"La lengua y la picantería", the Instituto Cervantes celebrates traditional Peruvian gastronomy and its contribution to the Spanish language

This Monday, the Cervantes Institute will hold "La lengua y la picantería" (19:00), a talk on the emblematic role of the picanterías, popular eating houses dating back to the end of the 16th century and declared part of Peru's cultural heritage for their contribution of vocabulary from the original languages of the Americas to Spanish.

Luis García Montero, Director of the Cervantes Institute; Francisco Javier Pérez, Secretary General of the Association of Spanish Language Academies (ASALE); and Alonso Ruiz Rosas, poet and coordinator of the International Congress of the Spanish Language (CILE), will present the event, which will be followed by a talk moderated by Ruiz Rosas with three outstanding picanteras - cooks - from Arequipa, Maruja Ramos de Aguilar, from the picantería La Maruja; Mónica Huerta Alpaca, from La Nueva Palomino and Beatriz Villanueva Salas, from Laurita Cau-Cau, who will offer a tasting of traditional dishes.

The activity, developed in collaboration with the Inca Garcilaso Cultural Centre, is also an initial approach to the "Pan-Hispanic Dictionary of Gastronomy" project promoted by the Association of Spanish Language Academies, which is expected to present its first fruits at the IX International Congress of the Spanish Language in March 2023 in Arequipa (Peru).

Arequipa's picantería represents the rich and varied culinary tradition of pre-Hispanic and colonial times that intertwines ancient knowledge and products. Its preservation to the present day is attributed to the fundamental role of women in the management of these establishments, as well as in the transmission and preservation of traditional culinary knowledge. Likewise, these spaces preserve a wide vocabulary of Quechua, Aymara and, to a lesser extent, other native languages, whose voices are part of the "lonco" or "chacarero" language of the rural environment.

With variants in other regions of Peru, picantería is the main institution of Arequipa's traditional cuisine. Its origin dates back to the second half of the 16th century, when establishments selling chicha (an alcoholic drink made from black corn) emerged and began to offer dishes to accompany it.

The intense crossbreeding between Andean and Hispanic culinary traditions characteristic of the picanterías of Arequipa meant that, from the 19th century onwards, they became renowned as democratic spaces for sociability and the gestation of diverse expressions of popular culture.

The presentation of the event, which is restricted to invited guests, can be followed on the Cervantes Institute's Canal Directo 1 and YouTube.

Submitted by José Antonio Sierra, Hispanism advisor.