Dietary practices in nineteenth-century Rio Grande do Sul from the perspective of foreign travelers

Abstract

This article investigates food practices in Rio Grande do Sul during the nineteenth century based on the analysis of the narratives of four foreign travelers: Auguste de Saint-Hilaire, Robert Avé-Lallemant, Carl Seidler and Nicolau Dreys. The research aims to identify and understand how foods, especially legumes, roots, tubers, legumes, leaves and cucurbits, were recorded in these works and how these records contribute to the reconstruction of the history of regional food. Discursive Textual Analysis (DTA) was used as a methodology to fragment the texts into units of meaning, group them into categories and, subsequently, elaborate interpretative metatexts. The analysis revealed that foods such as beans, cassava, and pumpkin occupied a central place in the diet and in the local food culture, being associated with both indigenous practices and European habits. The study highlights the relevance of travel literature sources for the History of Food, by bringing to light aspects of daily food that are often absent from official documents.