Marqués de Comillas, Chiapas, México
Street Kitchen Actions
Boca de Chajul, El Pirú, Flor de Marqués, Boca de Chajul and Loma Bonita
During the time in Marques de Comillas, the Cascoland team traveled to 5 “ejidos” with a mobile kitchen table on a van. In each of the “ejidos” they searched for outstanding farmers, ingredients growing in kitchen gardens and knowledge of foods from the jungle. During this research connections were made with groups of producers, cooks, farmers and members of the communities that were interested in this culinary and cultural exchange.
Cascoland asked three chefs to join their team during the pilot: Pau Ballesteros (Spain), Alam Méndez (Oaxaca), and Daniel Nates (Puebla). Each week, in each ejido, the chefs collected local knowledge, recipes and ingredients with which they cooked; interacting with different members of the community, some that acted out as our hosts for the actions.
Alongside our hosts, farmers and producers in each town, collective moments were performed as temporary kitchen labs. From the ingredients collected in each visit, recipes were created as a result of the exchange.
CASTARICA FISH AND PINEAPPLE CONSERVES
January 25, Ejido El Pirú
Chefs Alam Mendez and Pau Ballesteros
Ejidatarios from El Pirú decided to invest in two tanks of Casta Rica fish to kickstart a sustainable fish farm in the town. Pineapple is one of the local products, that unfortunately can only be harvested in december and april, yet grows in every garden of every house. The chefs Alam and Pau shared together with the community the knowledge to make pineapple conserves and exchanged recipes to cook the Casta Rica fish, that in the future could be served to their clients in Selvaje, the communitie’s own eco touristic project.
YUCA AND ORGANIC FARMING
January 26, Ejido Boca de Chajúl
Chefs Alam Mendez and Pau Ballesteros
Only few farmers from the ejido Boca de Chajul grow their food in an organic way. These farmers however are ridiculed by other producers who prefer to use agro-chemicals in their crops, not only affecting the health of consumers, but also the soil fertility in their parcels and the ecosystems that surround them. During the project we created a platform to encourage those who stand out and decide to experiment beyond the traditional monoculture practices, that showcased their achievements to the rest of the community, and linking them to researchers that could help them evaluate different forms of sustainable management; in the future, the lab could create market links to their products inside and outside of the region.
GARDEN AND FIELD CONSERVES
February 2, Ejido Flor de Marqués
Chef Pau Ballesteros
The community members of the Ejido Flor de Marques manage an ecotourism project, a camp site called Tamandua, as a joint effort to maintain a local economy that does not depend on the slashing of the rainforest. On request we dedicated the action to conserves, as the local conditions made it hard to keep fresh vegetables and fruits that were harvested from the parcels and kitchen gardens. To be able to offer something unique from the area to their guests at the campsite, for example the wild papaya, we invented all types of conserve recipes that would give an added value to the products that are consumed and served in this town.
STREET OVENS FOR FISH AND PIZZA
February 3rd, Ejido Boca de Chajul
Chef Pau Ballesteros
Low-tech tools made by materials found easily in the area, open up opportunities to exchange foods and cooking methods in the street. During an action activated in the main boulevard of Chajul, we built on-site ovens and had an informal gathering with the bakers and fishers from the town. This central public space opened in a way to the possibilities of action and activation of different members of the community, who appropriated the street cooking.
KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE MARKET
February 5, Ejido Boca de Chajul
Chefs Daniel Nates and Pau Ballesteros
Researchers from UNAM and WUR shared their stories and visions with the inhabitants of Ejido Boca de Chajul, during a market which brought together all the actions that Cascoland had previously executed, adding new tools co-designed with individuals from the research group.
A station which aim was to evaluate the relationship between younger generations of the ejido and the nature that surrounds them and a mobile radio station where tools that were developed through the event. Chefs Pau and Daniel experimented with new recipes of green cacao in conserves and smoked organic vegetables.
AXIOTE, TOMATO CONSERVES AND ORGANIC PRODUCTION
February 14th, Ejido Loma Bonita
Chef Daniel Nates and Foodhunter
Researchers of UNAM and WUR have been researching the Loma Bonita since 1994. Since then they have developed experiments to monitor forest regeneration and landscape restoration in abandoned parcels. The community of Loma Bonita however, has low access to that scientific knowledge, which could help them to generate new ways of productive agriculture. In this action chef Daniel Nates and Viridiana Valerio from FoodHunterMx researched the potential of Axiote and kidney tomato, grown abundantly in the town’s parcels.