Sabores plurais: a alimentação no ensino de história da América Portuguesa

Abstract

This research aimed to analyze food as an alternative approach to Portuguese American History classes, conceiving teaching possibilities in Elementary School II. The approach focused on the cultural plurality present in the foods consumed by the populations of Portuguese America, a period in which many cultural and food heritages of Brazilian society originated. After referencing the main discussions on the dialogues between History, food and History teaching, we went on to examine some examples of foods and recipes that demonstrated the cultural plurality of Brazilian cuisine in Portuguese America. Corn, cassava, sugar and beans were investigated considering the mixtures present in these foods, without, however, excluding the presence of other important foods for the society of the period, in order to build alternatives that can promote the approximation between student and historical content in the 7th year of Elementary School. In this sense, the production of didactic sequences was targeted to integrate the educational product, which is an educational website that can be consulted to have access to the ready sequences. The result of the research points out that food is a provocative historical source and that it has the power to arouse interesting reflections on cultural plurality in students and can contribute significantly to the teaching of History, providing a dialogue with the knowledge brought from their experiences. The use of food in History classes can enrich them and make them more stimulating, helping to make the teaching-learning process more meaningful.