Cultural Factors Linked to the Gastronomy on the Saraguro Town

Abstract

Almost forty thousand years ago, since ancestors settled in America, the climatic and ecological conditions have determined the availability of food resources. Nutritional adaptation of towns had been facing a great impact over the years. Thus, the food customs have been changing, and new eating habits have been imposing with the development of towns.In the Saraguro town, several indigenous communities are settled, which still retain some customs and food traditions. For this reason, this research aims to make an approach to the reality of the Saraguro population in order to identify which cultural factors influence food, and from this, to develop strategies that allow the recovery and revaluation of ancestral recipes in order to do not lost this ancestral, and heritage knowledge.The Saraguro culture is characterized by a great cultural wealth around the traditions, a unique gastronomy, customs that are characterized by maintaining a deep relationship with the elements of life.