The indigenous bioculture of the Pungalá parish of Ecuador an approach to their culinary and medicinal heritage

Abstract

The food and culinary heritage with medicinal uses are a fascinating field that combines history, culture, and health through food. Over the centuries, various cultures have developed knowledge and practices related to the use of specific ingredients and culinary preparations with medicinal properties. In the Pungalá parish in Ecuador, these generational knowledge and traditions form a valuable biocultural heritage that helps us understand the close relationship between food and traditional medicine. Through qualitative and documentary research, interviews and community workshops are conducted to gather information using different techniques. Among the findings regarding the food and culinary heritage of Pungalá are extinct culinary traditions, as well as important culinary techniques and processes that play a role in nutrition and medicine, valuing traditional and ancestral knowledge as part of their culture. The inventory includes 22 plants used in Andean medicine and 38 preparations, including beverages, porridges, stews, soups, and wrapped dishes that become an integral part of everyday routines, dietary habits, and festive traditions. It is concluded that this knowledge constitutes a valuable food and culinary heritage, and its biocultural is based on ancestral knowledge of the healing properties of local plants and foods, contributing to the health and identity of the community. Measures should be taken to preserve and promote this heritage in the face of current challenges.