If technology has changed radically in the last century, gastronomy has not fallen short. For most, eating has ceased to be a pure act of survival and necessity and has become a pleasure. However, during 1923 the headlines about gastronomy occupied a not inconsiderable part of La Vanguardia. We have delved into our newspaper archive to find some news and announcements related to agriculture, restaurants and, in general, the act of eating from 100 years ago.
On January 9, 1923, some German tourists named Máximo Gubler, Jacobo Bony and Manuel Guimerais decided to leave a restaurant on Escudellers Street in Barcelona without paying the bill. “They refused to pay the amount, also promoting a formidable scandal and breaking several nightstands, crystals, bottles, etc. with a single blow. As if that were not enough, when they were arrested, several bottles of cognac and cans of preserves that were hidden in their pockets during the commotion were recovered,” the newspaper reported at the time.
Spain had its eyes set on the colonized territories of Morocco, which was still losing at an accelerated rate at that time. There were conflicts and kidnappings of soldiers who reported having barely survived. “The soldiers insist on the issue of hunger, which became so great that they decided to eat some dogs that were very dear to them for having remained with them throughout their captivity. Only the dog called ‘Companion’ was saved, and it is a curious case that this animal was the first to board in Al Hoceima and the first to disembark in Melilla,” said La Vanguardia on January 30. The officers also suffered the consequences of captivity: “They ate mice, papers, grass, whatever they could get their hands on, and the days that they said they had a banquet were those in which they were given a handful of chickpeas and some kindling so that They will cook them. They ate them without bread and without any kind of condiment. Since the chips were almost always scarce and were not enough to complete the cooking of the chickpeas, they had to eat them hard.”
Under the pseudonym Gadir, the writer Alberto Castillo published one of his Letters from Germany on February 25, which was titled ‘The world is infested with Catalans’. Far from being a negative criticism, the text explained how, already at that time, wherever you went you would find a Catalan. “Rare is the German city of any importance that does not have its pair of Catalan businessmen; They own restaurants and wine or fruit stores.” And he also gave details of the Catalan restaurant that was located in Munich: “Everything is set up German-style, dark colors, a lot of cleanliness, a lot of order, a lot of coldness; The only thing that is Catalan there is the boss, Figueras himself, and a couple of porrones on the tables to mislead. We go to it because of the natural inclination towards things from home, attracted by the illusion of eating some Valencian oranges raised in Italy; the Bavarians for drinking a Tarragona and a Priorato that are more German than the Fausto, which out of prudence we did not try, and which those from here find delicious. What innocence can do! The only advantage it has is that each of us pays dearly for the illusion. At the end of the day we live with illusions.”
One of the sections that year had the premise of enlightening readers about the history and customs of a century ago, and was called De la Barcelona ochecentista. On May 1, Baldomero Argente, recounted how some inspired “bohemian writers and artists,” who hated bad verses on tombs and the idolatry of death, came up with something “one of the most witty and malicious that that generation had seen, “Go eat a plate of snails at the foot of a certain cemetery.” Legend has it that the guards turned a blind eye and the attendees prepared to eat their snails to mock the seriousness with which death is accepted and worshiped. However, in the middle of the banquet “they were surprised by the unexpected presence of a pseudo-deceased person, who, sticking his head out of the mouth of an open niche, asked them with a polite word to bring him the ladder to descend from it.” Terrified, the artists fled from that character who was nothing more than “a poor unfortunate man, half a fool, half a street beggar, known by the name of L’hola vos, who had gone there to take a Bacchic nap, in the middle of the afternoon, waking up later in the middle of the night.”
Child protection still had a lot to improve at the time. It is not surprising that the advertisements chose to present children’s illustrations with adult features, inappropriate postures and words that were totally out of place. This is the case of the Nelia chocolate advertisement, whose made-up figure offers an attempt at a flirtatious gesture, and says: “Do you want to meet me? I am Nelia, the gentle figurine, delicately sweet-toothed, who personifies the fine chocolates of my name. (…) Try me and you will love me.”
In the society section called ‘On the Cinema of Life’, Maxim titled ‘Short Films’ to this contest that took place in Ilford (England) at the end of May of that year. There, he said, there is a custom that consists of “granting, on Whit Monday, as a prize, a pound of butter to the happiest couple in the region.” The court was presided over by a municipal magistrate and was made up of “six bachelors and six single women for life.” Three couples participated, of which the one who had been married for seven years won unanimously. “They had four children, they lived with the woman’s sister, they had been left without a maid three times during the year, they had changed their address once and the husband had been out of work for more than two months,” the journalist said. And in all that time and unfavorable circumstances, they did not fight even once. Maxim added his thoughts and stated that the prize is paltry. “I would reward such a couple with a collection of vouchers that would allow them to eat free of charge for several days at an accredited hotel.”
