The final episode in our first season Baianas em Foco features guest host Dr. Vanessa Castañeda as she interviews the Baiana de acarajé and Candomblé priestess Tânia Pereira de Jesus. In this English language episode the creator Dr. Jamie Lee Andreson speaks with Dr. Castañeda about her years of research experience, collaboration and activism with the Baianas de acarajé in Salvador, Bahia. Baianas are street vendors, generally older, Black women, who sell various foods associated with the city of Salvador; the most famous of which is acarajé, a black-eyed pea fritter fried in palm oil with origins in West Africa. These street vendors are often referred to as the “postcards of Bahia” as they are cultural icons of African heritage and regional Afro-Bahian identity. We discuss the main topics that come up in Tânia's interview, including the relationship between the acarajé sold on the streets and its religions origins in Candomblé, the women’s political engagements within the field of Brazilian cultural politics and the current challenges they face with the COVID-19 pandemic.
