Fundamentals

Fundamentals · Spanish cookbooks

Picadillo (Manuel M.ª Puga y Parga), La cocina práctica, 1905 (1908 edition)

Picadillo's book defends everyday Galician and Spanish food against the French cooking fashionable among the upper classes, and it stayed in print for decades.

Manuel María Puga y Parga (1874–1918), "Picadillo", was a jurist, journalist, gastronome and twice mayor of A Coruña. The first edition appeared in 1905 from Tipografía de El Noroeste in A Coruña, with a prologue by Emilia Pardo Bazán; the BNE scan used here is the 1908 edition. An 11th edition is recorded in 1944, and Hércules Ediciones reprinted it in 2004 together with Pardo Bazán's two cookbooks.

The facts about the author, the editions and the book's reception come from the cited sources. The examples quote or paraphrase the book's own text, the BNE scan of the 1908 edition, with the page from its "— N —" footers (roman numerals for the prologue). The six themes, their order and the placement of each concept under a theme are the agent's own placement; "own wording" marks a definition that no source sets.

Key ideas

Structure. Chapters run Caldos, Sopas, Salsas, Masas, Legumbres y hortalizas, Huevos, Pescados de mar y de río (curados y en conserva), Crustáceos y Mariscos, Aves, Caza de pluma y de pelo, Buey y vaca, Ternera, Cordero, Cerdo and Platos diversos, then a repostería section (Elviritas, Borrachuelos, Melindres, Mostachones).
Philosophy and tone. Deliberately modest: everyday cooking rather than elaborate dishes, which he called cooking "de a pie, o de Infantería". The voice is humorous, including jokes about his own weight.
Galician identity. The book defends popular Galician and Spanish food against French fashion. Named dishes include caldeirada, lacón con grelos, sardines and cachelos.
Key preparations. Broths, soups, sauces and doughs (masas) are the foundation; cured and preserved fish get their own treatment. The octopus section is famously only two paragraphs long.
Bacalao. His speciality; he had already published 36 maneras de guisar el bacalao (1901).
Fast days. Lenten and vigil cooking lives in separate books, not this one: Vigilia reservada (1912) and a Lenten collection of more than 100 meatless dishes.
Legacy. No. 6 in the Biblioteca Gallega de Autores en Castellano, a 1993 Galician translation of selected works (Xerais), and the 2004 Hércules reprint, which calls it one of the finest works of early 20th-century Galician food writing.

Body of knowledge

Book

La cocina práctica

Picadillo · A Coruña, 1905 · BNE scan of the 2nd edition, 1908

A practical Spanish cookbook by Manuel María Puga y Parga, "Picadillo", first printed in A Coruña in 1905 with a prologue by Emilia Pardo Bazán. It collects home recipes from broths to sweets and defends everyday Galician and Spanish food against the French cooking fashionable among the upper classes.

Illustrative example In the Preludio he promises no showpiece dishes: his are to be "completamente de á pié, ó de infantería" (p. 2).

Theme1

1 Author: Picadillo

cited sources · epilogue, p. 476

Manuel María Puga y Parga (1874–1918) wrote as "Picadillo". He was a jurist, a journalist, a gastronome and twice mayor of A Coruña. His voice is humorous, with jokes about his own weight, and bacalao was his speciality.

Illustrative example In the epilogue, José Pan de Soraluce introduces Picadillo as the learned cook who made a section of El Noroeste famous (epilogue, p. 476).

Concept1.1

1.1 A Coruña mayor, journalist

cited sources · epilogue, p. 476

Puga y Parga's public life: a jurist and journalist who was twice mayor of A Coruña. His cookery section in the A Coruña paper El Noroeste made the name Picadillo known.

Illustrative example The epilogue calls him "el cocinero sabio que ha hecho famosa una sección de El Noroeste" (p. 476).

Concept1.2

1.2 Humour and self-mockery

cited sources · book, p. 172

The book's voice is humorous, and the sources note jokes about his own weight. Recipes are often told as anecdotes, verses or jokes rather than as plain instructions.

