GEA 3400 Applied Exercise: Geography of Food MY DISH IS ENCEBOLLADO FROM ECUADOR

GEA 3400
Applied Exercise: Geography of Food
MY DISH IS ENCEBOLLADO FROM ECUADOR
The title of your essay will be: “The Geography of ENCEBOLLADO” (here you will include the name of your dish of choice).  Your work must first mention the “claimed” country of origin of the dish.  We  refer to the “claimed area of origin” of your particular dish because there are many countries that claim
to be the place where a dish originated.  For example, in Latin America there are many states that claim to be the country of origin of arroz con pollo (chicken and rice).  This is very important because there could be regional variations in terms of the ingredients that are used to make the dish in question.  For example, in many countries that claim to be the place of origin of chicken and rice, cilantro is a basic
ingredient, while in other countries this is unthinkable – many people would say, “This is not chicken
and rice!”
Then you will proceed to enumerate all the ingredients – plants and animals – that are included in
your recipe.  It is required that the recipe that you chose have 10 ingredients.  If the original recipe does
not include 10 ingredients, then you can add some sides that are traditionally served with this dish (i.e., a
salad, rice, beans, etc.). For the first portion of the exercise (table), you must include the basic elements
that make up your recipe and not any processed food.  By this I mean that, for example, if the recipe you
are using requires to use oil, you must clearly state the type of oil that you use (i.e., olive, corn, etc.), or,
for instance, sausages (are these made mainly of beef, pork, turkey, etc.?), or if it include tomato paste,
just include the name tomato in your table and add in parenthesis the word “paste” [i.e. tomato (paste);
pork (sausage); corn (oil)] and make a reference in the essay portion of the exercise.
Next, you will find the area where each of these elements were domesticated or, if it is harvested
locally like a mineral (i.e., salt) or it is a plant or animal species that is harvest/caught locally (i.e., fish,
shellfish, etc.), these will be referred to as “native” or “indigenous” ingredients.  For example, beans,
corn, bell peppers and chili peppers were domesticated in the Meso-American region of domestication.
If you are using a recipe original from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa
Rica, Panama, or the Caribbean coast of Colombia and Venezuela, and it includes any of these
ingredients, you can refer to them in your table as Meso-American or native/indigenous (use only one
term in your table). Of course, you will have to comment this fact in your essays.  Note that many plants
and animals that are used to elaborate these dishes have been domesticated in faraway regions where
these recipes were developed.  For example, although chicken and rice is a local favorite in some Latin
American countries, chicken were domesticated in South and Southeast Asia, and garlic and cilantro in
the Mediterranean regions of domestication.
To find the area of domestication of the most commonly used plant and animal species found in
these recipes, you must use the map provided at the end of this document (Map: Centers of Plant and
Animal Domestication – Getis et al. 2009: 222) and in the attached PowerPoint presentation.  If some of
the ingredients that are included in your recipe are not listed in this map, I would highly recommend you
to use the following website develop by Purdue University: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/. Here
you can use their search engine to find the specific crops that you are looking for: (go to) CropSearch.
Most important of all, as mentioned in the course syllabus and syllabus quiz, students are not allowed
to use Wikipedia in this course and, if this is the case, will result in a significant point deduction in
any such works.
 
TABLE (25% of the final grade): After listing all 10 ingredients included in your dish of
choice, you will then proceed to create a table that includes the names of all the ingredients that make up
the recipe of your favorite dish, and the region of domestication of these plants and/or animals, or
country of origin. Remember, all ingredients that are original from the claimed country (or region) of
origin should be referred as Native/Indigenous or you can also include the name of the region of
domestication.  For example, if you are researching a dish original from Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia or Chile,
any ingredient included in your dish that was also domesticated in the Andean Uplands region (i.e.,
tomato, potato, strawberries, etc.) should be included in your table as domesticated in the Andean
Uplands or included as a Native ingredient (use only one term only in your work).  Your Table should
be included in the first section of your work.  Please see sample table provided at the end of this
document.  Note that, if your table states that some ingredients were domesticated in a region were
this/these element/s were not domesticated, this fact will make your table, your map, and analysis essay
inaccurate, and you could lose many points.  Your work must be very precise when it comes to these
facts since they are the baseline of this exercise.  The main source to find the region of domestication
of plants and animals is the map Centers of Plant and Animal Domestication (Getis et al. 2009:
222) is included at the end of these Instructions and must be cited in your essay and bibliography
page.
 
