Eating Spain: National Cuisine Since 1900

236 Pages·2017·2.49 MB·English

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Theses and Dissertations--Hispanic Studies Hispanic Studies
2015
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Matthew J. Wild
University of Kentucky, [email protected]
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Wild, Matthew J., "Eating Spain: National Cuisine Since 1900" (2015). Theses and Dissertations--Hispanic
Studies. 24.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/hisp_etds/24
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Matthew J. Wild, Student
Dr. Susan Larson, Major Professor
Dr. Moisés Castillo, Director of Graduate Studies
Eating Spain: National Cuisine Since 1900
DISSERTATION
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the
College of Arts and Sciences
at the University of Kentucky
By
Matthew J. Wild
Lexington, Kentucky
Director: Dr. Susan Larson, Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies
Lexington, Kentucky
2015
Copyright © Matthew J. Wild 2015
ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION
Eating Spain: National Cuisine Since 1900
Analyzing cookbooks, gastronomic guides, literature and film, this dissertation
outlines the creation of a Spanish national cuisine. Studying the works of Carmen de
Burgos, Emilia Pardo Bazán, Dionisio Pérez, Ana María Herrera, Juan Mari Arzak and
Ferrán Adrià among others, the project examines the evolution of this nationalist
discourse by identifying common and recurring themes in an effort to extrapolate and
describe the historical and cultural evolution of food from 1900 to the present day.
Within the framework of Food and Cultural Studies, this project treats
cookbooks, culinary manifestos and guidebooks as texts. Influenced by a variety of
culinary and gastronomic of critics such as Roland Barthes, Arjun Appadurai, Benedict
Anderson, Stanley Mintz and others, this dissertation analyzes nationalism through the
perspective of gastronomy as a cultural practice that contributes to individual and
collective identity building.
This dissertation concludes that Spanish national cuisine has been defined as a
unique, pluralistic blend of regional cuisines since the early twentieth century. While
early authors such as Pardo Bazán admit to heavy French influence and the centralized
hegemony of Madrid due to its privileged status as economic and political capital of
Spain, most subsequent authors acknowledge that Spanish national cuisine is a
construction of various regional influences and by the 1960s, this regional view of
national cuisine is universally accepted. Shaped during the twentieth century by civil
war, Francoism and globalization, Spanish cuisine today continues to be a blend of
regional cuisines that mutually influence each other while also exhibiting the effects of
a globalized world by incorporating non-Spanish ingredients and techniques into
nationally accepted dishes.
KEYWORDS: Spain, National Cuisine, Food Studies, El Bulli, Michelin
Student’s Signature
12/3/2015
Date
EATING SPAIN: NATIONAL CUISINE SINCE 1900
By
Matthew J. Wild
Dr. Susan Larson
Director of Dissertation
Dr. Moisés R. Castillo
Director of Graduate Studies
12/3/2015
To Alex, Mom, Dad and Kristin
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Dr. Susan Larson for her guidance on this project and
throughout my time at Kentucky. Her help has been invaluable in my professional
development. I would also like to extend my gratitude to my committee members, Dr.
Kimberly Miller-Spillman and Dr. Matt Losada for their helpful reviews and corrections.
I would also like to thank Dr. Rebecca Ingram for her participation in this project and for
her Spanish Food Studies experience that she has shared. I also extend my thanks to my
outside member, Dr. Lance Brunner. Thank you to both Suzanne Dunnai and Alison
Atkins who graciously shared their work with me.
I would like to thank the University of Kentucky Department of Hispanic Studies
for their generous funding and travel grants as well as the Target Corporation in
conjunction with the Department of Retailing and Tourism Management at the University
of Kentucky for their scholarship.
Thank you Alex for your support over these last five years. Thank you to my
family for giving me lifelong support in everything.
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements........................................................................................................ iii
List of Figures................................................................................................................. vi
Chapter One: Eating Spain: National Cuisine in the Twentieth Century....................... 1
Preface................................................................................................................. 1
Theoretical Framework and Literature Review................................................. 5
Food Studies and Literature, Linguistics and Geography................................. 14
The Current Project............................................................................................ 17
Chapter Two: The Spanish Foodscape.......................................................................... 21
What is Spanish Cuisine? A History................................................................. 21
The Cookbook and Gastronomic Writing in Spain........................................... 29
The Next Course................................................................................................ 46
Chapter Three: Austerity, Autarky and Hunger in Postwar Spain, 1939-1955............. 48
Hunger, Scarcity and the War........................................................................... 61
Wartime Cookbook Production........................................................................ 64
Cooking up the Shortage.................................................................................. 66
Menús de guerra: Writing the War Experience............................................... 74
The Official View.......................... .................................................................. 82
“Nanas de la cebolla” Onion Lullabies............................................................. 85
The Next Course............................................................................................... 92
Chapter Four:
Modernity in Spain: Gastronomic Technology and Tourism, 1955-1975................... 95
Official Regional Views................................................................................... 95
Under Pressure............................................................................................... 101
Pressure Cooker History................................................................................ 102
In Spain.......................................................................................................... 104
Tourism Boom................................................................................................ 114
Eating Spain.................................................................................................... 117
The Next Course............................................................................................. 125
Chapter Five: Eros in the Kitchen: Sexual Culinary Liberation in Post-Franco Spain,
1975-1980.................................................................................................................... 127
Consuming Sex................................................................................................ 127
Sex Cookbooks: A New Genre?...................................................................... 131
Eating for Healthy Mind, Body and Soul........................................................ 135
iv
Sexual Politics................................................................................................. 139
Sexual Eating.................................................................................................. 144
Eating Nationally............................................................................................ 146
The Next Course............................................................................................. 148
Chapter Six:
The Alta Cocina Revolution: Spanish Michelin Cuisine, 1980-2014........................ 150
Vázquez Montalbán’s Culinary Nationalism................................................. 150
Spanish Alta Cocina........................... ........................................................... 151
El Bulli and the Redefinition of the Cookbook.............................................. 159
Spain: A Michelin Analysis........................................................................... 182
The Michelin Guide....................................................................................... 183
Michelin Stars and Urbanity.......................................................................... 187
Spanish Gastronomic Urbanity...................................................................... 190
Spanish Michelin Foodscape......................................................................... 191
The Next Course............................................................................................ 201
Conclusion: Economic Crisis in Food and Spanish National Cuisine...................... 203
Eating the Crisis............................................................................................ 204
Bibliography.............................................................................................................. 212
Vita............................................................................................................................ 224
v