Religion in the Kitchen：Cooking, Talking, and the Making of Black Atlantic Traditions

BeforehoneycanbeofferedtotheAfro-CubandeityOchún,itmustbetasted,toprovetoherthatitisgood.InAfrican-inspiredreligionsthroughouttheCaribbean,LatinAmerica,andtheUnitedStates,suchgesturesinstilltheattitudesthatturnparticipantsintopractitioners.Acquiringdeepknowledgeofthedietsofthegodsandancestorsconstructsadherents’identities;tolearntofixthegods’favoritedishesistobe“seasoned”intotheirservice.Inthisinnovativework,ElizabethPérezrevealshowseeminglytrivial"micropractices"suchasthepreparationofsacredfoods,arecomplexritualsintheirownright.DrawingonyearsofethnographicresearchinChicagoamongpractitionersofLucumí,thetransnationaltraditionpopularlyknownasSantería,Pérezfocusesonthebehind-the-scenesworkoftheprimarilywomenandgaymenresponsibleforfeedingthegods.SherevealshowcookingandtalkingaroundthekitchentablehaveplayedvitalsocializingrolesinBlackAtlanticreligions.Enteringtheworldofdivinedesiresandthevariedflavorsthatspeaktothem,thisvolumetakesafreshapproachtotheanthropologyofreligion.ItsrichlytexturedportraitofapredominantlyAfrican-AmericanLucumícommunityreconceptualizesrace,gender,sexuality,andaffectintheformationofreligiousidentity,proposingthateveryreligioncoalescesandsustainsitselfthroughitsownsecretrecipeofmicropractices.