Eating Arab in Bogota: Gendered Foodways

• In Event: Latin American Migrations to Asia Pacific Countries

Abstract

When Arabs came to live in Colombia before the turn of the 20th century they brought their food. This well-established link to Asia has resulted in deeply rooted diaspora communities. An interdisciplinary examination of the history of how those foodways endured and came to be among the community’s most visible means of participating in a wider Colombian society brings women to the forefront in both expected and unexpected ways. Arab food on Colombian tables at home over time translated directly into cookbooks in Spanish and the founding of both upscale and fast-food Arab restaurants, and now the integration of Arab staples into Colombian grocery stores. The development of each of these additional avenues of providing access to Arab food all were arenas for women’s contributions.

As shwarma trucks and shops and upscale Arab restaurants became commonplace in expected and unexpected corners of urban centers by the turn of the twenty first century. In luxurious malls fashionable customers wait in line to place their orders and in small shop fronts in neighborhoods lined by small scale auto shops workers jostle at noontimes to pick up their sandwiches. Everywhere these important expressions of Arab cultural identity carry the weight of a multiplicity of messages: pride in Arab heritage, a shared sense of belonging and knowledge of self, a celebration of Colombian diversity, and for non-Arab Colombians sophistication, and participation in global consumption patterns. Often in unrecognized ways women’s contributions are central to all of them.

Author

• Shauna F Huffaker, University of Windsor