It is known to be the source of energy and nutrition - but good food also feeds the spirit, and in a melting pot of cultures the menu spans far and wide when it comes to traditional Belizean dishes. Good food never goes out of style, but the recipes and old fashioned ways of preparing even the easiest delicacies becomes a challenge to preserve as the OG cooks retire and leave us, taking their special secrets of the kitchen with them. But with a UNESCO grant, the Institute of Social and cultural Research has stepped up to provide a solution to this, how we can safeguard our heritage and the food that fuels us. Their Director told us more.

Rolando Cocom, Director of NICH-ISCR
"So the institute for Social and cultural research works in collaboration with communities to identify our cultural heritage and to identify ways on how we can safeguard that for the next generation. So over the years we have been involved with different projects with UNESCO, in particular we have documented quite a number of our major national celebrations including the finados that's coming up or the recent San Joaquin and Yellow Ginger festival which took place last month and so we have been doing that work at the celebrations level and the festivities but we have been receiving conversations with our cultural workers about this need to discuss food. Food in maybe three dimensions one in terms of survival we all need to eat to survive, but what are we eating? Are we eating more food that contributes to our well-being or are we being more and more globalized? Also facing the threats of climate change, meaning that some traditional food is not so often easily available. And then perhaps as well, thinking about food in a context of cultural exchange. I have recounted an instance in my life where I did not get to taste the Hudut until I got to study at the university of Belize."

"So there is a lot of food and I feel that if we were to open up ourselves to our cultural relatives we would be enriched, be enriched in terms of nourishing of well being and enriched in terms of our connection that we can then have with other people of this country."

The objective of the project is not only to document the cultural connection to food, but also create a deeper appreciation for complexities of cooking and presentations across a wide range of cultures.

Rolando Cocom, Director of NICH-ISCR
"And so food involves sharing it involves community building and so that is what we are hoping for that out of this we have more intercultural understanding with each other and then we also appreciate the other elements of food in thinking about the agricultural aspects of food, are we planting what we are used to eat in the past and that it is traditionally beneficial as communities of this region. So let us eat less of foreign processed goods which has become more and more common since independence and so that is the work we are trying to do as well. And I think the other aspect is the rituals so there are certain foods that accompany, traditional festivities, I mentioned the finados for instance which is food firstly offered as an offering to the departed loved ones and then eaten afterwards, so these are also aspects of the tradition that perhaps do not come off at the top of our mind, but perhaps through this project, we will hope that more and more Belizeans appreciate these other intricacies of food."

So if you are wondering whether there is a wrong or right way to make tamales, or enjoy your garnaches with or without ketchup, Cocom says that there can be no wrong done in playing around with the different flavors and methods of preparation.

Rolando Cocom, Director of NICH-ISCR
"We will do our best to document as much food practices as we can, and for this, from this US$98,600 that we are receiving about 25,000 will go into equipment, equipment that is accessible to our houses of Culture to our town councils where we do not have a house of Culture presently with NICH."

"To be able to then train around 20 to 25 persons at the district level to provide transportation for them to go out to Rural communities or wherever they feel is important to document those food practices. One of the things that we believe in at NICH and at the UNESCO level is that we cannot determine what is cultural heritage, and that is only being determined by the communities so if a Creole community or Creole residence for that matter tell us that the ketchup on the Garnaches is essential and that is part of their heritage and their cultural food. Then we agree we say that is it for these individuals for these communities. And we believe in diversity of cultural food."

The project will engage 140 community members.