6 Things You Might Not Know About Monastic Cuisine

Seasonal, local ingredients; cuisine that adjusts to seasonal variations through the year. These concepts that are now coming back into fashion were the premise of the cuisine developed in convents and monasteries. They all had a kitchen garden, albeit some larger than others, and some animals. The main purpose of these was to provide food for the community, following the policy of self-sufficiency of the Middle Ages. They also used ingredients they received as gifts, in order to make their jellies and confectionery.

Religious orders have had the ability and opportunity to preserve vegetable species in their gardens throughout the centuries. They have conducted research in agriculture and wine production, and have shared and exchanged the best seeds. For example, nuns were able to collect recipes for, and traditions surrounding, confectionery. This was enhanced by their contact with locals, and the various cultures that have settled in the Iberian Peninsula. There were also many exchanges between convents, of both resources and members.

It was the religious members of the expeditions who were most interested in transporting and introducing American ingredients into Spanish cuisine, which would later reach the rest of Europe. Some of these ingredients and products, such as chocolate, are essential parts of the gastronomical spectrum today, and without them Spanish cuisine would be almost unrecognizable.