This article reviews the methodological proposal of the research "Inventory of products and patrimonial preparations of the region of Coquimbo". This exploratory and multidisciplinary research is part of a set of inventories promoted by the Foundation for Agrarian Innovation (FIA), which seeks to identify and register patrimonial foods and preparations throughout Chile. Its main objective is to have a culinary cadastre that will serve to know, value and set the memory of the communities regarding their food culture, as a foundation to strengthen gastronomic tourism and enable new entrepreneurship or to enhance existing ones related to the cycle of production, preparation and consumption of these products.The methodological review developed below seeks from a qualitative research approach, to highlight the role of people and their culture in the production of culinary heritage objects and knowledge. It focuses on the difficulties and tensions of this type of research in terms of operationalizing and putting into practice the rescue of what UNESCO has called "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity", through the combination of social sciences and the sciences of nature.