An adequate feeding is not only to satisfy a taste, guided by cultural codes, it is an essential necessity to maintain a good state of health, a well-fed person helps to maintain a balance between the body and the environment; because food, as well as being a pleasure, fulfills a biological function, by supplying the body with the indispensable substances for its development.

The ethnic background of our people were the indigenous, Hispanic and African components, not to mention the French, French-Haitian and Chinese elements, so it would be very difficult to affirm categorically the specific origin or ethnic origin of a particular dish, since these turn out to be another component of what some authors define as transculturation.

As the writer Olga García Yero rightly states. – “The kitchen is also a distinctive sociocultural feature of the people, it brings its own nuance, its perfume and its color, to the general environment of a nation” [1]. In the specific case of Camagüey, this author refers in her book to different recipes that are now an inseparable part of this region: Beef Camagüey style, Montería Camagüeyana, roasted turkey from Camagüey, roast chicken from Camagüey, among others.

In the same book she points out a curious detail when he says: “The culinary tradition of these cities, Camaguey and Sancti Spirit, was always one way or another, an attraction for illustrious visitors and even for Cubans who never set foot in these regions, just like José Martí who took the only recipe for cooking that is included in his works, precisely, from the Camagüey tradition. In fact, the recipe written by Martí in his notes is still exactly the one used in Sibanicú to cook that mythical and almost unknown sweet outside of its original setting, which is Pan patato “[2].

And what better way to appreciate the taste of the old “principeño” for the good and abundant “yantar”, than the description made by an old chronicle.

Everything happened on September 8, 1734, when the new temple was inaugurated, dedicated to the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre. After the party there was lunch: jerked beef with tomato, meatballs, tongue with potatoes, fried mushrooms, pork tripe, cooked meats, fried plantains, guava candy, smoke cheese, wine and hot cane water. And for dinner: ajiaco with grilled cow’s shoulder, salpicón, yucca with garlic, grilled pork, roasted hens, fried plantains, casabe, curd with syrup and cane molasses, yam and yuca fritters, red wine and brandy. Not wrongly the chronicler pointed it, it’s a pity that we never knew how they managed to avoid indigestion! [3]

The concrete case of this work is based upon the study of the faunal remains recovered in a rescue excavation, made by the archeology group of the Office of the Historian of the city of Camagüey, in April, May and June of the year 2009, at Independencia 219th (then Candelaria 21th), better known as El Regidor, where the Cultural Management Center of the Office currently resides.

The documentary information specifies that the property is possibly one of the last vestiges of what was, in the eighteenth century, the setting of the Plaza de San Francisco de Paula. It has suffered considerable damages and transformations, however, we can recognize certain elements in it that tell us that it was a majestic colonial mansion belonging, as it is logical, to a wealthy family. It was inhabited from 1782 to 1925, and passed through different owners.

Firstly, Captain Reformado Don Diego Félix de Arteaga appears as owner [4] […] It is possible that the Arteaga – Agramonte family was its original builder.

In 1786, the house is sold and remains for more than 20 years in the hands of the Recio couple. During these years, the house is mortgaged several times. In 1847 the lower part changes its use from housing to a commercial establishment, a hardware store. The establishment functioned until 1961, when the revolutionary government intervened. From that date on, several institutions have passed through the building.

The excavation process was carried out in a sanitary collector located at the back of the building. A series of remains belonging to all types of domestic waste were found, among them: metal utensils, remains of earthenware, skeletal remains of diet, charcoal, egg shells, among others. The exhumed cultural material was identified as belonging to the XIX century and the beginning of the XX century, however some of them are located by the end of the XVIII century.

Zooarchaeology helped us in this investigation, which is the work with bone remains recovered in archaeological interventions, and can provide several possibilities of knowledge about the culinary traditions of our city. In this sense, the interest is directed to establish considerations about the contribution of research in urban domestic contexts, and how these studies contribute to protect the cultural references of the alimentary traditions, which confirms once again, the historical dimension of the traditions.

On the other hand, at that time, food was part of the resources applied by elite individuals as a way to show their hierarchy. What, how and when it is ingested, are essential questions of the first order when establishing prestige positions. Creole families of the epoque considered the rituals of eating and drinking a fundamental factor in relations with their peers; the variety and abundance of the species that made up the dishes made the meetings more enjoyable, very common among the potentates of yesteryear. But how to know the culinary past?

From the analysis of the exhumed material, a large number of bones belonging to different species were identified, for instance: cattle, pigs, goats, as well as remains of bony fish where most of the vertebrae belong to the genus Lutjanus, in which they include a series of well-known species such as Pargos, Cuberas, Caballerote, Biajaibas, Cají, Jocú and Ojanco, which could have generated a great variety of culinary recipes, demonstrated by consulting the Manual of the Cuban Cook, a book that includes the most varied ways of making dishes of the time.

