I belong to a town made up of a largely rural area. Its main economic movement is agriculture and the countryside and, therefore, the care of the land to produce enough food and thus be able to market it. In my community, because it is so small, it has always been difficult to access technology or an economy that allows its inhabitants to be updated or modernized, so some cultural and gastronomic habits are still maintained.
In our community, we take care of the traditions and maintain habits that must sound very primitive for some people. We like, above anything else, to be united and have a good meal. For my people, it is essential to dedicate a space to share quality time with our friends and family, surrounded by good food and pleasant conversations. It is a kind of ritual that we do in our free moments, and some others do it in their daily lives.
In my community, we use the term “Fogón” and the expression: “Vamos a prender el fogon” to carry out one of our habits, which is about preparing food in a place, preferably outdoors, and created with our own hands, which is suitable for making fire. In other words, to light a stove, we need a structure built on a base of stones or bricks, and between this base, we put firewood, and on top of the wood, we put a grill that helps us hold the pan where we are cooking. It is important that the stove is located at a point in the house, that it can function as a kitchen and as a dining room at the same time, in such a way that it allows several people to gather and share.
In short, when in my community we say “Fogón,” we mean a stove or oven. This word has an origin and is used by our ancestors to refer to fire.
Over time and throughout history, the stove has had various uses. It has served as a source of heat, like a fireplace or bonfire, since, in our community, there are high mountainous areas and it is cold there, so “prender el fogon” means gathering around the fire to receive heat. It also works for cooking and drying different foods, and this is its primary function since it is the perfect tool for cooking in large quantities. Therefore, “el fogon” has also turned out to be very useful in restaurants and to market and sell the food that the community itself harvests. That is to say, that sometimes we meet men and women, who dedicate themselves to the home, offering the sale of sancocho, arepas, tamales, and chorizos. This fact eventually happens in my community, where people have their way of generating income, preparing food to sell to other people from the stove they have at home. “El Fogon” has also been an important tool for making work materials or artifacts that, in the past, could function as tableware or decoration. Most of them are made of clay or ceramic and fulfilled the function of giving heat to the oven in which these objects are created.
One of my grandmother’s traditions was that she would wake up every day early in the morning to start grinding corn in the house’s backyard and making arepas on the grill of a “fogón” she had built so when we woke up. We would wake up always smelling fresh-made arepas for breakfast. It was also common that one day of the weekend, we all made a family trip by the river, there was a bonfire with some stones and wood, and while the children were playing in the water, the adults prepared a delicious “sancocho” or “fiambre.” These foods are mainly composed of regional ingredients such as potato, yucca, plantain, chicken, tomato, onion, and aji. The food was cooked on the fogón and with wood tastes particularly delicious. When the food was ready, we would spread the towels on the ground and share lunch while having pleasant conversations and listening to music.
The fogón can be seen as a primitive tool. In the ancestral communities, they lit fires on stones and firewood, and then they could cook and even stay acclimatized and survive around this. They began to create ways to socialize; then, they listened to the songs and stories shared among the same people belonging to the family to make the moment more special.
Over time we have seen advances in technology, which has led us to stop using the fogon or a bonfire. Since many new and different tools have been invented that make these processes easier, some people prefer to buy a heater instead of using a stove for heat or choose to have electric stoves, and not have to build a fire with their own hands and keep it with firewood. However, many people do not have access to these tools because they do not have enough money, and they live in areas far away from urban areas, where they do not even have electricity to make use of them. People in my hometown, who still live in rural areas, are forced to continue depending on fire to survive and maintain the use of the fogon. Either way, the use of the fire also became a way of socializing and sharing experiences with other people. When there is a fire going, it means that there are always conversations, or eventually songs, dances, and celebrations.
To “prender el fogón” in my community means to share. It also means learning because the food acquires a very particular and delicious flavor. Thanks to that, some people who know how to do it well have dedicated themselves to work cooking for other people from a stove. It turns out to be very fortunate for the people who learn to cook with this tool.
The fogón has become a synonym of home. And that is why it is a privilege to maintain the tradition, because, although in the world things keep changing and adapting to have more ease, in our community, this became a ritual that always keeps people together, and that shows love, patience, warmth, and a familiar way of sharing. In addition, for a large part of the community, the bonfire continues to be a synonym of productivity. It is a tool for the economic income and sustenance of many families who dedicate themselves to the kitchen or elaborating decorative pieces or tableware.
In my community, the fogón continues to be a very artisanal and traditional way of offering all the warmth and love that can only be found at home with the company of friends and family.
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