Queimada
The Queimada is a custom around a hot alcoholic drink in Galician cuisine and belongs to Galician folklore. The party ritual, which originated in the late 1950s, is attributed, among other things, to Celtic roots, healing powers and protection from evil spirits.
introduction
The Queimada is a mixed drink made from the raw materials pomace brandy and sugar . Due to the flambéing as well as the preparation and enjoyment in a group, it is comparable to the Feuerzangenbowle . Based on a basic recipe, local or personal variants are mixed. During the preparation the Queimada is discussed with an incantation called Conxuro , which, together with the fire, is supposed to "clean" the drink and ward off evil spirits. The recourse to moments of the Galician folk belief in the evocation of the protective forces as well as preparation and shared enjoyment to strengthen friendship and solidarity with Galicia point to the emergence of the custom in the vicinity of Galician emigrants.
Ingredients and preparation
In addition to the main ingredients sugar and Aguardiente de Orujo - the Galician pomace brandy - thinly sliced lemon or orange peel belong in the Queimada. Though purists dismiss it as a "poison," it often adds some coffee beans or, depending on local usage, apple slices, grapes, or other ingredients.
In some areas of Galicia the Queimada is made in a pumpkin . To do this, the upper part is cut off and the loose parts removed. When cooked, the pumpkin gives off flavor to the Queimada, so that it is both a vessel and an ingredient. Most of the Queimada is prepared in an earthen brazier, the original form of which goes back to the potter Tito Freire.
120 grams of sugar are added to a liter of schnapps, grated lemon peel, coffee beans etc. are added as desired, then the mixture is stirred. With a smaller vessel, usually the mixing spoon, you scoop up a certain amount and avoid ingredients other than alcohol and dissolved sugar. The edges are wetted and the solution is ignited. Already burning, the fire is brought into the large vessel until the flames have spread over the entire surface. Now you can scoop up the liquid and let it flow back slowly, burning, so that flame cascades develop. Furthermore, you fill the mixing spoon with sugar and melt it over the flames to caramel . Let this run into the flames and then stir. The flame is repeated until the alcohol is almost burned and only the edges of the bowl are burning.
When the flames slowly begin to die out, the Queimada is summoned with the Conxuro. After the flames have gone out completely, the drink and all its ingredients are served hot. Sometimes flames have to be blown out again, which may have escaped into the cups when poured.
Conxuro or Esconxuro
The Conxuro is presented with a raised voice and is supposed to drive away evil spirits and witches. In addition to the one presented here, there are other variants.
| Galician
Mouchos, coruxas, sapos e bruxas.Demos, trasgos e diaños, |
German
Owls, owls, toads and witches. |
regional customs
The entire ritual of preparation is aimed at keeping away evil spirits and the witches of Galician folk belief, the meigas. According to tradition, the Meigas try to curse women and men. They do this for fun, revenge, a previous act, or almost any other motive. That is why every occasion is good for a Queimada: parties, family get-togethers or gatherings with friends. The custom is for those present to gather around the brazier after dinner, in the dark of the night - a favorable time and good visual background - to lift their hearts and strengthen bonds of friendship. One of them lifts the burning liquid in a spoon and lets it drip flamingly, sip by sip, into the bowl while he speaks the Conxuro.
The darkness, the connectedness, the conjuring words and the moving flames create a special atmosphere.
history
The origins of the drink are unknown. However, as Carlos Alonso del Real, professor of early history at the University of Santiago de Compostela has shown, the popular dating to the Celtic period is not tenable. This is due to the lack of distilled alcohol prior to the introduction of the alambic to the Iberian Peninsula by the Arabs in the 12th or 13th century. He also denies the occurrence of Queimada before cane sugar spread . This second main ingredient also came to Spain with the Moors . The anthropologist Xosé Manuel González Reboredo writes that the consumption of distilled alcohol was common in rural Galicia, for example it was taken as a home remedy for colds. The schnapps - mostly the Orujo pomace brandy due to the agricultural situation - was not yet lit and the enjoyment had no symbolic function. González Reboredo dates back to the 1950s when Galicians living abroad or in Spain outside of Galicia began to drink the schnapps at their joint festivals or after communal meals. He points out accompanying recitations - also impromptu recitations - or theatrical acts, which should serve to strengthen the sense of community and solidarity with the homeland, and which can be seen as a preliminary stage of Conxuro. In this context, the kindling of the schnapps must have originated. The custom spread so quickly that in 1955 the potter Tito Freire from Mondoñedo designed the brazier and small handle cups in which the Queimada is still prepared and enjoyed today. To understand it, the Celtic-influenced Galician folk belief must be taken into account, with its cosmos of mystical phenomena such as the restless ghost train Santa Compaña or the witches called Meiga. The second main role is played by emigration, usually forced for economic reasons, which led in several waves to South America or later to Western Europe. The native Galicians reacted with great homesickness, amalgamation in local national team associations and intensive cultivation of relationships with their home country.
History of the Conxuro
The version of the Conxuro or Esconxuro quoted above and today the most widespread version was invented by Mariano Marcos Abalo in Vigo in 1967 for a party that at that time often took place on ships that were confiscated and moored in the city's port. In 1974 its creator added the reference to Satan and Beelzebub and began using the Conxuro in the Fausto discotheque in Vigo. At the same time, a Vigues printing company began to print and sell the Conxuro. At first one worked without authorization, later one peseta per copy sold was paid to the author. The success made other print shops jump on the bandwagon, selling the Conxuro without any consultation with Marcos and not even mentioning his authorship. This fact may have contributed to a common belief in an anonymous author. It was not until 2001 that Mariano Marcos Abalo decided to register the Conxuro as intellectual property.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Xosé Manuel González Reboredo: Etinicidade e Nacionalismo . Consello da cultura Galega, Santiago de Compostela 2000, ISBN 84-95415-34-8 , A construción de referentes de identidade etno-nacional. Algunhas mostras sobre Galicia, S. 229–230 (Galician, Etinicidade e Nacionalismo . [PDF; accessed November 9, 2010]).
- ^ Carlos Alonso del Real: Os orixes da queimada. Capítulo programático dun libro en preparación . In: Grial . No. 35 , 1972, ISSN 0017-4181 , pp. 74-82 (Galician).
- ↑ El café en la queimada es una copia de los catalanes. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on November 22, 2010 ; Retrieved October 19, 2010 (Spanish). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ see also: Santa Compaña
- ↑ cf. Alonso de Real
- ↑ Even later, around the time of the Napoleonic Wars , beet sugar came to Spain.
- ↑ cf. González Reboredo
- ↑ "Se sabe que el conxuro es mío, y eso me basta" ("You know that the Conxuro is mine, and that's enough for me."). Retrieved October 19, 2010 (Spanish).
- ↑ cf. El café en la queima da ...
