The United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was founded after WWII on November 1945, to contribute to global peace and security. One goal is global collaboration among nations, through education, science and culture. In support of that, it designates World Heritage Sites, and records Intangible Cultural Heritages, which includes foods.
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UNESCO Designates Foods as Intangible Cultural Heritages
UNESCO designates many items as worth of the label: Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). What is so great to me is that food falls under this heading, from harvest to prep, from cooking to eating. These special foods and ways of preparing have often been passed from one generation to another, have evolved in response to their environments and they contribute to giving us a sense of identity and continuity, providing a link from our past, through the present, and into our future. They go on to acknowledge that, while fragile, intangible cultural heritage is an important factor in maintaining cultural diversity in the face of growing globalization.
2022 Selections
Here are some of the selections UNESCO made for 2022 along with video’s that explain the significance of these food items, ingredients, or dishes as important to our human cultural heritage. While some you may find one item more significant than another, their importance to their peoples cannot be understated, as they are all related to what makes us human.
2022 UNESCO: French Baguette.
I became aware of this selection from a WaPo article, Why the announcement on France’s baguettes is as laughable as it is laudable. At first, I too was underwhelmed by the selection, but I have to remember that over 6B baguettes are consumed in France annually. Unfortunately, most of those baguettes are industrial made, and poor imitations of the real thing. As WaPo writes, Just like authentic bread, authentic traditions require authentic ingredients. Change just one and it changes everything, from the texture of the bread to the texture of the past. In France the real traditional baguette I want to eat daily is called baguette de tradition.
With the ever growing influence of the Western global community, we seem to be flattening our taste buds so that we are all eating similar industrial, bland, and processed foods. French bakers were concerned about the ever increasing sales of those foods over more expensive, but better and traditional breads. In 1993, a French bread law (le Décret Pain) was passed requiring any baguette called “traditional”, must be made on premises (never frozen), made by hand, with only four ingredients (no additives): flour, salt, water and yeast (1).
The baguette de tradition really does take skill to make. I found a few places that seem to have appropriate recipes for this traditional bread, but remember I am not a baker: DawgHouseBakery and LeonceChenal. They require good flour, sourdough starter, double raising, and careful handling so they create little gluten. Baguette making is part bakers craft, and part artesian sensabilities.
2022 UNESCO: Tunisia’s Harissa Tradition
Honored was Harissa, and its historical seasonal planting and harvesting, chili drying techniques, and the community of women who make it. This is a seasoning made with chilli pepper paste, is an integral part of domestic provisions and the daily culinary and food traditions of Tunisian society.
The process is described thusly, It is usually prepared by women in a convivial and festive family or neighbourhood setting. It is prepared by drying the chilli peppers in the sun, and splitting the peppers, removing the stalks and deseeding. The chilli peppers are then washed, ground and seasoned with salt, garlic and coriander using a pestle and mortar or a manual meat mincer. The harissa is stored in glass or pottery for subsequent use.
Tunisia Harrisa Recipe
- Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup oil (vegetable or olive)
- 1 6-oz can tomato paste
- 12 oz red pepper flakes *tip: use empty tomato paste can to measure pepper flakes (2 cans)
- 9 oz water *again, use the tomato paste can to measure (1 1/2 cans of water)
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp caraway powder
- 4 garlic cloves peeled
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil to finish
- Preparation:
- Place a small sauce pan with the oil on low heat.
- Add tomato paste and lightly saute for a few minutes until red color is released into the oil and it becomes fragrant.
- Add red pepper flakes and stir into the tomato paste and oil.
- Add water and stir.
- Add cumin powder, caraway powder, salt. Press two of the garlic cloves and add those as well.
- Stir mixture and check thickness. It should not be runny or too thick, more water can be added in small increments to reach the perfect consistency.
- Cover the pot and set on the lowest heat setting possible.
- Let cook for 10-20 minutes or until the pepper flakes have all fully softened.
- Remove from heat and let cool.
- Add 1 tbsp vinegar and two more pressed garlic cloves.
- To finish, add 1/4 cup olive oil.
2022 UNESCO Jordon’s Al-Mansaf
Al-Mansaf is a festive dish that is central to Jordan’s socio-cultural events. An important and well-known symbol that evokes a deep sense of identity and social cohesion, it is associated with the agro-pastoral lifestyle in which meat and dairy are readily available. I should note that while Al-Mansaf is the national dish of Jordan, it is also commonly found in: Palestine, Iraq, Syria, and Saudi Arabia.
This traditional dish is made of lamb, cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt (jameed). It is served on a large platter with a layer of flatbread, then rice and meat, garnished with almonds and pine nuts, and topped with a sauce. Traditionally this dish is eaten collectively, in a rural style, standing around the platter with the left hand behind the back, and using the right hand instead of utensils. (Although these days, in urban settings some traditions are changing, and eating this dish with utensils are more common.)
Historians, note that this is a recent dish developed during the Hashemite-Mandatory era (20th century) and then marketed as a “national” dish following independence. Historically it seems clear that this was a “peasant dish” (2) of the Bedouins and neighboring regions of Palestine and Syria.
- Peasant Dish is not considered a derogatory term in my dictionary.
- This term means a dish made by the poor, with readily available and predominantly plant ingredients, that can feed a large group of people inexpensively, with the end goal of everyone leaves feeling full.
- Thus, peasant dishes are made by cooks who understood the importance of fighting hunger, by providing adequate nourishment, and had the skill to make a little go a long way.
2022 UNESCO Chinese Tea Traditions
China’s traditional tea processing techniques and associated social practices entail the knowledge, skills and practices around tea plantation management, tea-leaf picking, manual processing, drinking and sharing. Based on natural conditions and local customs, tea producers have developed six categories of tea: green, yellow, dark, white, oolong and black teas.
