The Gastronomical Arts in Spain: Food and Etiquette

by Frederick A. de Armas (Editor), James Mandrell (Editor)

Overview

The Gastronomical Arts in Spain includes essays that span from the medieval to the contemporary world, providing a taste of the many ways in which the art of gastronomy developed in Spain over time. This collection encompasses a series of cultural objects and a number of interests, ranging from medicine to science, from meals to banquets, and from specific recipes to cookbooks.

The contributors consider Spanish cuisine as presented in a variety of texts, including literature, medical and dietary prescriptions, historical documents, cookbooks, and periodicals. They draw on literary texts in their socio-historical context in order to explore concerns related to the production and consumption of food for reasons of hunger, sustenance, health, and even gluttony.

Structured into three distinct "courses" that focus on the history of foodstuffs, food etiquette, and culinary fashion, The Gastronomical Arts in Spain brings together the many sights and sounds of the Spanish kitchen throughout the centuries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781487540524
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press
Publication date:	04/12/2022
Series:	Toronto Iberic
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.25(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.75(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Frederick A. de Armas is Robert O. Anderson Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago..
James Mandrell is an associate professor in the Department of Romance Studies at Brandeis University.

Table of Contents

Introduction

First Course: Foodstuffs

1. Divine Food: Making and Tasting Honey in the Cantigas de Santa Maria
Ryan Giles

2. European Perspectives on the Olla Podrida and Other Early Modern Spanish Fare
Carolyn Nadeau

3. The Politics of the Origins of Maize
John Slater

Second Course: What to Eat and How

4. Dietetic Prescriptions for the Ruling Elite of the Kingdom of Navarra during the First Half of the Sixteenth Century: The Cases of Juan Rena and Juan de Alarcón
Fernando Serrano Larráyoz

5. Etiquette on the Stage: Spanish Renaissance Theatre and the History of Manners
Julio Vélez-Sainz

6. Celestial and Transgressive Banquets in the Theatre of the Spanish Golden Age
Frederick A. de Armas

Third Course: Modern Appetites and Culinary Fashions

7. Extravagant Appetites, Hunger, and Identity: Food in Bourbon Spain
James Mandrell

8. The Representation of Gastronomy and Urbanity in the Journalistic Articles of Mariano José de Larra (1808–1837): Analysis of a Modern Perspective
Íñigo Sánchez-Llama

9. The Meaning of Meals in Galdós’s El amigo Manso
Dorota Heneghan

10. The Palate of Memory: Gastronomy and Cultural Criticism in Manuel Vásquez Montalbán
José Colmeiro

Contributors

What People are Saying About This

Lou Charnon-Deutsch

"What a welcome smorgasbord of essays on food that de Armas and Mandrell have assembled for us, a veritable 'textual banquet of sense' as they put it in their introduction. Spanning from medieval to contemporary periods, its overview of the art of gastronomy in Spain offers a well-curated tasting of the many ways the subject of food has formed a key element in Spanish culture. Food metaphors aside, the essays here cover a wide diversity of disciplines offering an excellent collection of studies that further our understanding of a very complex and important subject."

Elizabeth Amann

"Spanish gastronomy is a complex amalgam of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish traditions and of European and New World influences. The Gastronomical Arts in Spain captures this rich diversity through a series of insightful and fascinating essays that span from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. In the process, it reveals the many surprising ways in which food, recipes, and table etiquette intersect with history, politics, culture, literature, and identity. The result is a true feast for Hispanists and food lovers alike."

Steven Wagschal

"For the hungry reader, this book is a veritable feast for the mind, with an engaging introduction on the history of gastronomy and food studies followed by ten well-researched and often brilliant essays on diverse aspects of food in history and literary and cultural studies of the Iberian Peninsula. From the medieval to the contemporary, in analyses of poetry, theatre, treatises, and other genres, these studies feed the reader a diverse and fascinating diet of topics and approaches."

Editorial Reviews

"This is an excellent collection of essays that helps us to put together a story about the nature and function of Spanish gastronomy from the medieval period to present-day Spain. The focus is broad yet the chapters are of great interest."

—Lara Anderson, University of Melbourne, Bulletin of Spanish Studies

"For the hungry reader, this book is a veritable feast for the mind, with an engaging introduction on the history of gastronomy and food studies followed by ten well-researched and often brilliant essays on diverse aspects of food in history and literary and cultural studies of the Iberian Peninsula. From the medieval to the contemporary, in analyses of poetry, theatre, treatises, and other genres, these studies feed the reader a diverse and fascinating diet of topics and approaches."

—Steven Wagschal, Professor of Spanish, Indiana University Bloomington

"Spanish gastronomy is a complex amalgam of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish traditions and of European and New World influences. The Gastronomical Arts in Spain captures this rich diversity through a series of insightful and fascinating essays that span from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. In the process, it reveals the many surprising ways in which food, recipes, and table etiquette intersect with history, politics, culture, literature, and identity. The result is a true feast for Hispanists and food lovers alike."

—Elizabeth Amann, Professor of Literary Studies, Ghent University

"What a welcome smorgasbord of essays on food that de Armas and Mandrell have assembled for us, a veritable ‘textual banquet of sense’ as they put it in their introduction. Spanning from medieval to contemporary periods, its overview of the art of gastronomy in Spain offers a well-curated tasting of the many ways the subject of food has formed a key element in Spanish culture. Food metaphors aside, the essays here cover a wide diversity of disciplines offering an excellent collection of studies that further our understanding of a very complex and important subject."

—Lou Charnon-Deutsch, Professor Emeritus of Hispanic Languages and Literature, Stony Brook University

From the Publisher

"This is an excellent collection of essays that helps us to put together a story about the nature and function of Spanish gastronomy from the medieval period to present-day Spain. The focus is broad yet the chapters are of great interest."

Bulletin of Spanish Studies - Lara Anderson