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Belize Fire Hearth Delicacies

Fire Hearth is a brick, stone, or concrete area at the lowest section of a furnace. Especially, the section of a furnace on which the ore or metal is exposed to the flame or heat, According to Mirriam Webster. For generations the Fire Hearth has played a prominent role in the preparation of delicious meals for the dinner table in rural homes of those in Belize. ^[1]

Toledo District

Over thirty Maya villages are scattered throughout Southern Belize. They lie along riverbanks and creeks and are surrounded by beautiful mountains and rain forests. These villages are linked together by winding gravel roads and well worn forest trails. Each village has its own unique natural attractions nearby including caves, waterfalls, and Maya ruins.

The lifestyle of the Mayas is very basic. Long before the sun rises, the village comes to life. Children leave home to fetch water and wood while the mother prepares hot flour tortillas for breakfast. After a quick breakfast, the father leaves for the milpa (a crop-growing system) while it is still dark. When the school bell rings at 9:00am, there is a bustle of activity as groups of Maya children rush to school. Young men leave to meet their father at the milpas while young ladies help their mother around the home or create handicrafts for tourists. At home, women cook, clean, and wash the laundry in the nearby river.

In Toledo, a proud Maya woman stated that the Fire Hearth saves her money which would otherwise be spent on butane gas.Plus, the Fire Hearth gives her the most natural way of doing things in the kitchen. Also, cooking on the Fire Hearth allows her to pass on much love to the food as she prepares them on a daily basis for her family, stated Juan Caal from Breaking Belize News. Researchers asserts, by using Fire Hearth in the kitchen, you can save thousands of dollars annually. "With that kind of savings,the Maya woman encourages other women to consider installing and using a Fire Hearth in the kitchen," (Breaking News Belize, 2014). Due to many years of experience the Maya women gained knowledge of making Fire Hearth. This has become the way of life for most traditional Maya women in the Toledo District. The Maya women pass on the traditional knowledge to their daughters in the hope of keeping the tradition going for many more years ahead. In addition, Fire Hearth provides not only a means of cooking meals, but also a warm environment for the home.

Belize City

Double Head Cabbage is a region in the Belize District in the country of Belize, about 24 minutes or 39 km North-East of Belmopan, the country's capital city. According to Natalie Palacio, Coordinator, Willows Bank Fire hearth Festival, good old fashion fire hearth cooking is still preferred by many Belizeans. But in the era of butane stoves, fire hearths are now limited to villages and rural areas. The residents of Willows Bank want to go back to the basics with a Fire hearth Festival, which features a cooking competition among the villages. It will be a full day of events for the entire family and friends. ^[2]

For example, Natalie Palacio explained, “This cooking competition is a competition on the technique of cooking on the fire hearth. For this year we have a theme of corn. So the cooking competition itself is a ducunu dinner that they will have to cook which is basically ducunu with any meat of their choice along with a side dish so it can be coleslaw, potato salad or fresh veg. They need to cook a dessert with corn as the theme^[3].” The name ducunu is derived from the Garifuna which means boiled cornbread. Ducunu is made solely of corn and are rich in flavor.The concept behind the willows bank fire hearth festival is highlight the role in forming the tradition for the CreolesAmbergris Caye^[4].

The fire hearth is very important in the tradition and it is something that is dying out. There are very few people who look at a fire hearth or would think about using a fire hearth and the use of Fire Hearth has decreased drastically over the years. Majority of the younger generation do not know anything about fire hearth. notably, in these times the cost of fuel and other items are going up and the people of Belize might might need to revert to fire hearth cooking, something they know Little or nothing about.” The hearth’s base of the Fire hearth is a wooden structure very much like a table is covered with a thick layer of clay or limestone. An iron bar on a tripod of stones was used to support pots. Any ashes from the firewood would remain in the hearth.^[5].

Ambergris Caye

Ambergris Caye is the name of Belize's largest island. The history of the island goes back to the days of the Maya, European Pirates, and Mexican Refugees who fled during the Caste War. The descendants from Mexico make up most of the island's population today. The economy of the island was once dependent on the coconut industry, followed by the fishing industry, but it is now dependent on tourism ^[6].

Ambergris Caye (pronounced Am-BUR-gris or Am-BUR-grease Key) is the largest of some 200 cayes that dot the coastline of Belize. Ambergris is 25 miles long and a little over a mile wide, in some places, and it is located in the clear shallow waters of the Caribbean Sea just off the tip of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Her coastline is protected by the 190 miles long Barrier Reef, the second largest living coral reef in the world, according to Ambergris Caye Island.

However,San Pedro Town is the only inhabited area on the island. It's atmosphere is that of a small bustling, fishing village but with "hot spots" of events, restaurants, and entertainment. Patty Arceo, owner of Elfogon Restaurant in San Pedro, came up with a bright and unique idea to offer a menu dedicated to the home style cooking of Belizean Creole and Mestizo food, all prepared on an open fire hearth (or ‘Fogon' in Spanish). On El Fogon's menu you can find any, if not all, of the typical home-cooked Creole and Mestizo foods that are typical to Belize^[7]. A definite staple food that you will find every day is the traditional Belizean Rice and Beans with stew chicken or beef. On the menu there is the Mestizo specials like Escabeche, Mechado, Chirmole, Relleno, Chechak (Fish soup), Pork Pibil, Tamales and Creole specials like Cow Foot Soup, Pig Tail, Boil Up and Beef Soup, these among other favorites like Split Peas and Dumplings. And you can drink home-made Horchata or Tamarind Juice. Patty Arceo commented “What has happened in our modern, fast-paced life is that we are so busy with work and projects that there is not time to cook and prepare our Belizean favorites. And now we see that other places have modified these foods to cater to the tourists, which is not bad, but we are keeping everything traditional, original and old style.”

It is seen that the Creoles and Mayas are trying to uphold their cultural practices as it pertains to Fire Hearth. This gives your food a different flavor from stove cooked food. According to the research, the citizens of Double Head Cabbage, Ambergris Caye and Toledo District are trying their best to keep the Fire Hearth tradition alive.

External Link

Tamara Sniffin

Channel5belize

Tastebelize

Elfogon

Maya - Fire Hearth

Fire Hearth Festival

Southern Belize

Reference