The pages of De la barcelona ochecentista spoke on June 5 about a famous restaurant that operated between 1820 and 1846 on the corner of Sagristans and Capellans streets, in the heart of the Gothic quarter. “To eat well, carefully and at a good price, there was nothing in Barcelona like ca’l Beco del Racó. Weddings, gloating saints, entertainment for political figures and stays of illustrious foreigners, from 1820 to 1846, were always celebrated at the tables of the famous Beco,” said Arturo Masriera. Its owner Juan Antonio Ardizzi y Lazoli, born in Sardinia, was known as ‘Beco’, who arrived in Barcelona in 1778 as a “cook-servant” for the March house, on Rambla Santa Mónica. He later decided to set up his own establishment, which was first called ca’l Senyor Antonet and later called ca’l Beco del Racó. “It was in its time a true institution that gave fame to his profession, even incorporating his nickname into the lexicon as a synonym for the person who exercises his industry. Because for more than a hundred years, in Barcelona, ??the word ‘Beco’ was equivalent to innkeeper, hotelier, innkeeper.” That name, explains Masriera, was given by the multiple beaks (‘becs’, in Catalan’) of the “tasty and rare” birds that were waiting skewered on the restaurant counter. What was eaten in El Beco del Racó? “The most popular dish served on the tables at ca’l Beco was the meat stew with potatoes (…) The Catalan escudella and the soup with almonds were also traditional in the house.” The writer explains that the decoration and service were clean and simple, and dedicates a few lines to a singular waiter known as El Rafaeló: “with white sideburns, a black silk cap and a short jacket, who was distinguished by his fanundia and art of entertain the political opinions of the diners. (…) Before they took their seats at the tables, they had already read and knew by heart the Diario de Barcelona, ??El Mediterráneo and El Vapor, so that the customers learned from Rafeló about the most interesting news of the day. day, without having to read the newspaper.”
A gang of robbers was running loose through Barcelona in the summer of 1923 and on January 8 they carried out a heist at the Fonda del Ferrocarril, next to the Francia station. The seven individuals carried pistols and with them threatened the diners to give them all their money and other valuable belongings, with a wallet containing 4,000 pesetas being the highest amount they obtained. “Overcome by panic, those present, made up mostly of peaceful ‘farmers’, cattle dealers, errand boys, trade brokers, etc., did not offer any resistance (…) ‘Hey, gentlemen, bon appetit! ‘, says the journalist who added one of the robbers, taking off his cap.
Ailments were treated and called very differently 100 years ago. In La Vanguardia there were abundant advertisements for cough pills, which seemed to be a very frequent and common illness, as well as tonics, elixirs and other preparations to revitalize oneself from any illness. In August 1923, Dr. W. Coroleu spoke of ‘travelers’ gastricism’, “which is translated by lack of appetite, thirst, heaviness of the stomach and fatal indigestion with each meal.” To this end, he recommended a water-based diet “taking nothing more than sterilized or mineral water and light food broths, preferably vegetables.” He advised against ignoring illnesses: “to persist in eating is to expose oneself to a true gastric cold, with all its consequences.”
On September 7, 100 years ago, Juan Riba reported on the devastating drought that was gripping Camp de Tarragona. He commented that the lack of rain was a constant in the area that meant that “the best cultivated lands, the best pruned vines, the best treated olive trees, which in May lead to a splendid harvest, reach this time when they are pitiful for how withered they are.” and dusty they are.” He indicated how the hazelnut trees were lacking water and would produce light fruit, as well as the carob beans, which would remain “thin and, therefore, there will be a great decrease in the number of tons harvested.” He predicted the same thing that would happen to the grapes and olives: “the grapes, small and with many rotten grains, and the olives, are already beginning to release lack of vegetation water.” Riba was clear about it and concluded that the economic losses were large.
After the coup d’état by the military leader Primo de Rivera, on September 14, 1923, the armed conflict generated shortages, among them, of sugar. La Vanguardia reported on a telegram sent to the president of the Military Directorate by the businesswoman Piera Brugueras: “Due to not being able to acquire white sugar for our chocolate and candy industry, we beg to lower the import tariff to avoid the closure of the factory, which would represent the ruin of our industry and of many workers.” The editorial team also added that beans were also beginning to become scarce: “after going several times to the subsistence offices and the Círculo de Ultramarinos they can barely get a bag of the aforementioned items.”
On December 20, Narciso Zaragoza Batet reported from the Agriculture section of La Vanguardia about the crisis that the cork sector was experiencing. The importation by other countries of cork considered of inferior quality and the mechanization of the processes of making wine bottle stoppers put in check a sector that, according to what the journalist reported, had not invested enough in innovation. “But, what mainly, and this is undoubtedly, determines this crisis,” he added, “are the exorbitant duties that foreign nations, and mainly the nations that consume the most cork stoppers, impose on the entry of this product.” Negotiating to obtain reductions in the entry fees for Spanish cork stoppers, as well as differentiating tariffs according to quality and concluding advantageous trade agreements, were the first steps to solve that crisis, explained Zaragoza Batet.