MAP (25% of the final grade for this assignment): You will then plot the information
included in your Table in the attached blank world map.  If you are not proficient making maps on a
computer, you may print the blank map provided, enter all the required information using your own
handwriting (working as neat as you can; by-the-way, this is not a work of art), scan your document, and
paste it into your word document.  The map must be included after the table, and before the essay
portion.
You must use different labels to represent the regions of origin of the ingredients of your dish of
choice.  Your map must also include the boundaries of each of the regions of domestication of the world
where your ingredients originated (include only the borders of the regions and a label with its name).
You can find this information in the Map: “Centers of Plant and Animal Domestication” as well (Getis
et al. 2009: 222). Note that there can be several ingredients that have the same source of origin.  For
example, potatoes, guinea pigs, tomatoes, papaya, lima beans, pumpkin, strawberries, etc., have the
same origin: Andean Uplands.
You should also include in your map flowlines that connect the region of origin of the
ingredients to the “claimed” country of origin of your dish.  The width of these flow lines should be
adjusted to represent the number of ingredients originating in the different centers of domestication. For
example, if the contribution of the Meso-American region to your dish is three (3) ingredients and the
contribution of the Andean Upland region is only one (1) ingredient, then the flow line that connects
Meso-America with the “claimed” country of origin of this dish should be 3-times wider than the one
flowing from the Andean Upland region.
Since using the flow lines to represent the Native/Indigenous ingredients is not an option since
these have not been introduced, you should use a symbol (i.e., a circle, a triangle) that represents the
number of these ingredients. This symbol must be placed inside the “claimed” country of origin of your
favorite dish, and must be included in your legend as well.   
Every map must include the following information: title (i.e., “The Geography of _______”);, an
arrow and an “N” (north) sign on top [of the arrow] pointing to the geographical north (place it on the
upper right hand side of the map); a legend indicating the values of your flow lines that connect the
source regions of domestication with the “claimed” country of origin of your favorite dish (include the
value of the flow lines only, not the names of the regions of domestication); and any other information
included in your map (see map sample included in the PPT: “The Geography of Ceviche”).
 
 
THE ESSAY – DATA ANALYSIS – (45%) AND BIBLIOGRAPY (5%): In this section you
must include the ingredients that are part of your dish of choice, highlighting the area of origin of the
ingredients, and the claimed area of origin of the dish.  This is an integral part of your work and must be
as detailed as possible. Remember that this is a geography exercise and spatial distribution should be
highlighted in your analysis.  Your essay must also include comments of the number of ingredients that
can be considered native (originated in the domestication region where the “claimed” country of origin
if this is the case) and exotic (non-native/introduced species).  We are trying to determine how
globalization has impacted the national culture with the introduction of non-native ingredients through
expansion and/or relocation diffusion (see PPT Instructions file for key definitions, which must be
included in your analysis).
In this section you will be evaluated in terms of the detail and thoroughness of the information
you provide.  This means that your analysis should be as descriptive and detailed as possible.  For
example, you can start by making a very basic statistical analysis commenting the contribution of each
region of domestication using percentages (see PPT sample). ,
This essay should be at-least 800 words in length.  Please note that the word count does not
include your name, PID number, date, titles, the information included in the tables, map, or bibliography
sections.  You must also demonstrate knowledge of the topic and include a reference from the textbook
included in the essay portion that relates to your favorite dish.  You can also include a reputable website
that describes the recipe you are using.  For instance, in the Index the textbook mentions the key words,
“Food habits” and “Agriculture”, which include very useful information to include in your analysis.
Remember to use quotation marks if you are transcribing any portion of a textbook, article, website, etc.,
and include a reference after the quote, this way your work will not be considered plagiarized.  You
must also include this reference in a separate page (Bibliography/Reference), making a full citation of
the source used.  In addition, please remember that you it is a course requirement to include pertinent
portion of the textbook in all written assignment and that you are not allowed to use Wikipedia in this
course.
Any geographically-based essay must answer three broad questions: Where? Why? (and
How?), and, So what? (or, in other words, why is this important?).  Answering these questions will
be the basis of your analysis.  For example, where is located the center of domestication of these plants
and animals?  Why (and how) were these ingredients introduced to the region where your recipe was
developed?  In answering to the “So what?” question, you must use the information you have included
in the first two sections (Where? and Why?); this is an overview of the principles elements of your
recipe and must include a conclusion’s paragraph of your analysis.
Please do not include the preparation (recipe) of your dish in your essay.  This is irrelevant to the
purpose of this assignment. Works that include this information will receive a 10-point discount in their
final grade. 
 
Your answer must be your own, original thoughts.  If you plagiarize your thoughts from a
website, journal, or any other source, or your work is written using artificial intelligence without
including a proper reference not only you will be sad because you cannot write the small number
of words of your own, but you will earn a failing grade in our class. 
 
 
Centers of Plant and Animal Domestication
 
Make sure to use this one as one of the Source: Getis, A., Getis, J. and J. Fellmann.  2008. Introduction to geography.  New York: McGraw