Food for candomblé parties in the city of Recife no longer have the flavor of the orixás

Cozinha de Candomblé

Abstract

This article aims to demonstrate that the Candomblé terreiros in the Recife region no longer offer the iconic typical terreiro foods, or orixá food, in the final moments of the terreiros' festivities, the so-called "ajeum das festas", in the meals of the members of the cult and its visitors. For this purpose, investigations were carried out in the 3 most famous and prestigious terreiros in the region and 2 more local terreiros where it was possible to identify that axé foods such as acarajé, amalá, xinxim and many other delicacies have been disappearing from this festive moment of the cult to be replaced by “white food”, or food not related to the diet of the orixás. At the end of the feasts of the orixás, where the people present were invited to participate in the communion banquet, the individuals ate the favorite foods of the deity in commemoration. However, for some reasons explained by members of the local Candomblé, such as historical persecutions, the cost of food, illnesses and food prohibitions by followers of the cult and even culinary fashion; they made the final mood of Candomblé festivals in the Recife region no longer seem like a terreiro party, at least in terms of the characteristic food of a Candomblé terreiro. Today you can find everything: confectioned cakes, checkered chicken, açaí in the bowl, except the orixá foods: which made some members of Recife's Candomblé rethink a return from the ajeum of terreiro parties to the custom of orixá food.