Gastrohistories
In 1900 the chefs Ignacio Doménech and Rafael Bassó published a manual with classic Spanish Christmas dishes of which no copy is known
It has always struck me that, despite the gastronomic revelry with which we Spaniards celebrate Christmas, there are hardly any cookbooks dedicated exclusively to Christmas delicacies. It will not be for lack of culinary repertoire. Only with the typical sweets that are made in Spain for these holidays we could fill hundreds of pages, and that without counting the salty recipes (thistle, red cabbage, San Esteban cannelloni, suckling pig, stuffed turkey, snails …) that traditionally brighten up Christmas tables in each region of the country.
If you insist on looking for ad hoc cookbooks you will be able to find ‘The book of Christmas sweets’ (Montagud, 2007), ‘Christmas dishes’ (José Garzón for ‘Biscayan themes’, 1997) or ‘Christmas recipes’ (Everest, 1998). The booklet ‘Christmas Kitchen’ that in the 70s was released by the Sarpe publishing house within its collection ‘Eating well’ and even a somewhat older one, with the same title, published in Zaragoza by the Women’s Youth of Catholic Action. Little more.
Unfortunately we have lost the only recipe book that described what Christmas food was like 120 years ago, a practically unknown little work that did go on sale but of which no copy is currently known. I’m talking about ‘The Gastronomy at Christmas’, a publication that appeared in November 1900 and that
according to the ad appeared in the newspapers ‘El Imparcial’ Y
‘The Liberal’ It was a “collection of easy-to-use recipes for kitchen dishes and desserts that are made on these days of the year.” The price, 50 cents, and the sale was supposedly “in all the newsstands in Spain.”
Advertisement for ‘The Gastronomy at Christmas’ in ‘El Imparcial’, November 26, 1900. /
This cookbook was the work of the cooks
Ignacio Doménech (who would become one of the most important Spanish chefs of the 20th century) and Rafael Bassó. The first had just published his first book (‘La Gastronomía’, 1899) and had already been responsible for the kitchens of the British embassy in Madrid, the Marquis of Argüelles or the president of the Council of Ministers, while the second had the position of head of kitchen of the Dukes of Calabria, that is to say, of Alfonso XIII’s sister the Infanta María de las Mercedes and of her husband Prince Carlos de Borbón-Dos Sicilias. Both Doménech and Bassó were experienced cooks, employed in prestigious positions and with a great ascendancy within their profession. It is strange that no copy of his Christmas booklet has survived or that, if it has, it has not been disclosed, since especially Mr. Doménech has been the subject of many studies and in the list of his works there is never mentioned ‘La Gastronomy at Christmas’.
Exist, existed. The newspaper ‘La Atalaya’ of Santander (city in which Rafael Bassó worked at the time) dedicated a
short text on November 29, 1900 saying that “a magazine had appeared in Madrid, of which only one issue will appear, dedicated exclusively to the recipes of the typical Spanish dishes that are most consumed on the days of Christmas Eve, Christmas and Three Kings.” The Santander newspaper did us the favor of listing the recipes included in the missing booklet, so that we at least get an idea of its content: «Christmas Eve soup, rotten pot Spanish style, Spanish consommé, Navarrese Canaan soup, Special almond milk, almond soup, nest eggs, roast poultry, Queen Victoria pigeons, Catalan-style stuffed turkey, Madrid-style birds, queen-roasted hare, roast suckling pig, Christmas cake, freyesuelos, Sevillian fritters, fiyuelas Asturian, Spanish sea bream, Extremadura style migas, Asturian formigos or migas, sandwiches, canapés and slices of bread, almond milk flan, custard cream, Andalusian, Antequera and Astorga ice cream, torrrijas a la Buenaventura, apple jam, Aurora sorbet, Catalan ice cream and fondant sugar ». Hopefully one day we find a copy.
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