By Victoria Rodriguez Rey
As if it were an offering, Rosalía Puel displays pine nuts. Photo Carlos Urquiza
Norma Lebicura belongs to the Mapuche Puel community. Norma introduces herself, greets, welcomes and thanks in the language of the land, in Mapudugum. She has lived with her husband and her family, made up of 8 children, in Villa Pehuenia for more than 55 years.
While cooking in the open air, contained by a background of araucarias and an immense foothills, he converses in a low voice. It is likely that she is asking the earth for permission, thanking the fire, the seeds, the water, the mountains. Each intervention with food is a ceremony with life and she does not tire of being thankful for it. She is grateful to be able to be part of it, grateful for the abundance, and asks that it not be lacking, that there be enough.
Norma Lebicura explains her kitchen procedures; next to her, her daughter Rosalía Puel. Photo: Carlos Urquiza
The pine nut is the base of their diet. She raised her eight children with this ancient food. He pays respect to the Pehuén for its fruits in his prayers and wishes that the seed never be lacking as the beginning of the food to maintain life.
Norma makes fair use of the pinion. He knows its qualities in depth, and based on that, he applies different conservation and preparation techniques: drying, toasting, grinding to be able to prepare cakes, soups, and drinks throughout the year.
Rosalía Puel offers and shares what she recently cooked with her mother, in Pehuenia. Photo: Carlos Urquiza
“With the first pinion that comes together, it becomes muday. We throw that to the ground, in the prayer, so that ceremony makes it always give us again. Thanking. We are very grateful and we are happy when there are many pine nuts for everyone. Out there, we sell a little, but we consume a lot for ourselves and for our skinny animals so they can spend the winter. For the good of all” shares Norma.
At his side is Rasalía Puel, his daughter. Both are cooking before “Río Negro” in the preview of the new edition of the Patagonian Chef Festival to be held this May 5, 6 and 6 in Pehuenia.
Norma Lebicura. Photo Carlos Urquiza
Pinion flour is the basis of community baking, it requires grinding the boiled and dry pinion with a grinding stone. To make chichoca de piñón, the piñón seed is boiled, allowed to dry and then ground. It can also be roasted and then ground with a stone or mill.
This is how the chichoca is made, which is like a coarse pine nut flour and is used to thicken casseroles or soups. The catutos are another elaboration from the toasted and boiled pine nut. A paste is formed to assemble the bun, it is very good when it is heated with oil.
Muday is a fermented drink made from pine nuts.
Photo Carlos Urquiza
“Also the tortilla with embers, and cake with pine nuts, are all the recipes of my life. Here everyone comes and gathers pine nuts and takes them away to sell. Sometimes they don’t even use it. But this must be taken care of very much. The plants that are not from here are drying up the Puehén, the pines are doing very badly. They tricked us with those pine trees, to make money, but we have more strength with the Pehuén that gives us food for our children and grandchildren. Many times we cry over this situation. We continue to use the pine nut, which provides us with a lot of strength when you are gathering pine nuts, with great joy from abundance.”
For Norma and her community, the production, collection, and consumption of food requires great responsibility. Each instance of encounter with food and with the elements that come into play for its preparation requires a necessary gratitude ceremony. Cooking is taking full care of your community and the vital elements so that they persist and guarantee life.
