Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Galeterias: Serving Up Ítalo-Gaúcho Heritage in the South of Brazil

2015; University of California Press; Volume: 15; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1525/gfc.2015.15.4.59

1533-8622

Gina Hunter,

Food, Nutrition, and Cultural Practices

Galeto al primo canto is an Italian-Brazilian culinary specialty of the Gaúcho Highlands region of southern Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state. This ample repast of roast chicken, polenta, pasta, and other dishes is associated with nineteenth-century Italian immigration to the Gaúcho Highlands. Galeterias, restaurants that serve the meal, are today a featured part of the region’s gastronomic tourism and have been officially recognized as the intangible cultural heritage of the city of Caxias do Sul. The history of the dish and contemporary claims to cultural heritage illustrate the shifting meanings of Italian ethnic identity within the Brazilian nation-state and highlight the discursive role that tourism and heritage institutions play in the cultural production process.