À mesa da Belle Époque manauara: dos canapés de foie gras ao pirarucu de casaca

Abstract

This research set out to identify the socio-symbolic dynamics of contemporary manauara gastronomy considering the narratives about food in the Belle Époque using ancestral Amazonian cuisine on the aspect of resistance. To achieve this purpose, a path was followed that begins with the research of elements that guide the basis of Amazonian cuisine through a socio-symbolic and cultural perspective, which continued with the investigation of the habits and customs at the table of Manaus society in the Belle Époque period through party menus and newspaper advertisements about restaurants, and ended with the analysis of the indicative aspects of resistance of Amazonian cuisine in the face of cultural impositions, which reflect in the current gastronomic scenario of the city of Manaus. The methodological course used was a qualitative approach with a bibliographical and documental research technique, in which northern poetry and music present the flavors, knowledge and customs that involve the Amazonian cuisine. The indigenous mythology of the Dessanas and Satarê-Mawé about cassava and guarana, respectively, show us the supernatural and the indigenous symbolism with foods associated with the origin of these societies. The newspaper archives of the Belle Époque period in Manaus and the menus of the banquet of Governor Silvério Nery's birthday party, held in 1901 at the Teatro Amazonas, served as a technical and conceptual culinary analysis. Interviews and reports from newspapers and digital magazines that dealt with contemporary gastronomy in Manaus and its current context were the basis for regional restaurants and the first indigenous restaurant in the country, Biatüwi - Casa de Comida Indígena. An Amazonian cuisine was observed as a reflection of the indigenous peoples in which ancestral strength is synonymous with cultural and gastronomic resistance in a bowl seasoned with redemption.