Tea is ubiquitous in the Chinese people’s daily life and has its own seasonal schedule and traditions in all areas of its growth, harvest, production and certain ceremonies (i.e., around newlyweds) in its consumption. It also has its own implements, including tea-ware and even cushions. But there are numerous ceremonies, from Wu Wo Tea Ceremony to Perennial Tea Ceremony (3).
The origins of the Chinese tea ceremony go as far back as the Tang dynasty (618-907). But the origins of tea goes back much further and involves a Chinese emperor (~2700 BC). He was purifying water, sitting under a tea tree, when some leaves landed in the pot. The emperor drank the leaf-infused water and tea was thus created (4). A story I had heard when I was much younger.
2022 UNESCO: Ukraine Borscht Cooking
UNESCO writes Ukrainian borscht is a traditional dish that is cooked with broth combined with beetroot, sugar beet or fermented beet juice. There are many versions, and the practice entails the recipe, cooking method and occasion, according to which a certain variety is prepared. Borscht is cooked, mainly by women, in a large pot and typically served with bread or garlic buns. The practice of making borscht dates back centuries, and is passed on within families, with the whole family participating in the prep, including children. Additionally, the dish is praised in folk tales and songs, proverbs, and is a critical identity marker.
Given Putin’s 2022 War with Ukraine I worry about the disruption of this and other traditions. Hopefully, it will become part of the countries recovery and celebration of independence. There is a claim by Russia that they are the originators of this red soup, but borscht is Ukrainian without a doubt, and was claimed by Russia through the act of occupation and Russian governmental need to create one identity out of many (5).
Ukrainian borsch contains meat, cabbage, potatoes, beetroot, tomato paste, carrot, parsnip, onion, bacon, butter, vinegar and garlic, and is garnished with sour cream and chopped parsley. But there are variations abounding in each family’s tradition.
2022 UNESCO: Turkey and Azerbaijan’s Culture of Çay
Tea culture in Azerbaijan and Türkiye is an important social practice that shows hospitality, builds and maintains social ties, and is used to celebrate important moments in the lives of communities. Although there are several types of tea and brewing techniques, communities in both countries primarily harvest and consume black tea. Communities brew tea by using a wide variety of kettles, produced using traditional craftsmanship.
The tea is typically accompanied by sweets, sugar, lemon slices, jams or dried fruits. In certain regions of Azerbaijan, some communities also add local spices and herbs to the tea, such as cinnamon, ginger and thyme.
2022 UNESCO: North Korea Pyongyang Raengmyon custom
[People in the USA often do not which Korea is being referenced, by writing North or South; so for those people, North Korea is the one ruled by the Kim family dictatorship, and South Korea is the one that is a global partner with a republican government.]
Pyongyang Raengmyon (cold noodles made primarily from buckwheat) is a customary social and cultural dish in North Korea. It is served in a brass bowl and topped with trimmings of meat, Kimchi, vegetables, fruits and garnish. Cool meat stock or watery radish Kimchi juice is poured over the noodle strips to finish the preparation. A traditional folk dish deeply rooted in the lives of Pyongyangites, it is associated with long life, happiness, hospitality, conviviality and friendliness, and is believed to foster respect, intimacy and unity.
Maangchi is the woman I follow for all things Korean Foods. She has several recipes for the cold noodles dish that sound great. However, finding Pyongyang-specific recipes were harder to locate. Here is one from KoryoGroup tours.
- Ingredients
- Buckwheat flour 750g
- Beef 275g
- Pork 340g
- Chicken 410g
- Kimchi 400g
- Cucumber 100g
- Pear 100g
- Hard-boiled eggs 2.5
- Salt 20g
- Soy sauce 50g
- Vinegar 30g
- Mustard 15g
- Baking soda 8g
- Dongchimimul (Korean radish water) 500ml
- Instructions
- Boil the beef, pork and chicken in plenty of water. Season with salt, soy sauce and the dongchimimul to make the broth for the noodles.
- Slice the cucumber, pear and kimchi into thin strips. Peel the eggs and cut each in half.
- Mix together the buckwheat flour, baking soda and 70-80ml of warm water. Knead it for a few minutes before pressing through a noodle mold and rinsing with cold water.
- Boil the noodles for 15-20 minutes, stirring continuously so that they don’t stick together.
- Dress the noodles with meat shreds (leftover from the broth), the sliced vegetables and half a boiled egg. Lastly, pour over the broth water.
2022 UNESCO: Slovenia Beekeeping
In Slovenia, beekeeping is a way of life for many individuals, families and communities, who obtain bee products for food and traditional medicine and use their knowledge and skills to care for the honeybees and the environment. The only subspecies kept in Slovenia is the Carniolan bee.
From Slovenia.si I learned that the most common honey sold are: acacia honey, spruce honey, forest honey, silver fir honey, chestnut honey, floral honey and linden honey. But they also make, less commonly: cicada, dandelion, maple, cherry, buckwheat, sage and rapeseed honeys.
In addition to the honey, Slovenia.com writes about the painted beehive panels that are a characteristic feature of Slovenian beekeeping; and an expression of folk art. Beekeepers have and continue to express their artistic creativity on these panels that adorn the wooden beehives.
Summation
Looking at all the previous entries, I think I will do one more post on UNESCOs list of items worthy of being labeled as Intangible Cultural Heritage. I find it interesting what they choose to include and, so far, when I delve further into the entries, I find myself mostly in agreement with their decisions. I already agree fundamentally that food in all its aspects, from planting to eating, is embedded with cultural meanings and traditions. As an advocate for keeping food traditions alive, UNESCO’s title will hopefully help.
— Patty
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