Interview with photographer, podcaster and author: Shava Cueva

Presented by: Rocio Carvajal Food anthropologist, culture & gastronomy educator.  

Episode 81

When Salvador packed his camera and got off to start a journey documenting traditional drinks of Mexico, he didn’t know that his life was about to change forever. This adventure became the beginning of a transformative experience for him and the many lives he has touched.

In this candid, honest and rich conversation, we discuss his motivations, the creative and personal process behind the making of his book “Beverages of Oaxaca”, social responsibility, the challenges of being a content creator, and he shares advice for those who want to pursue a similar path. 

Get the book: https://bebidasdeoaxaca.com/ 

Contact Shava:

• Podcast: Bebidas de México https://tinyurl.com/28mttv34 
• Instagram:  Bebidas de México https://www.instagram.com/bebidasdemexico/  +
• Salvador Cueva https://www.instagram.com/shavacueva/ 
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/shavaC 
• Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/yxsu2btq  
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bebidasdeoaxaca 
• Email: info@bebidasdeoaxaca.com 

Links mentioned on todays episode:

• Deep Mexico [Mexico Profundo] Reclaiming a Civilization by Guillermo Bonfil Batalla. https://amzn.to/3NJbUuR 
• Rene Redzepi’s: A Work in Progress. https://amzn.to/3xqUnAP  
• The Steal Like an Artist Journal: A Notebook for Creative Kleptomaniacs https://amzn.to/3tBopR7 
• Recetario tradicional sudcaliforniano (free) https://tinyurl.com/ycjap4g2 

We know how food writing has become fashionable, trivialised and even hyper-commercialised, but it is also true that technology has lowered the threshold of accessing tools of content creation and dissemination which has indeed enabled many voices that would otherwise be unheard to reach a global audience, from home cooks, activists, farmers, scholars and yes, even journalists, the diversity of voices has been a refreshing and much-needed change.

As I was reading a piece by Nicholas Gill called “Why Does Cuisine Need to Conquer?” (Highly recommended newsletter: New Worlder) I kept thinking about how predatory food content production has become, and which is our responsibility as critical consumers of such content. It thought about the uphill battle to raise awareness, debate and legislate about cultural extraction, reinforce indigenous intellectual property and a range of related urgent matters, is there a way to regulate non-academic research? What does cultural consent look like? …

A good example of this is the infamous presence of Rene Redzepi and his team in Yucatan and Quintana Roo before and during Noma’s pop-up in Tulum. On mainstream media, we only got to read about its raving success mainly bcause such opinions came from people in the food industry and food journalism, but have you ever wondered what locals, activists, academics and researchers think? If you are curious, this article might open your eyes: “Partaking in Culinary Heritage at Yaxunah, Yucatán during the 2017 Noma Mexico Pop‐Up” By Chelsea Fisher and Traci Ardren. 

Salvador (Shava) Cueva, a photographer turned documentarist, turned podcaster turned traditional beverages evangelist. I had long wanted to buy his book and get to know him and boy I was in for a treat, the book is a love letter to resilience and cultural pride, powerful, compelling, enticing, and honest. Shava is one of the most down-to-earth people I have come across in a long time, authentic and bold, but also incredibly humble and immensely talented. I hope that after listening to this episode, you feel inspired to dust off long-forgotten dreams and chase them.