Cartagena en la Olla

Being Cartagena the most important port in South America, it was the entrance to this New World, "The Key of the West Indies" as a historian named the continent.

Diverse merchandises and personalities of every category from Marquis to slaves arrived and disembarked here.

In the formation of the Typical Food of Cartagena intervened mainly the three races: indigenous, spanish and black, which contributed to the formation of the city in every aspect. When the conquerors and colonizers arrived, they found all sorts of exuberant vegetation of plants and fruits unknown at the Old World and now are a part of many dishes of universal gastronomy.

The indigenous cuisine was very primitive, on three rocks they roasted and boiled their foods with no spices nor the splendor of the aztecs or incas, where they presented real banquets to Montezuma. Even though their influence leaves some dishes such as arepa, casabe or cazabi, buns or rolls, bitivity (a dish made of fermented corn), the cacao, the flour chocolate made of corn and cacao, they would count on yucca, guanabana, mamey, cacao, cherimoya, caimito, anon, corn, sweet potato, pineapple, melon, tomato, sweet chili, achiote, bijao or vixa, and coconuts which seems came floating from Polynesia. In animals we had the turkey, guartinaja, five species of rabbits, turtles, crabs, jaibas, hicoteas, and diverse fish.

The most important for the gastronomy of the Caribbean, in particular for Cartagena was the vision and stubbornness of the king Fernando de Aragón when organizing the second voyage of Columbus, a true expedition to the New World sent farmers and agriculturists with all sorts of fruits: cider, oranges, grapefruits, plums, parales, apples, lemons almonds, apricots, quince, sugar cane that came from the Canary Islands, wheat, barley, rice, rye, beans, chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans, garlic, olive oil, cattle and wool, hens, horses and donkeys. With them they took possession of the land in different parts of the New World, the Spanish influence penetrated in all the fields, and in the kitchen a new horizon was opened. From there we have names such as alfajor, alboronía, almojábana, bienmesabe, bizcocho, bollo, buñuelo, caspiroleta, chicharrón, empanada, jalea, mazamorra, lechón, lechona, turrón, olla, caldero, guiso, sopa, revoltillo, torta, sancocho. From the indigenous origin we have: yucca, batata, arepa, maiz, casabe, budare, and from the african continent we have: afunchado, bitute, candia, guando, guineo.

The Spaniards started to prepare their regional meals and substituting elements for the ones existing here. Therefore the Sancocho was born to substitute the cocido madrileño. With the arrival of the oil they started to fry and prepare the indigenous arepa, and the corn mass started to blow with the heat of the oil and from there must have appeared the idea to fill it in with egg and pork, two very common elements in Spain, and for being filled it was named empanada con huevo.

We also have the african influence, they brought with them: the ñame, candia or quinbambo or bamia, guandul, the plátano, the scent peppers or malaqueta, the dendé which is palm oil grown mainly in Brazil, the guinea hen, the black headed beans, etc, and they began to prepare their dishes such as mote de guandul, higadete, majuana, ajiaco with salted meat, mote de candia con mojarra, buñuelos de frijol, etc.

In the XVIth century apart from the farmers that formed the main part of the population in the city, great merchants, royal and religious authorities, small lawyer clerks, doctors, apothecaries, barbers and teachers of the different crafts and construction trades whose activities were regulated by the town hall. This shows the importance the city had and its influence in all the aspects, mainly in the kitchen.

One of the characteristics of our kitchen is to accompany salt dishes with some sweets. This way we have the cariseca, enyucado, sweet platanos cooked in different ways.

Another detail in the making of our fried food, is the importance of beating certain masses or frying them so air will be introduced. This is how we get the buñuelos of black headed beans which must be beaten by hand in a special way so they are light as foam.

In the seasoning of Cartagena there is an equilibrium and harmony of flavors, where none stands out from the rest. We use white onion in abundance, sharp and scent pepper, achiote, chives, sweet chili, and indispensable in our dishes, the tomato and cumin, this later with moderation. The hot chili and coriander are not part of our seasonings

Cartagena de Indias was destined to occupy a place in history, its strategic importance allowed and intense exchange with the exterior world during the XVI, XVII, XVIII centuries.

Even though the land did not correspond to the requirements, its fruits, pigs, birds and cattle came from other regions in the country and the special ones came by ship. There is the origin of its variety in the use of seasonings and ingredients that were unknown to the rest of the country.

By the XVIIIth century this kitchen was well defined which concedes an ancestry and recognized tradition.

Seeing this gastronomy richness was being lost with the disappearance of many house wives and cooks that didn't have anything written I got the idea of saving this heritage of the city and started to compile, try, and write up this recipes, work which I did with my today deceased aunt; Amparo Román de Vélez and my sister Olga. Thus in 1963 was born the book CARTAGENA DE INDIAS EN LA OLLA and actually has 30 editions, today I present this beautifully illustrated edition, which conserves and lasts the legendary tradition of this city.

Teresita Román de Zurek