Ethnomathematical Connections in the Making of the Guandú Soup and its Commercialization in Sibarco, Colombia

Abstract

The literature on Ethnomathematics shows that previous research does not emphasize the connections between the art of gastronomy and the mathematics used for the preparation of a certain food product, but instead focuses on daily practices such as fishing, carpentry, masonry, livestock, etc., or the elaboration of artifacts such as kites, cabinets, masks, dresses, indigenous houses, the training of students and teachers in the context of ethnomathematics and geometry, among others. Therefore, the article's goal is to characterize the Ethnomathematical Connections established by traditional Mokaná cooks in the elaboration and commercialization of the guandú soup in Sibarco. Theoretically, this study was based on Ethnomathematics, Ethnomathematical Connections, and universal activities. The methodology was qualitative developed in three stages, where the participants-cooks were selected. Then, semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect the data, analyzed based on the theoretical foundation. The results show Ethnomathematical Connections such as the relationships between the mathematical knowledge of cooks and institutionalized mathematics, for example, they used conventional measures such as the meter, the liter, pound, arroba; non-conventional units of measure such as the gallon, the totuma, the sack, the wooden spoon, the cup, the remillion, the load, the bulk, among others. Likewise, counting processes were evidenced in the amount of ingredients for the soup connected with their prices, geometric notions connected to the location of the pot, and geometric notions in the shape and design of the totuma, the pot, the stick spoon, symmetries and the concept of triangle and plane in the conformation of the hearth. We conclude that this study offers an input of Ethnomathematical Connections for the teaching-learning and understanding of mathematics.

Keywords:
Ethnomathematical Connections; Guandú soup; Measures; Geometry; Universal activities