Pachamanca – The banquet of Mother Earth

Interculturality

Pachamanka: 

The Andean cosmovision as described through food preparation and cooking

Aurelio Castillo Posadas

Introduction

This article focuses on a specific method of preparation and cooking considered to be the unifying ritual which takes place between humans and their natural environment, also known as La Pachamama(Mother Nature) which consists of the land and other natural elements such as the sun, mountains and the wind. These elements also play a role in allowing the population to supply themselves with food through their agricultural practices. This is what is meant by Pachamanca; a traditional cooking ritual that was originally celebrated during the harvest season. The food is cooked underground, as a demonstration of gratitude to the earth on behalf of the human. This ritual recreates a reciprocal cycle of offerings and mutual labour whereby humans do not only rely on the earth to supply its food, but also to cook it. This analysis leads us to understand the Pachamanca as a regenerative ritual consisting of a series of offerings and reciprocal gifts shared between humankind and the elements of nature, an act where Mother Earth takes centre stage.

The ritual celebration for Pachamanca, takes us through the stages of human labour such as sowing and harvesting in the burial and gathering of food, respectively. It also displays the labour carried out by the earth during the same process. The cooked food is extracted from the ground and can be eaten after having been purified, which is also known as the gestationperiod.

This ritual represents the reciprocal exchange system based in offerings, which is an essential part of the Andean traditions founded on “giving, receiving and returning”. The food that was received by man from the earth is then returned to it, in a ceremony of recognition in which the best and richest fruits are returned, which through different intermediaries will also go to the other elements involved in agricultural activity. Afterwards, man returns to receive the gifts from the earth, thus generating a chain in which he receives and gives in order to continue receiving.

This also denotes the close relationship between the practical and the sacred, which for the inhabitants of the Andes are interdependent and complimentary values. The Pachamanca, being one of its main manifestations is a representation of this complementarity, while reaffirming the link between the land and the Andean man.

Similar rituals and cooking methods to the Pachamanca have been observed in other parts of the world such as in the territories bordering the Pacific Ocean. The theory of the origin of American man proposed by Paul Rivet posits the arrival of three migratory streams (Marzal, 1996, pp. 332-334). One of them would arrive from East Asia; another from Australia, through the Antarctic and the successive southern islands of the continent. The third stream would come from Melanesia and would have come through the Pacific Ocean. Based on this theory, we can think of a cultural continuity between the peoples whose axis is the Pacific, which would become a link between the cultures that live around it.

There is, then, a common cultural manifestation among these peoples, which is the cooking of food underground by means of heat stored in stones previously put on fire. For example, in the Andean regions of Bolivia and Chile this is referred to as preparing the “huatia”. In the inter-Andean valleys of Bolivia, 'pampaku' is prepared and cooked, and among the people of Aymara, 'wajaña'; whilst the Indians of Brazil and Paraguay, refer to it as'paparuto'.

In southern Chile, “curanto” is prepared, a term that comes from Mapuche language where cura means stone and tum, to cook. This stew is made with shellfish, and apparently originates from the Chiloé region. It is also has resemblances with the "umuta'o", which is prepared in Rapa Nui, on Easter Island.

In New Zealand, the Maori people prepare the "hangi" but in a larger pit. Similarly in Hawaii, a “kalua” is prepared using an oven called imu, which is made as part of another ritual festival known as a luau. This shows the importance of the Pacific as an interoceanic link, which since Rapa Nui, is considered to be the meeting point between Polynesia, Melanesia, Oceania and South America.

(pp 253-268)

(traduccion to the English, Charlie Wilson, Dec. 2022)

What we offer in our Pachamanca:

Meats: Chicken,  lamb, (350g)

Vegetables: Potatoes, broad beans, , sweet potato,  cassava(yuca).(350g) corn.

Seasonings: Salt, red pepper, orange pepper, achiote,Peruvian corn wine.

Accompaniments: Chili sauces.

Fuel:  broom firewood.

The custom of celebrating Pachamama (Mother Earth) includes ceremonies of thanks and requests for good luck.

Our Pachamanca lasts eight and a half hours with the following schedule:

Blessing and gratitude to the earth for allowing us to express ourselves around community gratitude.

Organization of the furnace and burning of the stones.

Organization and thanks to the food that will go in the oven.

Smoked and perfumed by those present at the Pachamanca.

Oven sealing,It's time to put the food in the oven.

Baking time, between 2 and 4 hours

Time to open the oven and share the food.

Closing of the oven and thanks to the Pachamama.

time to say goodbye

Open for booking

Limited spaces

Cost: £35,00

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch7ZJ7bo9zl/