Featured image for post: Hispanic Writers & Artists Series Welcomes Historian and Cook Luisa Fernanda Acosta on November 14

Hispanic Writers & Artists Series Welcomes Historian and Cook Luisa Fernanda Acosta on November 14

WILSON, N.C. — Oct. 31, 2016 — Preserving culinary tradition is a testament to the importance of food and its preparation in all cultures around the world. On Monday, Nov. 14, Colombian historian and cook Luisa Fernanda Acosta will share how she is “Safeguarding the Traditional Columbian Cuisine” during her presentation for Barton College’s Hispanic Writers & Artists Series. Sponsored by the Barton College School of Humanities, this event will be held on campus in The Sam and Marjorie Ragan Writing Center at 7 p.m. It is open to the public at no charge, and the community is invited to attend.

Acosta has a great deal of experience in community work relating to the recovery of cultural memory and culinary heritage. She has spent the last 20 years in research and teaching in a variety of cultural areas. Currently, she is an instructor and researcher in traditional Colombian food at La Universidad de Sabana in Bogotá, and in the Escuela Taller de Boyacá.

Having produced several publications on cultural history and traditional Colombian food, Acosta’s latest work centers on the lives of 15 cooks in Ventaquemada, in the Central Boyacá Province of Columbia. Ventaquemada is a small town where the most important food products are corn and potatoes. Acosta’s work culminated in an inventory of traditional food for this region.

Colombia is a territory with great biodiversity, resulting in a very extensive variety of traditional cuisine. Each region features specific products, techniques for preparing cuisine, consumer rules, and other manifestations of cultural heritage. Acosta’s presentation will feature traditional cuisines from a culinary system perspective, using knowledge gained from kitchens in Becerrill, in the Caribbean Cesar region.

For additional information about this lecture, please contact Dr. Luis Carlos Ayarza, assistant professor of Spanish in the School of Humanities, at 252-399-6457 or lcayarza@barton.edu.

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