Food in 16th-Century Antioquia Province

Abstract

Written by a doctor in Physical Anthropology, this article traces the food practices of pre-Hispanic Indigenous peoples in what is now Antioquia and their transformation during the Spanish conquest and colonial period. Based on chronicles of the era, the author documents the raising of domestic and semi-domestic animals by Indigenous peoples, the cultivation of a wide variety of American fruits and tubers, and knowledge of medicinal native plants. In its final section, the text develops a satirical, hypothetical recreation of a 16th-century Asturian-Antioquian banquet, illustrating the culinary and linguistic mestizaje between Spanish gastronomic traditions and native American ingredients.