Saboreando o Brasil em Londres

Comida, imigração e identidade

Abstract

Studies of Brazilian emigration have already shown the unique role food plays in the construction and maintenance of identities. This article presents some considerations taken from readings, fieldwork, observations and reflections on my own gastronomic experience as an immigrant and Brazilian researcher in London. Buying, preparing and eating familiar food, when one lives in another country, have many meanings. Food has the capacity to stir profound emotions and memories. These memories can cause a longing, a homesickness for past places, people and experiences, a desire to return to the country of origin. Alternatively, these memories may be painful, better forgotten. Consequently, these memories form a bridge between the old and the new. Familiarity, brought about through the search for ingredients, the method of preparing food and the way in which food is consumed, helps the process of adaptation to a new country and fosters a feeling of being at home in a foreign land.