Endangered Brazilian Ingredients Are the Stars of Food Festival in São Paulo

10/07/2015 - 09h43

Arrowroot, piracuí fish flour and aratu crab are not common in shopping lists or in markets. And because they are running the risk of being forgotten, they are on another list: the Ark of Taste.

Created in 1996 by the Slow Food movement, which counteracts fast-eating habits and little conscious diet, the Ark of Taste has over 2,000 products from around the world in the catalog and 52 of them are Brazilian. They are handcrafted and sustainable ingredients, linked to the local culture.

Starting this Thursday (8), 14 products from the Ark will be the stars of dishes in São Paulo's restaurants. The event will be held for ten days.

According to anthropologist Katia Karam Toralles from the Brazilian Commission of the Ark of Taste, the cuisine is quite an ally in protecting the ingredients and food culture.

"The Ark makes itself effective as it gets out of the paper: when products are purchased and consumed and when the consumer becomes an ally of production," she says.

Heloisa Bacellar, chef at the café and food shop Lá da Venda and passionate about Canastra cheese from the Canastra Mountains, says many cooks do this work and have deep links with few ingredients.

Despite the difficulties the movement faces, as the country's size and complexity, chef Ana Luiz Trajano of the restaurant Brazil a Gosto considers the initiative important.

She will use the baru nut during the festival and present the product to the customer in its various forms: "from what it looks like when it is taken from the tree to the clean nut".

Translated by JULIANA CALDERARI

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