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A few years after the fall of Granada in 1492 and the strengthening of the Iberian Christian monarchy, which succeeded the Muslim caliphate of Al-Andalus, expeditions to Latin America began. Over the centuries, culinary habits inherited from Andalusia, themselves steeped in Arab, Muslim, and North African traditions, blended with local traditions to become an integral part of the local culture. New varieties of vegetables were introduced across the Atlantic, and others were brought to the Mediterranean, thus influencing traditional dishes on both sides.
In this regard, the Institute of Historical Research at the National Autonomous University of Mexico sheds more light on this culinary fusion through the contribution of Xavier Domingo. In his article «Pre-Columbian Cuisine in Spain», the researcher writes that the Iberian kingdom's terroir known today «would not exist without the contribution of products brought to Europe from what was called the Indies».
This mobility allowed for the spread of about twenty new plant species in Europe, starting with tomatoes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, and corn, which were also introduced to the terroir of North Africa.
Agricultural exchanges that revolutionized world cuisines
It goes without saying that the fruits and vegetables of pre-Columbian America revolutionized gardens and plates, especially since many have become indispensable to the ancestral preparations of the region, from Moroccan couscous to tagine, Italian pasta with tomato sauce to Spanish paella, not to mention the sweet-and-sour and caramelized dishes developed based on Andalusian recipes.
Indeed, many of these components were «unknown before 1492 and beyond, as the introduction of new products, with the exception of potatoes and chocolate, was very slow», highlighting the evolution of culinary practices and anthropology over the centuries.
To trace the richness of these uses and mixtures, Xavier Domingo returns to ancient sources, notably the Catalan recipe book of medieval cuisine from the early 12th century, «Llibre de Sent Soví», discovered and published by Professor Rudolf Grewe, or the «Llibre de Coch» by Ruperto de Nola, which compiled Catalan recipes around 1490, with the oldest preserved printed edition dating from 1520 in Barcelona. He also refers to the «Treatise on Food» (Kitab Al-Agdiya) by Abu Marwan Ibn Zuhr, as well as the «Book of Agriculture» by Ibn al-Awam.
He notes that the crops introduced by the Spanish in America «are those that can be described as economic, like sugar cane, wheat, and vines». According to Xavier Domingo, these are productions «intended for intensive cultivation and trade among the colonizers themselves, whose daily eating habits and customs included sugar, wheat bread, and wine». The conquistadors also brought cows, pigs, goats, chickens, and rabbits.
Urubamba Valley in the Andes of Peru
«They also brought eggplants, coriander, wheat, grapes, onions, garlic, spinach, parsley, rice, beans, chickpeas, lentils, sesame, cumin, oregano; and fruits such as peaches, raisins, almonds, oranges, bitter oranges, lemons, figs, limes, dates, and sugar cane, among others», highlights Susana Bedoya Garland.
The famous empanadas, a method inspired by the «pastilla»
In her article «The Legacy of Al-Andalus in Peruvian Cuisine», published by the Foundation of Islamic Culture in Spain, Susana Bedoya Garland explains that the introduction of new culinary habits on both sides would have been facilitated by previous common practices in pre-Columbian America, North Africa, and the peninsula, favoring products from the earth, seeds, herbs, and vegetables, or even fish.
This was the case in the Inca Empire (1200 BC – 1533), born in the Cuzco basin in present-day Peru, before expanding to Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, and Argentina. «We deduce, like Domingo, that thanks to these similarities, Spanish cuisine, generally influenced by Arab cuisine, was quickly accepted», the researcher notes. Referring to the article «Moors and Moorish Influence: Three Specific Cases» by Juan José Vega, she also recalls that «hundreds of Morisco men and women arrived with the first conquistadors».
«Moorish women, called 'white slaves', were the concubines of many Spaniards and often became their wives; they left a particular cultural imprint on the culture of the Peruvian coast», including in cuisine. Among them, some remained in Peru, like Beatriz Salcedo, wife of Governor José García de Salcedo, or Juana Leyton, a slave who became the wife of Francisco Carvajal, who died in Arequipa in 1571.
Empanadas
Overall, many of the newcomers had interacted with the Moriscos from Muslim Andalusia, «either because they shared the same living space or because they participated in the border struggles of Granada». Susana Bedoya Garland then elaborates on the names of many dishes that evolved thanks to culinary blending from here and elsewhere. She cites the empanada, whose name «is of Arab origin and the recipe Persian, introduced in Spain by the Arabs». Today, this preparation, now known worldwide, is made of «puff pastry or filo pastry stuffed with minced meat, with herbs and raisins».