Illustrative example Guiso de pulpo curado is one paragraph: plenty of oil, paprika and salt, and big scissors, "no muy aséptica", to cut the octopus as soon as it is cooked; then one, two or more reales, depending on the eater's appetite (p. 172).

Concept1.3

1.3 Bacalao specialist

cited sources · prologue, p. XI · book, p. 145

Salt cod (bacalao) was his speciality. He had already published 36 maneras de guisar el bacalao in 1901.

Illustrative example Pardo Bazán's prologue says this book follows his collection of the many ways to dress bacalao (p. XI). The chapter on cured sea fish opens by calling bacalao the most important of them and goes straight into Bacalao á la vizcaína (p. 145).

Theme2

2 Context and prologue

cited sources · title page and colophon

The first edition appeared in 1905 from Tipografía de El Noroeste in A Coruña, with a prologue by Emilia Pardo Bazán; the BNE scan used here is the 1908 edition. The book sets everyday Galician and Spanish food against the French cooking fashionable among the upper classes.

Illustrative example The 1908 title page reads "Segunda edición, corregida y aumentada", and the colophon says it was printed at the Tipografía de El Noroeste on 26 May 1908.

Concept2.1

2.1 Prologue by Pardo Bazán

Pardo Bazán, prologue, p. XI–XII

Emilia Pardo Bazán wrote the prologue. She presents Picadillo as a cook of classic, traditional, local food.

Illustrative example She calls his cooking "clásica, tradicional", the old cooking of Marineda (A Coruña), and hopes he will next write a Cocina Regional Gallega of popular recipes from the four provinces (p. XI–XII).

Concept2.2

2.2 El Noroeste, A Coruña

book, prologue and colophon

El Noroeste was the A Coruña newspaper where Picadillo wrote and whose press, the Tipografía de El Noroeste, printed the book in 1905 and again in 1908.

Illustrative example Pardo Bazán opens her prologue with a few lines on El Noroeste, which she credits for her writing a prologue to a cookbook at all (prologue, opening page).

Concept2.3

2.3 Reaction to French fashion

book, Preludio, p. 2 · prologue, p. XI

The book rejects the showy French-style dishes of fashionable tables in favour of practical home cooking that any cook can make.

Illustrative example In the Preludio he promises no "platos montados", only dishes "de á pié, ó de infantería", and says he does not want the book adapted to French, English or Russian cooking (p. 2). Pardo Bazán adds that the "monotonía horrible de la cocina francesa" of the inns is banished from it (p. XI).

Theme3

3 Structure

cited sources · book, index

Chapters run Caldos, Sopas, Salsas, Masas, Legumbres y hortalizas, Huevos, Pescados de mar y de río (curados y en conserva), Crustáceos y Mariscos, Aves, Caza de pluma y de pelo, Buey y vaca, Ternera, Cordero, Cerdo and Platos diversos, then a repostería section (Elviritas, Borrachuelos, Melindres, Mostachones).

Illustrative example The index closes with its own list headed "Repostería y confitería", from Albaricoques rellenos onwards.

Concept3.1

3.1 Caldos, sopas, salsas, masas

cited sources · book, p. 15 and p. 29

Broths, soups, sauces and doughs (masas) are the foundation chapters that open the book; later dishes draw on them.

Illustrative example Caldo gallego is white beans, potatoes, greens and unto boiled in a pote (p. 15); Salsa mayonesa is three yolks beaten with oil added little by little, finished with lemon and salt (p. 29).

Concept3.2

3.2 Fish, shellfish, meats

cited sources · book, p. 145 and p. 172

The middle of the book runs through sea and river fish, cured and preserved fish, crustaceans and shellfish, poultry, game and the meats. Cured and preserved fish get their own treatment, and the octopus section is famously only two paragraphs long.

