Àwo Fifè Nlá: santo food as afro-brazilian culture

Abstract

This article deals with Candomblé's saint food, reflecting on its condition as a national monument and material and immaterial cultural heritage of Brazil. The food of saint that constitutes the ebó of Candomblé brings together all the institutions that a culture makes up, both the cuisine, music, clothing, religiosity, a collection of songs in the iorubá language, which comprise elements that produce our culture. To address the theme, a bibliographic survey of several articles and scientific books was carried out with a focus on the lexicon Comida de Santo, in the various Candomblés of our country. Several possibilities of epistemological cuts by Frantz Fanon about the denial of black culture are highlighted and the phenomenology of saint food is suggested as a discussion between established authors, known to the general public, and others not, because they have published texts very recently. The discussion is guided by the following question: do food of saint and Candomblé serve for a new political concept of the Brazilian State and, therefore, allow iorubá as a cult language demanding a new public policy of national identity? When understanding the food of saint, it appears that black culture is strongly present in the daily cuisine of Brazilians.