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- Title:
- Spanish Cooking In Manila
- Description:
- Morga wrote that most Spaniards lived in Intramuros Manila. By 1595-1603 while he was there, very few of the original conquerors who had arrived with Miguel Lopez de LEGASPI in 1565 to begin settling for Spain, were still alive. He documents chickens being eaten by natives and settlers. Food was always a challenge. What his book doesn’t include are documents from the Audencia where he worked requiring in 1598 that the city contract 19 riflemen-hunters to provide at least 1 buffalo for sale daily at the public slaughterhouse. Neither does he reveal that Chinese and Filipinos were required to raise chicken and swine under penalty of fine. The animals would form part of the settlers diet. Specified nearby towns were required to bring to Intramuros weekly 300 laying hens, a number of swine considered proper, as well as 2,000 eggs. The foods were not reimbursed by currency or barter goods. They were contributed in theory for the protection and organised governance the foreigners were providing. How were the eggs cooked? Perhaps the painting by the Spanish genius Diego Velazquez (1599-1660) gives a hint. It is titled Old Woman Cooking Eggs. The on-going debate: Was she poaching or frying them?
- Subjects:
- Chicken Swine Eggs
- Exhibition:
- Antonio Morga 30
- Source:
- Painted 1618. National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh.
- Type:
- Image;Still Image
- Format:
- image/jpeg
Source
- Preferred Citation:
- "Spanish Cooking In Manila", Philippine Food History, Felice P. Sta. Maria
- Reference Link:
- felicepstamaria.net/items/coll062.html