But before that, «large empanadas were stuffed with small poultry» and nuts, through a process common to «the famous Moroccan pastilla and a similar dish found in Murcia», according to the researcher. «Empanadas continued to be served from the viceroyalty to the early years of the Republic and spread throughout almost all of America. In the Andean region, chili is added, giving a particular flavor to Peruvian and Bolivian empanadas», she recalls.
Variants exist with empanadillas in Venezuela and Mexico, or in Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay.
Common habits in meat and fish preparations
Moreover, several versions exist on the origin of the «Peruvian anticucho», beef heart skewers, also prepared in Bolivia. Researchers attribute it to Arab origins, with the transmission of practices through travels, while others mention its emergence in Persia, where shish kebab is prepared.
«Cow or lamb tripe is another dish appreciated in Arab countries», notes Susana Bedoya Garland, pointing out that «in Lima, it is prepared by the canteen women». Also, «the dried lamb recipes from the north of cities like Chiclayo or Trujillo are practically the same as those prepared in Al-Andalus».
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Marinated fish
For its part, ceviche, «sour dish» in western Mediterranean Arabic, made from fish, was prepared by «Moorish women who added bitter orange and lemon» from Sebta. The tradition found its ideal ground since the culinary habits of the Incas left the legacy of «fish marinated in chili and with seaweed». «References indicate that this dish was a favorite among the working classes because it was spicy (...) very popular and the result of cultural mixing», the researcher adds.
Explaining the common nature of this practice, researcher Abdelhak Hiri of the International Higher Institute of Tourism in Tangier (ISITT) and Jaime Jiménez De Mendoza, professor and director of the Department of Tourism and Gastronomy at IP-CFT Santo Tomás Rancagua, in Chile, describe the peninsula's traditions. In their article «The Arab Influence in Latin American Gastronomic Culture», they highlight that «seafood and fish were preserved by mixing a little olive oil with spices and a good amount of vinegar».
Over time, «spices and herbs such as pepper and bay leaves, as well as strips of yellow chili and slices of yellow sweet potato, would be added as garnish to help balance the flavors», they write.
Brazil, heir to couscous across the Atlantic
Not far from the capital of the Inca Empire, present-day Brazil also experienced the evolution of culinary habits that became ancestral, mixing ancient local practices with methods inspired by North African and Al-Andalus preparations. Thus, couscous was introduced in the 16th century, after gaining popularity around the Mediterranean, up to Sicily, in southern Italy.
Brazilian couscous
According to anthropologist and specialist in popular traditions in Brazil, Luis da Câmara Cascudo, this variant would be the result of the cultures of African slaves and the influences of Portugal, also imbued with the gastronomic practices of caliphal Andalusia.
Indeed, «black women were not only the first to fulfill the essential function of wet nurse, but they also introduced dishes such as rice couscous, farofa, and handmade dishes, which they sold on the street», note researchers Carlos Alberto Dória and Viviane Soares Aguiar from the University of São Paulo.
In «Mestizaje and 'Historical Race': The Formation of Brazilian Cuisine Explained by Extra-Culinary Theories», the two authors also recall that these women «contributed to perpetuating the art of confectionery and developing a 'complex aesthetic of the table, dessert, and tray'». Since then, southern couscous (cuscuz paulista) consists of making a sort of «smoked cake» based on grain flour, with vegetables, spices, chicken, or fish, including sardines or shrimp.
In the north, «cuscuz nordestino» is rather served at breakfast, in the form of a «smoked pudding» based on corn or tapioca flour, sugar, and coconut milk. In both cases, the main ingredient is obtained through cooking in a couscoussier.
Marzipan, a «royal paste»
On the sweet side, Susana Bedoya Garland, the researcher, mentions marzipan in her article also published in Le Courrier du Pérou. She describes a sweet almond paste that also found its place in Latin America, where «this much-appreciated dessert was transformed into royal paste». Among Greek sisters in the convent, it was shaped into its «famous fruit forms baked and colored with natural dyes extracted from saffron, pistachio, among others».
This tradition has persisted in Sicily and Al-Andalus, to find its continuation in Spain and Peru, «particularly in the cloistered convents of La Encarnación, Santa Catalina, and Santa Clara, where marzipans, maná [manna], and golden balls, a dessert made with a cake filled with apricot jam, milk jam, and coated with marzipan paste» were prepared.
Marzipan
In Morocco, the ancestral preparation of this paste inspired the evolution of traditional pastries, with a know-how developed over the centuries giving rise to gazelle horns, or other Arab-Andalusian cakes with almonds and honey, such as the moneda in the north of the country.
