Thursday 16 February 2017

The Flavours and Aromas of Croatia in Argentina

PAULA GADŽE, MARIJETA RAJKOVIĆ IVETA

SUMMARY

THE FLAVOURS AND AROMAS OF CROATIA IN ARGENTINA


Moving abroad, our people have for decades brought to their family larders the flavours of their native cuisine. Ethnic Croatian Paula Gadže studied ethnology and is an international cuisine cook and pastry chef that spent her childhood and education in Argentina and has lived in Croatia for the past five years. Marijeta Rajković Iveta is a senior lecturer at the department for ethnology and cultural anthropology of the University of Zagreb's Faculty of the Humanities and Social Sciences. In this article they discuss the significance of traditional domestic and Croatian food among ethnic Croatians in Argentina. 

They delve into the history of recipes and cookbooks, foods and flavours as a cure for nostalgia and the role of food in expressing an ethno-cultural identity. They look into socialising centred on food in the Croatian emigrant communities, national cuisine restaurants, shops offering ethnic products and at Croatian culinary workshops and courses. They also discuss family celebrations of customary annual festivities such as Easter. Gadže and Rajković Iveta write of Croatian artefacts in emigrant homes and food that travels in luggage from Croatia to Argentina. Along with national cuisine restaurants, an interesting role in the presentation of food is played by minority immigrant festivals in Argentina, including the most frequented, the Buenos Aires Celebra Croacia (Buenos Aires Celebrates Croatia) festival. Many Argentineans are of immigrant descent, and in this multicultural milieu an essential part of life is a great diversity of culinary heritages, including Croatian culinary traditions.


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