Tecomatlán: an example of preservation of Mexico's gastronomic heritage

Mexican gastronomy is a living expression of the world's cultural heritage and is a fundamental part of the country's economy due to the enormous variety of ingredients offered by the land and used in the preparation of dishes rich in color, smell and taste. One of the gastronomic routes to make known the recipes of Mexican food, takes us year after year to the "Fair of unity among the peoples", in Tecomatlán, Puebla, where the traditional gastronomic contest is held with various dishes, such as green pipian, chilate de cuaguayote and other delicacies.

Every country cannot enclose its food in a single category. China, a country of enormous dimensions, cannot place in a single term the great variety of its cuisine because it would exclude the richness of Sichuan food, spicy and intense like Mexican food, or Cantonese food, in the province of Guangdong, in southern China, where the use of spices with a very mild and simple aroma and flavor in combination with seafood also give that region other flavors of an immense variety and distinctive of what is served in Beijing, a city that has found in duck one of its favorite dishes. The same happens in Mexico, the gastronomy is enriched by the contributions of the different regions of the country, from the fusion of pre-Hispanic cuisine with European cuisine, among others.

Since 2010, Mexican gastronomy is part of UNESCO's Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Since ancient times, among the basic and representative ingredients of Mexican dishes are corn, chili, cilantro, chili, beans, piloncillo, cactus and tomato. With these ingredients, Mexican food recipes (or Mexican gastronomy) constitute a set of dishes and culinary techniques, but they are also part of the traditions and daily life of its inhabitants.

The diet of pre-Hispanic Mexican cultures was based on dishes made with corn, beans, chiles, nopales, tomatoes, poultry such as turkeys, herbs, insects such as grasshoppers and Mexican seasonings; a diet preserved in the Mexican table, as can be seen with the inhabitants of the Mixtec region. More than 600 different dishes have been documented from corn alone in Mexico.

They organize to defend the roots of their traditional food.

The cultural model behind the elaboration of the food includes agrarian activities, rituals, practical and ancient knowledge, culinary techniques, customs and ancestral community ways of behavior of the people of the Mixteca, a border region between Puebla, Guerrero and Oaxaca, where its gastronomy seeks to be rescued in the municipality of Tecomatlán, where the Movimiento Antorchista Nacional was also born, a political organization that has been a reference in the fight against poverty in Mexico, with the leadership of Aquiles Córdova Morán.

Faced with the advance of foreign products, especially from the United States, the inhabitants of this town are organizing themselves to rescue the legacy of their traditional cuisine and pass it on to the new generations.

"For us it is very important to rescue the local and regional gastronomic tradition and we are passing it from generation to generation. There are many elderly people competing in the contest, however, there are also many young people who are learning to prepare these dishes with the same quality, that is, we are preserving the traditional dishes," said Araceli Carrión, mayor of the town, in an interview about the 2023 edition of the Tecomatlán gastronomic fair.

The invasion of products of all kinds coming from the United States, as well as the so-called "junk food" greatly affects local populations in Mexico due to the high migration to the US and the eventual return, with other standards of food consumption in Mexican territory, is blurring the essence of national food in rural regions. Products such as hamburgers, hot dogs or hot dogs, are imposed on the consumption of Mexicans in the face of the great offer of fast food in the streets.

According to Sara Yolanda Reyes Hernández, of the Tecomatlán Fair Committee and former mayor, explained that thanks to the Movimiento Antorchista and the work done by Aquiles Córdova Morán, the tradition of the gastronomic contest of the different dishes that the municipality offers has continued, as a way of preserving the richness of local food. It is a joint effort between the store, a popular supply store for the Mixtec region, as well as the Regional Cooperative "Antorcha Campesina", whose role, in addition to being a major employer of the inhabitants of the area, joins initiatives like these to support the locals in their collective organization processes.

Large areas of the Mixtec region of Puebla are far from the development achieved in Tecomatlán, which is why the neighboring populations flock to this point. It went from being a small town, predominantly agricultural, overcoming the backwardness indexes in the last four decades due to the political continuity in the government of the town after the Antorchist Movement was born in 1974 with about thirty people, mainly farmers and professionals. Since then, many decisions have been made in this town under a guiding principle that seeks the development of the communities, and with it the rescue and preservation of the aspects that give them their identity, such as their typical food.

Preserved food heritage

Every year contestants from Tehuitzingo, Izúcar de Matamoros, Tulcingo de Valle, Piaxtla, Chietla, and the municipality of Tecomatlán itself come to Tecomatlán along with their communities, to participate in the traditional gastronomic exhibition, which takes place at the Hotel Cencalli, "everyone's house", where the Fonda Margarita, a food establishment, has one of the most popular traditional cuisines in the area. The infrastructure and facilities at this hotel allow this gastronomic event to be held year after year. Housewives from different municipalities and towns are the main participants, however, it is open to the public, for young people, grandmothers, and even men who wish to participate.

In this regional fair, for a week, the smells, flavors, textures, colors, presentations and varieties of typical dishes of the Mixtec terroir parade. There is a coming and going of cooks from different municipalities who present themselves with their best dishes, and after the effort, they are awarded an economic prize depending on the place obtained. A jury is created for the purpose, which dictates the determination of the best dish. The joy that the cuisine transmits is felt in each of the establishments that are placed in the Tecomatlan Fair to offer their products, a sign of true unity between peoples.