Is Madrid stew an anti-Semitic profanation?

Now that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is gaining strength, it makes sense to remember that Spain is a country of anti-Semitic customs. Explicit, as demonstrated by the demonstrations against Israel promoted by the left of the left. And implicit, as can be seen from the naturalness with which our language refers to Jews and converts.. Marrano is an insult, while the adjective Jewish acquires a pejorative definition in the RAE dictionary, naturally in its connotations of greed and usury..

The Spanish-Spanish roots of anti-Semitism – which also concerns the suspicion with which we treat Muslims (they are also Semites) – can be recognized in the exhibition that has just opened in El Prado and that describes embryonic xenophobia and supremacism. Not because the rules of dress were established in 1215, but because of the usual resort of pogroms, the scrutiny of the Holy Office and the expulsion of 1492..

Anti-Semitic history weighs. And this explains why the Sephardim in exile did not accept with special enthusiasm the “reparation” of the Spanish passport that our Government granted in 2015.. There are few Jews in Spain, less than 1% of the population. And many of them reside in Madrid -12,000-15,000-, whose synagogue represents an exceptional territory where the most important practitioners gather on the sacred day of the Sabbath..

It makes sense to mention it because the obligation of Saturday rest explains that the Sephardim would have conceived a culinary recipe prepared well in advance.. They called it “adafina”, it was prepared in clay pots and brought together many of the ingredients that identify Madrid stew.. Chickpeas, potatoes, carrots, cabbage. And meats compatible with the kosher diet, including beef and chicken.

The dish became popular in Madrid. And it served as an example in the context of gastronomic exchanges, although cultural and sociological suspicion towards Jews precipitated the formula of desecration. Nothing is simpler than putting the pork bacon and chorizo in the pot and boiling it..

This is how the canonical line of the Madrid stew was formulated. And the hostility of the forum's residents towards the sons of David was demonstrated, whose reputation as blasphemers, greedy and deicides lavished an inventory of black legends and superstitions that can be identified in the Prado exhibition..

Pork fat has worked and operated as a discriminatory argument. And not only in the dishes of the repertoire, but in the custom of smearing the ammunition with lard.. It happened in remote religious wars and it happens in contemporary ones, naturally to send the infidel Jews and Muslims to hell with more guarantees..

And I'm not saying that eating a proper Madrid stew – I like the one from La Bola and the one from Malacatín – is an exercise in profanation of Jewish customs, but it makes sense to thank the Sephardim for their culinary ingenuity and warn us against the xenophobia with which we deal. to the semites.

Being a correspondent in Paris, I was impressed by the coverage of information that concerned the distribution of “solidarity food” in railway stations and other sensitive points.. They were promoted by the extreme right. And he supplied the poor with the warning that the broth and food offered to them had been prepared with pork fat.. It means that the campaign was not motivated by sensitivity towards those in need, but rather by rejection of Muslims (and Jews).. Just like cooked bacon.