A Drizzle of Honey : The Lives and Recipes of Spain's Secret Jews

by David M. Gitlitz, Linda Kay Davidson

When tens of thousands of Iberian Jews were converted to Catholicism under duress during the Inquisition, many rapidly assimilated to their new religious culture. Others, the crypto-Jews, struggled to retain their Jewish identity in private while projecting Christian conformity in the public sphere. In order to root out these "heretics," the courts of the Inquisition published checklists of Jewish household habits and koshering practices and grilled the servants, neighbors, and even the children of those suspected of practicing their religion at home.

From these testimonies and other primary sources, Gitlitz and Davidson have drawn a fascinating picture of the secret culinary life of the crypto-Jews and the customs and foods that threatened their existence while securing their precarious sense of identity. From nearly a hundred specific references to Sephardic cuisine, the authors have recreated these recipes. They combine Christian and Islamic traditions in cooking lamb, beef, fish, eggplants, chickpeas, and greens and use seasonings such as saffron, mace, ginger, and cinnamon. These recipes, with accompanying text that tells the stories of their creators, promise to delight the adventurous palate and give insights into the foundations of modern Sephardic cuisine.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, History, Judaism, Nonfiction, Judaica

332 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Lupine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spain, history & food. It hits the trifecta of things I love.

[Leanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A friend recommended this book to me, and I am so glad he did. Having a conversation about the Spanish Inquisition, we were talking about how different it was in that country than to what we know of the Papal Inquisition; in that in Spain, the Inquisition was very much focused on cultural hegemony and political consolidation--much less about religious dogma. After 700 years of Muslim rule in most of Spain, in order to get a firm gripe on power, Queen Isabella --Isabel la Católica-- married the king of Aragon, thereby uniting the two most powerful Christian kingdoms and together with her husband, she then sought to gain total control of the peninsula. Part of this project included the horrendous 1492 Expulsion of the Jews. The Jewish population was given a choice: leave or convert. Those who converted, however, were then constantly harassed by Isabella and the Inquisition. Called conversos, the "New Christians" were suspected of all manner of things that put Christians at risk. Conversos who were Christian on the outside but still practicing Jews in the home were a main target of the Inquisition as cultural hegemony under one church was a top priority for the evil Isabella. And one of the main ways these secret practices were thought to be knowable was through diet and practices surrounding the sabbath meal. It is a depressing history and the result was catastrophic for the population that became known as Sephardic Jews.

This fascinating cookbook is a collection of recipes found in Inquisition documents used to prosecute (persecute) those suspected of "secret Judaizing..." The main impression of the recipes themselves look like typical medieval recipes... there is a lot of fowl, eggs and some fish; lots of cinnamon and other spices. It is simple fare. Harmless stews and lots of chickpeas. The main points of contention were no pork, a kosher kitchen.. and ... what else could there have been? Any excuse was used.

"Did the suspect put down a white tablecloth and light candles?"
"Did they avoid pork?"
"Did they create sabbath stews?"

The story of Beatriz Nunoz is described at the start. Hauled in after she and her husband had converted but there were witnessed who said she kept a kosher kitchen. This was spring 1485. One of the particulars found in the documents claimed that their maid mentioned a Sabbath stew made of lamb, chickpeas and hard-boiled eggs. Sounds innocuous, right? Well the Guadeloupe Inquisition found her guilty and she was burned later that same year.

[Kitchengrrl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't made any of the recipes in this book, and most of them don't really appeal to me, but as a history book this was absolutely fascinating. It gave a whole new level of insight to me about th Spanish Inquisition and the lives of Spain's medieval Jews.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Half history book - half cookbook - this book is filled with vignettes about conversos/crypto-Jews in medieval Spain, Portugal and Spanish-American territories. It took me a long time because I could read two or three pages and put it aside - there isn’t really continuity from one section to the next. The recipes are also not, in many cases, a perfect representation of the foods eaten by these Jews, although it’s fascinating that their recipes were used as evidence in Inquisition trials.

The book was published in 2000 and it shows; today, we would make many of these recipes differently. The flavor combinations are unfamiliar and a little strange; there is far more sugar than commonly used today; and there are herb/spice quantities that seem shocking - like a meat recipe with a teaspoon of ground cloves. I would like to play with the recipes and find a few to try… with modifications!

[Karen Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good text, combines history and receipts together. Enjoyed it.

[Hélène Jawhara · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book. Deeply researched. All that I love. My friend David really did a super great job, as usual.

[Rebecca Huston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compiled from the records of the Spanish Inquisition, this is much more than just a cookbook. The stories of Spanish Marranos (secret Jews) are given here, along with their recipes and customs, in a book that is both delicious (with the food) and haunting (for the stories) inside. Very much recommended.

For the complete review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/content_22418...

[Susan Cosden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes it is a cookbook but it is so much more. For anyone interested in Anussim and Conversos this book was fascinating both in terms of the Inquisition records and how the author created some of these recipes.

[Eric Hines]

food & cooking

[SDAntoNia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a sad but excellent and well researched book on Converso food and Inquisition use of culture to find and prosecute crypto-Jews.

[Antonio Aguado]

It is like entering a time machine: you connect to a bygone era and a cultural relic. The recipes are easy to follow and using them is an adventure in itself.