how, and heThe audiovisual production brings together the stories of ten cooks from Barra Longa,

helping preserve the community’s shared local memory.artfelt ties.

More than people and their stories, a city is also made of flavors and aromas. The experiences shared around the table and the recipes passed down through generations are part of a community’s identity and culture. These are the aspects portrayed in the documentary series “Flavors of Barra Longa,” available at the Virtual Museum of Territories “Paths of Memory.”

The project grew out of active listening within the community, with the goal of valuing local traditional cuisine. In Barra Longa, by bringing together knowledge and practices that express ways of life and community bonds, cooking is a reference point of the municipality’s intangible cultural heritage and reveals livelihoods intertwined with the territory.

Through photographic and audiovisual records, ten cooks from Barra Longa (eight women and two men) shared their experiences tied to the act of cooking: the recipe learned from their grandmothers, the tradition inherited from their fathers, and the familiar taste of life in the countryside.

Filming took place between July and August 2025, when the team traveled through the territory to listen to and document dishes and the affection tied to them that are part of the city’s shared memory, contributing to its preservation. In addition to the series, the material will also be included in a catalog, still in production, about the project.

One of the stories featured is that of Janderson Alves Machado, who shared how to make “doce de leite (caramelized milk) with orange leaves,” a family specialty that symbolizes gatherings in his paternal grandmother’s kitchen. “The recipe also has a lot to do with the ingredients we have around here. Milk has always been plentiful in the region; my grandfather always worked with dairy cattle, and the orange brings a freshness that reminds us of the fruit in our backyard. Showing that was a way of saying: “look how rich our land is,” he explains.

For him, the audiovisual production helps strengthen the link between past and future through cooking and preserves stories and memories that can be lost over time. “It’s an act of cultural resistance, valuing ancestry, and projecting a future that’s more aware of its own roots and origins,” says Janderson.

By telling these stories, the production reinforces the community’s bond with the territory. “Cooking is also a demonstration of affection and brings to mind family recipes and the flavors of traditional dishes. That’s why, beyond valuing cuisine, the series highlights the importance of this knowledge as a local cultural and identity expression, helping preserve the community’s shared memory and its ties to the territory,” emphasizes Samarco planning and management specialist Andréa Furtado de Almeida.

The “Flavors of Barra Longa” series is now available on the “Paths of Memory” website. Before the online launch, the production was screened for the public during the 3rd Barra Longa Gastronomic Festival, held last September. The initiative is a partnership between the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Samarco, and it is part of the obligations under the New Rio Doce Agreement, among the Transition actions listed in Annex 19 of the Agreement.