This season at Mugaritz it’s
out with the new and in with the old. It seems that Chef Andoni Luis Aduriz has
pawned the family silver and other “effeminate pieces of finery” as diners are
served 24 courses, made up almost entirely of “finger food”.
As @misscellania points out on her article
‘The Origin of the Fork’, “Centuries ago, few
people had ever heard of a “place setting.” When a large piece of meat was set
on the table (sometimes on a platter, sometimes directly on the table), diners
grabbed the whole thing with their free hand… then pulled out a knife and
sliced off a piece with their other hand. Most eating was done with fingers:
Common people ate with all five, while nobles -who understood sophisticated
table manners- ate with only three (thumb, forefinger, and middle).”
The “first table forks
probably originated at the royal courts of the Middle East, where they were in
use as early as the seventh century. About 1100 AD, they appeared in the
Tuscany region of Italy, but they were considered “shocking novelties,” and
were ridiculed and condemned by clergy, who insisted that “only human fingers,
created by God, were worthy to touch God’s bounty.” Forks were “effeminate
pieces of finery,” as one historian puts it, used by sinners and sissies but
not by decent, God-fearing folk.”
“Forks became more popular
during the late 17th century, but it wasn’t until the 18th century that they
were widely used in continental Europe as a means of conveying food “from plate
to mouth.” The reason: French nobles saw forks as a way to distinguish themselves
from commoners. “The fork became a symbol of luxury, refinement, and status,”
writes Charles Panati. “Suddenly, to touch food with even three bare fingers
was gauche.”
I must be gauche – I loved
it!
Regaliz pan con mantequilla de sardine
Liquorice bread with sardine butter
“Me crujen las tripas”
“My guts are growling”
Ostras escarchadas con vinagre
Candied oysters and vinegar
Pasta viva con anchoas, en
vinagre
Live pasta and anchovies, in vinegar
Almejas glaseadas con limón
Clams glazed with lemon
Arroz madre cocido con caviar
Cooked mother, rice and caviar
“Tuétano” de anchoas
Anchovy “marrow”
Merengue cocido de lino con queso
Cooked meringue of flaxseed and cheese
Salpicón granizado de txangurro y
yema
Salpicon granite of crab and yolk
Nube de guisantes lágrimas
Tear-drop pea cloud
Espárragos rellenos…
Filled asparagus…
Tuétanos de col asados
Grilled cabbage marrows
Salmonete en colorá
Red mullet in colorá
Fritura fría de mole con chipirón
Cold fried mole and squid
Pescado azul cocido bajo una nube
de salazones
Oily fish cooked under a salted cloud
Merluza, fideos de leche
Hake, milk threads
Costilla con pan “sopa”
Rib and “soup” bread
Mollejas y ajos
Sweetbread and garlic
Paté caliente
Hot paté
Hojas aliñadas con cochino
Leaves dressed with pork
Del amargo al dulce
From bitter to sweet
Texturas de leche
Textures of milk
Malvavisco elástica
Elasticated marshmallow
Madre de kombucha y fresas
Kombucha mother and strawberries
A cada uno lo suyo…
To each his own…
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