The pattern is so consistent it’s almost laughable: the lobster “it was a punishment” for servants and prisoners In colonial New England, oysters were Dockers’ food in Victorian Londonthe oxtail was second meat, what you took home when there was no sirloin. All current haute cuisine is built, to a large extent, on the recipe book of survival.
But the case of the torreznos is even more interesting.
A day for history: November 19, 2024. On that day, the European Union enrolled the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) “Torrezno de Soria”. A PGI is, in essence, a seal that recognizes the reputation of a product. In this case, it recognizes the way in which the people of Soriano salt, marinate and cure white pork belly.
A preparation that, moreover, moves almost five million kilos of bacon every year (growing almost 30% a year) and more than 20 million a year.
Why is it more interesting? Today, Soria torrezno is consolidating commercially at a national and international level and it is curious because this process coincides with the end of domestic slaughter. And it is not an impression: the data from the Health area of the Government of Castilla y León point to a 64% reduction in the number of home killings in the last decade in areas like Tierra de Campos.
The interesting thing is that this decrease in slaughter is, in a way, the necessary condition that allows the industry to develop. This is how culinary nostalgia works: the same people who eat it today in trendy bars are usually the grandchildren of those who ate it not because they liked it, but because there was nothing else.
Am I implying that the torrezno are not good? It wouldn’t occur to me. Only, as always, the story is more complex than it seems. The first written reference we have (or that, at least, I have been able to find) is a reference to the usefulness of torreznos to identify insincere converts. Then much more appears: bacon in Spain was not something frowned upon, it was something central to the diet… for ideological reasons.
It was when the obsession with old Christians disappeared that the torreznos began to become a stronghold for the poor and shepherds. From there, the story (as I said) is a classic: offal, barnacles and sea urchin have gone from being ‘offal’ to being gourmet delicatessen. The torrezno too.
Eating is something full of ideas. That is perhaps the most revealing thing about the Torreznos case, the confirmation that we eat with our mouths, yes; but above all we eat with ideas. The torrezno has only been able to be renamed as something gourmet once it has ceased to be anyone’s food out of obligation (out of that economic or political-social obligation).
Maybe it’s the right time to think about how we think about food.
Image | DAP
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