By Real Academia de Gastronomía
Los Recetarios
Dolores Martín de Rolo's recipe book (1912) by Dolores Martín de Rolo and three further generations of womenOriginal Source: Los Recetarios
An old recipe book can be read through the lens of gastronomy, history, anthropology, economics, or linguistics. But, above all, it should be read with feeling and gratitude.
To preserve a recipe is to uphold the legacy of someone who believed that cooking was not only about nourishment, but also enjoyment. Cooking was a basic, daily necessity, but it was also a pleasure, refined through repeated trial and error in people's homes.
This notebook was started on August 24, 1912.
Dolores (Lola) Martín de Rolo started her recipe book just one day before giving birth to her first and only daughter, Olympia, who went on to continue her mother's mission as an adult.
Cooking recipes.
Later, Lola's granddaughter inherited her grandmother's profession as a teacher, as well as her love of cooking and her handwriting.
Stuffed meat.
The recipes from these three women reflect the diversity of Garachico, a port town on Tenerife in the Canary Islands. It is a place influenced by the many nationalities that have landed there, including Italians from Florence and Genoa; Spaniards from the Basque Country, Catalonia, and Cádiz; and even some English settlers.
Egg soup.
Four years ago, the chef Omar Páez discovered the recipe book that his great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother created, which is now over a hundred years old. From that point on, the notebook became the focus of his own culinary revolution.
Discover more cookbooks in this exhibition created by Los Recetarios, a touring and collaborative digital initiative bringing together handwritten and typed recipe books.
This notebook is part of the Los Recetarios (Cookbooks) project: a digital repository giving recognition and a voice to those who—without realizing it—helped to build and impart their country's gastronomical culture from the intimacy of their kitchen table. It was started in 2019 by four gastronomes: Ana Vega, Carmen Alcaraz del Blanco, Helena Vaello, and Gabriela Lendo.
This exhibition is part of the Spanish gastronomy project, España: Cocina Abierta (Spain: Open Kitchen), coordinated by Google Arts & Culture and Spain's Royal Academy of Gastronomy (Real Academia de la Gastronomía). The section on culinary legacy was coordinated by María Llamas, director of the Alambique cookery store and school.
Acknowledgements
Lourdes Plana Bellido, president of the Royal Academy of Gastronomy; Elena Rodríguez, director of the Royal Academy of Gastronomy and Carmen Simón, academic of the Royal Academy of Gastronomy.
www.realacademiadegastronomia.com
www.alambique.com
