Fourteenth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

The Nineteenth Century brought fierce nationalism and wars of independence on both sides of the Atlantic. One such battle persists, this one in the kitchen and at the table: Spain’s desire for gastronomic independence from France, which alas, is historically futile and absurd as the French have visited, lived, and worked in the Iberian Peninsula since the Middle Ages. The writer Emilia Pardo Bazán (1851-1921) wrote that “Los fogones y las letras no están reñidas,” a new idea at the end of the 19th century. Since then, we have come to realize that culinary practices are intertwined with all aspects of the culture and history of a nation, a region, or an epoch. Yet the opposite has happened in the case of French influence at the Spanish table: it is far less recognized and accepted now than it was in earlier centuries. The French say that their cuisine determined their history, yet in the case of Spain, what is served at the table is a consequence of the nation’s history. Many foreign influences at the Spanish table are recognized and accepted. The French influence remains a controversial exception. While noted in most Spanish cookbooks and other culinary documents of the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, it is often minimized or disregarded, especially in gastronomic texts written by Spaniards. This paper examines the historical interface between Spain and France and several Spanish dishes of French origin, to further elaborate on Spain’s irrational though fascinating war of culinary independence from France.