Illustrative example The section on cured sea fish announces bacalao, congrio and pulpo curado, herrings and sardinas de tabal (p. 145); cured octopus gets a short note and the one-paragraph Guiso de pulpo curado (p. 172).

Concept3.3

3.3 Repostería section

cited sources · book, p. 408, p. 438, p. 450

Sweets and confectionery close the book: biscuits, small cakes and creams such as elviritas, borrachuelos, melindres and mostachones.

Illustrative example Melindres are fifteen yolks and three whole eggs with sugar, salt and aniseed, then flour and almond paste (p. 408); Mostachones are eggs, sugar, flour and cinnamon baked as small cakes (p. 438); Elviritas de crema are told as a mock telegram (p. 450).

Theme4

4 Galician identity

cited sources · book, p. 94

The book defends popular Galician and Spanish food against French fashion. The sources name caldeirada, lacón con grelos, sardines and cachelos among its dishes.

Illustrative example Filloas are introduced under the heading "Costumbres gallegas" with a Carnival-night story at the house of Peres d'a Gualada (p. 94).

Concept4.1

4.1 Caldeirada, lacón con grelos

cited sources · book, p. 365

Two Galician one-pot dishes named in the sources: caldeirada (a fish stew) and lacón con grelos (cured pork shoulder boiled with turnip greens). The transcribed 1908 text has a lacón con grelos recipe but no caldeirada recipe.

Illustrative example Lacón con grelos runs by the clock: the lacón goes in at nine, the grelos and chorizos at eleven, the potatoes at twelve, and all is served at one, with bottles of "vino del Ribero" on the table (p. 365).

Concept4.2

4.2 Sardines and bacalao

book, p. 112 and p. 116

Fish of the Galician coast and fish salted for the market: fresh sardines in season and dried salt cod, each with many preparations.

Illustrative example Sardinas asadas are best from July to October, when the sardine is in season (p. 112); Sardinas en empanada is "una de las formas en que están mejor las sardinas" (p. 116).

Concept4.3

4.3 Cachelos, grelos

book, p. 38 and p. 15

Cachelos are Galician potatoes boiled in their skins; grelos are turnip tops, the greens of the Galician pot. Both stand for plain regional food.

Illustrative example Cachelos are a "plato puramente regional, enxebre", made to be eaten to the sound of the bagpipe with fresh sardines (p. 38); grelos are among the greens of the Caldo gallego (p. 15).

Theme5

5 Fast-day cooking

cited sources · book, p. 17 and p. 24

Lenten and vigil cooking lives in separate books, not this one: Vigilia reservada (1912) and a Lenten collection of more than 100 meatless dishes. The 1908 text still has a short "Sopas de vigilia" section and a few Lenten dishes.

Illustrative example Potaje López Companioni is written so that Lent does not end before the promised potaje appears (p. 24).

Concept5.1

5.1 Vigilia reservada (1912)

Valencia Plaza · book, p. 17

A later book of vigil (meatless) cooking, published in 1912, separate from La cocina práctica.

Illustrative example The 1908 book already has a small "Sopas de vigilia" section, opening with Sopas de ajo: thin slices of bread cooked in salted water, with garlic fried in oil (p. 17).

Concept5.2

5.2 Lenten book, 100+ dishes

cited sources · book, p. 24

A separate Lenten collection of more than 100 meatless dishes. This book itself has only a few fast-day dishes.

Illustrative example Potaje López Companioni, dedicated to a friend, is promised for "el día clásico" when the Church orders such mixtures of pulses (p. 24).

Concept5.3

5.3 Bacalao con garbanzos

own wording · book, p. 24 and p. 147

Salt cod cooked with chickpeas, a pairing that recurs in his fast-day potaje and his bacalao dishes.

Illustrative example Bacalao á la calesera simmers desalted Norwegian cod with onions and a quarter kilo of chickpeas, then adds raisins, thick macaroni and raw oil (p. 147); the Potaje López Companioni uses equal weights of beans, lentils, chickpeas and bacalao (p. 24).

