students will examine how Chile’s geography, indigenous traditions, colonial history, migration, globalization, and political transformations have shaped the country’s culinary identity.

Particular attention will be given to:
• Mapuche culinary traditions,
• Regional food identities,
• Chilean wine culture,
• Seafood and coastal economies,
• Food and social class,
• Food and nationalism,
• Sustainability and food sovereignty,
• Globalization and fast-food culture,
• And the emergence of contemporary Chilean gastronomy in the global culinary scene.

The course will also explore how Chilean cuisine reflects broader debates concerning cultural authenticity, memory, inequality, environmental sustainability, and national identity in contemporary Latin America.