All in Colombian History
Romans controlled the Iberian Peninsula sometime between 201-400 A. D. The Moors ruled Spain and Portugal for some 800 years starting in 711. Thus before 1492, Roman and Arab cuisine had the greatest influence on Iberian kitchens and thereafter on colonial Colombia.
From the 1490s to 1700 the Iberian scramble to exploit the land and labor of the Americas led to cross cultural contacts between Amerindians, Europeans, and Africans. The subsequent intercultural interaction transformed the foodways of Columbia In general and the Pacific coasts specifically.
This week I'm teaming up with Chef Rey Guerrero a native of the Pacific coast of Colombia a region historically inhabited by Afro Colombians. We are both traveling to Northwestern University to discuss Afro Pacific foodways using our respective expertise.
Food preferences in colonial Colombia cannot be explained without a discussion of the transformation in Old World foodways during the Colombian exchange and in the Americas where creole culture emerged from below not from above. Spanish Colonial elites influenced but did control the development of Columbia's foodways.