Theme6

6 Legacy

cited sources · title page

An 11th edition is recorded in 1944. The book is no. 6 in the Biblioteca Gallega de Autores en Castellano, selected works appeared in a 1993 Galician translation (Xerais), and Hércules Ediciones reprinted it in 2004 together with Pardo Bazán's two cookbooks, calling it one of the finest works of early 20th-century Galician food writing.

Illustrative example Within three years of the first edition, the 1908 printing already calls itself the second edition, "corregida y aumentada".

Concept6.1

6.1 11th edition by 1944

cited sources · title page and colophon

The book kept being reprinted: an 11th edition is recorded in 1944.

Illustrative example The BNE scan is the "Segunda edición, corregida y aumentada" of 1908, printed at the Tipografía de El Noroeste on 26 May 1908 (title page and colophon).

Concept6.2

6.2 1993 Galician translation

cited sources · book, p. 15

In 1993 Xerais published a Galician translation of selected works by Picadillo.

Illustrative example Galician is already in the Castilian text: the Caldo gallego quotes market sellers ("duas n'unha perra") and the proverb "Alegría, alegróte, que anda o rabo do cocho no pote" (p. 15).

Concept6.3

6.3 2004 Hércules reprint

Hércules Ediciones · prologue, p. XI

Hércules Ediciones reprinted the book in 2004 in one volume with Emilia Pardo Bazán's two cookbooks.

Illustrative example The pairing was there from the start: Pardo Bazán's prologue places Picadillo after Ángel Muro and the marqués de la Regalía as a cook who joins practice to doctrine (p. XI).

Concept map

The six themes, their order and the three concepts drawn under each are the agent's own placement. The concepts follow the book page's earlier concept map; the pages in the term tree point to the passages used as examples above.

Term tree

BOOKLa cocina prácticaPicadillo · 1905 · BNE scan of the 1908 edition
- THEMEpart ofAuthor: Picadillocited sources · epilogue, p. 476
  - CONCEPTpart ofA Coruña mayor, journalistcited sources · epilogue, p. 476
  - CONCEPTpart ofHumour and self-mockerycited sources · book, p. 172
  - CONCEPTpart ofBacalao specialistcited sources · prologue, p. XI · book, p. 145
- THEMEpart ofContext and prologuecited sources · title page and colophon
  - CONCEPTpart ofPrologue by Pardo BazánPardo Bazán, prologue, p. XI–XII
  - CONCEPTpart ofEl Noroeste, A Coruñabook, prologue and colophon
  - CONCEPTpart ofReaction to French fashionbook, Preludio, p. 2 · prologue, p. XI
- THEMEpart ofStructurecited sources · book, index
  - CONCEPTpart ofCaldos, sopas, salsas, masascited sources · book, p. 15 and p. 29
  - CONCEPTpart ofFish, shellfish, meatscited sources · book, p. 145 and p. 172
  - CONCEPTpart ofRepostería sectioncited sources · book, p. 408, p. 438, p. 450
- THEMEpart ofGalician identitycited sources · book, p. 94
  - CONCEPTpart ofCaldeirada, lacón con greloscited sources · book, p. 365
  - CONCEPTpart ofSardines and bacalaobook, p. 112 and p. 116
  - CONCEPTpart ofCachelos, grelosbook, p. 38 and p. 15
- THEMEpart ofFast-day cookingcited sources · book, p. 17 and p. 24
  - CONCEPTpart ofVigilia reservada (1912)Valencia Plaza · book, p. 17
  - CONCEPTpart ofLenten book, 100+ dishescited sources · book, p. 24
  - CONCEPTpart ofBacalao con garbanzosown wording · book, p. 24 and p. 147
- THEMEpart ofLegacycited sources · title page
  - CONCEPTpart of11th edition by 1944cited sources · title page and colophon
  - CONCEPTpart of1993 Galician translationcited sources · book, p. 15
  - CONCEPTpart of2004 Hércules reprintHércules Ediciones · prologue, p. XI