Comprehensive and cross-regional studies on fermented foods in traditional societies

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K21662
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 4:Geography, cultural anthropology, folklore, and related fields
• Research Institution: Nagoya University
• Principal Investigator: Yokoyama Satoshi 名古屋大学, 環境学研究科, 教授 (30363518)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 藤本 武 富山大学, 学術研究部人文科学系, 教授 (20351190) ; 山本 宗立 鹿児島大学, 総合科学域総合研究学系, 准教授 (20528989)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-06-28 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 発酵食品 / 伝統食 / 食文化

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study surveyed how fermented foods considered as traditional foods in various regions of the world have been inherited and also how they have changed. As a result, the Indonesian fermented soybean food 'tempeh' which is made from traditional plant materials had been discontinued. A fermented fish seasoning 'Pla-la' in Northeast Thailand changed from freshwater fish to marine fish, and a fermented seasoning 'Dawa Dawa' in Ghana changed from African locust bean (Parkia biglobosa) to soybean. Examples of changes in the raw materials of fermented foods themselves were observed in various regions. Although all fermented foods are positioned as traditional foods in various regions, it became clear that the production methods and raw materials have changed significantly due to the scarcity of natural materials and the difficulty of obtaining raw materials.

Free Research Field

文化地理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は伝統食とみなされる発酵食品に着目し、それを東南アジア大陸部、東南アジア島嶼部、そしてダイズ発酵調味料が日常的に利用されている西アフリカの3地域で比較しつつ、発酵食の位置づけに関して明らかにした研究である。伝統食文化がユネスコ無形文化遺産に登録される今日、伝統食は変化すべきではないのか、また変化しても伝統食と呼べるのか、様々な議論がなされている。本研究では、フィールドワークにより地域の生産者の声を拾い上げ、変化の原因を解明したことに学術的意義を見出すことができる。また、これまでの研究成果を社会に還元するために名古屋大学博物館において特別展示を実施した。