Sefardí, cocinar la historia

Sephardic. Cooking history reflects, through culinary art, the traces of the heritage of a people persecuted by the Inquisition throughout the centuries. In her first book, Hélène Jawhara Piñer makes visible and sheds light on gastronomic customs and the Jewish influence on Spanish cuisine and, especially, on Andalusian cookbooks. Sephardic. Cooking history takes a leap into the past and accompanies the reader, through ingredients and preparations, on a journey to the origin of the diaspora in the Iberian Peninsula. The book is the result of an arduous research process in which the author has analyzed more than a thousand recipes to identify the dishes typical of Sephardic Jewish cuisine. From historical, literary and medical sources, Sephardic. Cooking history brings together a recipe book nourished by tradition and history that seeks to reflect, in the most faithful way possible, the dishes of the descendants of Jews who lived in Spain before the expulsion of 1492 and of those converts who were denounced before the Inquisition. Religion and cuisine, deeply linked, exposed many of the Sephardic Jews who continued to practice their faith in secret. The study of archives and documentary sources where their customs are revealed has allowed the origin of many current gastronomy recipes to be known today. Throughout ten chapters, the author also brings to the table the influence of Jewish cuisine on Spanish gastronomy, focusing on the use of ingredients such as vegetables or meat and, later, delving into recipes from the time. In this way Hélène Jawhara reveals the Sephardic legacy, an identity marked by anti-Semitism that also finds a social tool in the kitchen. The author concludes her first book with a very personal adaptation of various elaborations suitable for anyone who wants to put on their apron and get down to business.