Spain: Mona de Pascua, Paella, and the Moors
There are two different topics in this post: (1) Mona de Pascua and (2) Paella and the Moors. They both stem from my recent trip to Spain. Enjoy!
Mona de Pascua
As Easter approaches, it felt like a stroke of luck to discover a celebratory bread that is part of the culinary tradition of Catalonia and Valencia during my travels in Spain. I first stumbled across this treat at the Chocolate Museum in Barcelona, which had a display on the history of a bread/cake called Mona de Pascua (mones is the plural). This bread is typically sweet and decorated with hard-boiled eggs that have been dyed in bright colors, chocolate eggs, or other Easter-themed decorations, and are enjoyed as a special treat during the holiday season.
The recipe for Mona de Pascua can vary depending on the region and the baker, but it typically includes flour, sugar, eggs, butter, milk, and yeast. Some versions may also include additional ingredients such as anise, orange zest, or brandy.
The History
While now associated with Easter, the origins go much further back. Supposedly, they were first created on farms, where women would enrich the dough with honey, eggs, oil, and herbs, shaping the bread into rings, dolls, or animal shapes. What makes this bread different from other Easter breads I have come across is that they were then decorated with hard-boiled eggs held on by a dough cross. These breads were handed out on Easter to children until their first communion, with the number of eggs on top representing their age. With time, they have changed, incorporating new flavors, designs, and most importantly, the use of chocolate eggs, or other sweets, in lieu of actual eggs on top.
The first reference to mona may be in the Rois of Corella, from the 15th century, which states
“Fast / against Satan who mines you / now kneads / with God the sweet mona”
-Museu de la Xocolata
Another early instance is in a Catalan cookbook called “Llibre de totes maneres de confits” (Book of all kinds of sweets), which includes a recipe. But it turns out the history may be even older, and pre-Christian, like many holidays. As far back as the 3rd century BCE the Romans celebrated the arrival of spring with a festival (Hilaria) dedicated to the goddess Cybele, who was considered the mother of all gods. During the Hilaria festival, people would gather to celebrate the arrival of spring and the renewal of life. They would wear colorful clothing and masks, dance, and sing. The festival also involved the giving of gifts, including sweets and other treats such as “frictilia,” (were small cakes made with honey, cheese, and pepper) and “libum (pp 309),” (a type of cheesecake made with flour, cheese, honey, and bay leaves – I want to make that someday, here is a recipe I found for it Libum PBS). Sound like mona? I think so.
But wait, this festival was likely adopted by the Romans from an earlier festival celebrated by the Greeks. And who knows, maybe the Greeks got it from the Mycenaeans.
The takeaway? This just goes to show that culture is not static, but is constantly changing as new peoples, ideas, and foods, come into contact.
Paella; a Brief History / Who were the Moors?
And, because we went to Valencia, I have to touch on the famous Paella; a traditional Spanish dish that originated in the Valencia region of Spain. Typically cooked in a wide, shallow pan, it usually contains rice, saffron, and olive oil as well as chicken, rabbit, chorizo sausage, shrimp, mussels, clams, bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes, then seasoned with garlic, paprika, and other spices. I have been told snail and rabbit are the most authentic additions.
There are a lot of good histories of this world-famous rice. It essentially started off as a dish prepared by farmers with ingredients they had on hand (see Paellas: Social and Dialectic Values of a Chamelon Dish by Duhart and Medina, or read this brief summary here).
The Moors and their Influence on Paella
Rather than re-hash the history, I actually want to talk about the Moors. Traveling through Spain, kept coming across the Moors. They seemed to have had a great influence on art, architecture, and even food, paella included. On my travels; however, I realized I know almost nothing about these people. And, it turns out, for good reason. The term is vague, applying to many groups rather than one distinct group or ethnicity. And this further sparked my curiosity.
The term “Moor” originated from the Latin word “Maurus” and was initially used to refer to the Berbers and other inhabitants of the ancient Roman province of Mauretania in North Africa.
For Spain, the “Moors” took control of the Pennisula in 711 CE when a group of North African Muslims, led by the Berber general Tariq ibn-Ziyad, conquered the region. They established al-Andalus (what we now call Spain and Portugal), which promptly became a prosperous cultural and economic center.
Over the years, the power of the Moor state declined. Coupled with increased resistance from Christians who opposed Moorish rule, tensions rose and the Muslim control wanned. This all came to a head in 1492 when Catholic monarchs Ferdinand II and Isabella I won the Granada War (a war between Catholic monarchs and the Muslim Emirate of Granada; the last remaining Muslim stronghold in Spain), thus completing the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula by Spain. Eventually, the Moors were expelled and their traditions, customs, and beliefs laregly outlawed.
As time passed, the label “Moor” was increasingly applied to Muslims residing in Europe, and during the Renaissance, it was used to describe any person with dark skin. This incredibly reductionist viewpoint led to negative stereotypes about this “ethnic group”. And when discussed in history, the Moors tended to be regulated to their role in Spanish heritage, and not as a subject of study in their own right. And while Spain does acknowledge this part of their history, the tours I went on in Spain tended to describe historic structures and artworks as having “Moorish influence”. While at face value this may not seem problematic, it reveals a history of devaluing African achievements in human history. It was much more than influence that the “Moors” brought to Spain and their achievements were much more than the conquest and control of the Iberian Peninsula.
Tying it back to paella – this dish embodies cultural exchange and conflict between the different peoples who have called Spain home. The dish has many elements of Moorish origin (including those that were banned at one time), such as the practice of communal dining, the use of rice and saffron, as well as oils for cooking. But it also has elements of anti-Moor sentiments that define eras of Spanish history, such as the inclusion of pork (think chorizo), which the Moors could not eat.
The takeaway? Sometimes a simple question, such as what is the origin of this dish?, reveals hidden histories. In this case, paella is more than just a famous culinary tradition of Spain; buried with the socarrat lies an entire history of ethnicity, foodways, culture, and conflict.
The Recipes