For wealthy families, the choice of recipes was very important in addition to the type and portion of meat, they should be fresh and recent, with a high preference for beef, judging by their frequency in the material record. In general, beef was seen in colonial times as an essential food principle, both to maintain the strength of a patient and to give more activity to a healthy one. What justifies Ismael Sarmiento pointing out in his book: Cuba between opulence and poverty: “Towards 1862 the cattle wealth, say (cattle and pigs) on the island, specifically in the department of downtown Port-au-Prince, is in the front line, with 18.1% of livestock for consumption. “[5]

The diversity of recipes that appear in the anonymous book Manual of the Cuban Cook of 1856, shows a rich culinary culture based on a variety of edible resources and their combinations to satisfy or face different daily situations. These culinary procedures can be classified as part of a cultural tradition of popular knowledge. When consulting the information provided by the skeletal remains, the writings of travelers and the manual itself makes us think that these are some of the recipes that should have been consumed:

Broth restaurant or consummate.

Put on the fire a pot with enough water, a piece of cow, of mutton and another of lean pork, like a pound of each, a leg of beef and a pig, a quarter of chicken. Season with toasted onion, chopped garlic, saffron and salt, let it boil for a while, then make the use you want of it. [6]

Veal stew.

Veal leg meat is the best for stews, take a pound of beef cut into regular pieces, put in a casserole with salt, two laurel leaves, three ounces of butter, sauté a little, crush garlic, pepper and a few saffron beans, it will melt in water and put everything in the pot, add 2 or 3 tomatoes, an onion and a little parsley, all chopped, two tablespoons of oil, a bowl or two of broth and cook to simmer, then season with salt and add the spices you want and you will have a stew that those who are not politicians will suck their fingers. [7]

Veal legs Cuban style.

Clean the legs by submerging them in boiling water, scrape them with a knife, removing their hair and pesuñas*, then cook them with water, salt and chickpeas. After cooking, add a sauce composed of a handful of toasted hazelnuts, a little cheese, parsley and six cloves of garlic are crushed in a mortar and mixed with a little of the same stock, boiled until it is fully cooked and can be served. [8]

Chickens stewed Cuban style.

Plucked and cleaned, cut into quarters, put in a pot on the fire with two ounces of lard, three onions divided into quarters, five cloves of crushed garlic, oregano, vinegar, fine spices, dry wine and salt, when it is half-cooked put chilled peppers and let it simmer until it is soft and can be served. [9]

Ringdoves and white-headed pigeons.

After they are clean they are overcooked in the grills, then they are put into a casserole with parsley, pepper, salt, crude oil, laurel leaves, crushed garlic, the juice of a lemon and some olives without bones, when they are cooked remove from the fire, an egg yolk is poured into the sauce for each pigeon, they are poured into the compound, it is wiggled, after a while you can eat it: it is an exquisite snack. [10]

Grilled sea snapper.

Take off the scales and wash well: fry six tomatoes in a pan, two red peppers, two onions and six garlics, then when this is fried, cut the fish into pieces, let it stir-fry a little, add a jug of water, oregano, three or four onions, four cloves of crushed garlic and salt, let it cook and when it is half-cooked, it is poured enough lemon juice and a hot pepper, let it cook finally, and a tasty snack will be eaten. [11]

………………………………………….

Translated by: Dayana Torralba Lora

Bibliography:

• Anonymous, (1856). Manual of the Cuban cook, Spencer and Co press, or Relly, Havana.
• Sarmiento Ramírez, Ismael, (2004): Cuba between opulence and poverty. Aldaba editions. Spain.
• García Yero, Olga (2001): Cooking in two cities. Editorial Oriente, Santiago de Cuba. • Santa Cruz and Mallen, Francisco Xavier of: (1944): Histories of Cuban Families, Volume 2. Editorial Hercules, Havana.

[1] García Yero, Olga. (2001) Cooking in two cities. Pag.11.

[2] García Yero, Olga. (2001) Cooking in two cities. Pag.20.

[3] Provincial Historical Archive of Camagüey: Jorge Juárez Cano Fund. Annals, Folder 7, 11, 192-193.

[4] Julio Antonio Mella Provincial Library, Room of rare and valuable funds, History Collection: Cuban Families, Count of Jaruco, Volume 2. Editorial Hercules, Havana, 1944, p. 45. Captain Diego Félix Arteaga Varona was ordinary mayor and administrator of the real estate of the town of Port-au-Prince, present-day city of Camagüey, in whose main church he married on March 2, 1733, with Dª Ángela Agramonte and Zayas Bazán. They had María, Ana, Agostino, Diego Félix, Ubaldo and Francisco Arteaga Agramonte as their children.

[5] Sarmiento Ramírez, Ismael, Cuba between opulence and poverty, p. 153

[6] Anonymous: Manual of the Cuban cook, p. 37

[7] Anonymous: Manual of the Cuban cook, p. 37

[8] Anonymous: Manual of the Cuban cook, p. 51

[9] Anonymous: Manual of the Cuban cook, p. 79

[10] Idem, p.83. [11] Idem, p.103