Komu śmierdzi tarkin? Jedzenie, liminalność i przynależność wśród Nubijczyków (Mahas) z Sudanu
Who Stinks of Tarkin? Food, Liminality and Belonging Among Nubians (Mahas) of Sudan

Summary/Abstract: The paper aims to discuss tarkin (meluha) – a dish made of fermented fish from Northern Sudan (former Nubia) – that can be locally conceptualised as a social boundary between Nubians of riverain Northern Sudan and the others. One of the popular Nubian proverbs says “If you don’t eat tarkin, you’re not a Nubian.” While for the Nubians preparing and eating tarkin is a matter of good taste, sophistication, generosity, traditionalism, and health; the other Sudanese or even Nubians living in the diaspora treat it rather with disgust. This regional Nubian cuisine is treated as a symbol of belonging and identity. The history of tarkin production and consumption in the “traditional” culture is traced, as well as the modern processes of heritagization and identity making. In this very contest the following questions are raised: how particular food can be transformed into heritage food? What conceptualisations and performances accompany it? And what do they really mean? Finally, what effect might this kind of liminal food have on the work of an ethnographer in the field? The paper is based on ethnographic experiences in Mahas region (Northern Sudan) in 2022.

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