Sancocho is more than just a rich, delicious stew. With careful examination, the recipe for the iconic Dominican dish reads like the edible history of the country. The root vegetables farmed by the indigenous Taíno, the meat and aromatics brought by the Spanish colonizers, and the plantains and cooking method brought by enslaved Africans make it clear that, like the people of the Dominican Republic, it is a mestizaje.

This workshop treats the recipe as both a primary historical source and a work of oral history. The headnote serves to provide context and meaning to the recipe. The list of ingredients provides insight into different aspects of the food supply. Preparation methods might indicate social history, pointing to whose labor cooked the meal and whose knowledge was passed down from one generation to another, through practice, not writing. Further, a recipe’s silences and imprecisions, passed from person to person, preserve the embodied knowledge and sensory practice that formal archives are incapable of capturing.

Using my own sancocho recipe as a shared case study, I will guide participants in moving beyond a recipe’s obvious elements to uncover the historical information hidden within it, depending on the purpose of the research. We will examine the recipe from the vantage point of the cook and the historian to show how each perspective yields complementary evidence. This two-hour workshop will guide participants through each part of the recipe, thereby demonstrating the practice of reading recipes as a historical source.

This workshop reflects the conference’s call to look back on twenty years of oral history and creative practice while exploring new avenues for the field. By considering the recipe as a legitimate historical source, it models the kind of innovative research that can help reshape how we view history and suggests that some of our richest archives have been sitting in our kitchens all along.

Participants will leave with an understanding of how to read a recipe as a historical source. By centering sancocho, this workshop affirms that some histories aren’t written down. They are cooked, tasted, and passed down.

Please note that this workshop can accommodate no more than 20 participants (maximum). The meal prepared is not vegetarian-friendly.

Cooking with COHDS: Finding History in a Recipe With Eliana Hussain

Cooking with COHDS: Finding History in a Recipe With Eliana Hussain

Event Info

Hosted By:

Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling

Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling

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