Mérida, Yucatán, (January 13, 2022) .- Mérida is a city of flavor and knowledge, which is why the 2022 edition of Mérida Fest will feature the International Meeting “Los Hijos del Maíz. Cities, Creativity and Gastronomy ”, which will take place from January 16 to 18, with the participation of experts and researchers from Colombia, Peru and Mexico.
This initiative stands out for the participation of three Creative Cities in Gastronomy, declared by UNESCO, such as Mérida (Yucatán), Popayán (Colombia) and Arequipa (Peru) and their representatives who through different activities and dialogues will share ancestral traditions of food, the challenges of traditional kitchens and how gastronomic art remains a strategic axis in the development of cities.
The activities will begin on Sunday 16 with the “Meeting of Traditional Latin American Cuisine”, which will have the participation of Francia Muñoz, Traditional Cook from Popayán, Colombia; Luis Gallegos, Spicy Cook from Arequipa, Peru; Carina Santiago, Traditional Cook from Oaxaca; White Roses; Traditional Cook from Mérida and Karina Lara, from the Pibil Tixcocob Restaurant, starting at 6 in the afternoon in the Patio of the Olimpo Cultural Center.
The opening ceremony of the meeting is scheduled for Monday 17, starting at 9 in the morning in the Council Hall of the Autonomous University of Yucatán, the venue for all the activities on that day.
Half an hour later the conference “Los Hijos del Maiz. Domestication, Mythology and Actuality ”with Dr. Miguel Güemez, on behalf of the UADY.
At 10:45 am. the International Conversation Center “Corn and the Management of Gastronomic Projects” headed by Mónica Anacona, focal point of Popayán, Colombia, and Sergio Salas, the focal point of Arequipa, Peru. The first was named by UNESCO as a Creative Gastronomic City in 2005 and the second in 2020. Mérida will be represented by José Luis Martínez Semerena, Creative Gastronomic City since 2019.
The talk, “The secrets of traditional cuisine in Oaxaca” will begin at 12:00 hours, and will be in charge of Abigail Mendoza and Carina Santiago, Traditional Cooks of Oaxaca.
The activities will continue at 5 in the afternoon with the Dialogue: “The traditional kitchens of Latin America”, which will bring together all the invited chefs: Francia Muñoz, Luis Gallegos, Abigail Mendoza, and Carina Santiago.
The Conversation “Creativity and Innovation: Past and Present” will also be offered, at 6:30 in the afternoon, with doctors Steffan Ayora and Lilia Fernández, research professors of the Faculty of Anthropological Sciences of the UADY.
For this day, access will be controlled and with up to 40 attendees, as part of the health and healthy distance protocols.
On Tuesday, Jan. 18th, the program of the meeting will end with the holding of the First Contest of Gastronomic Interpretation of the Mérida Fest, which will begin at 9:30 am. and the awards ceremony at 1 in the afternoon. This activity, to which only the participants of the contest will have access, will be hosted by the ISIMA Culinary School, which has also collaborated as a venue in other events of the City Festival.
In www.merida.gob.mx/meridafest you can consult more details, schedules and face-to-face and digital projects of the Mérida Fest 2022 “The City that Knows”.
The Yucatan Times
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