[.ca] A Drizzle of Honey: The Lives and Recipes of Spain's ... (ISBN 0312267304)

cookbook, absorbing history of Jewish Inquisition victims:
My review of this book would have to paraphrase that of "distinctive crypto jewish cusine"--this is the history of my grandmother's kitchen. There had been many indications that my family had had jewish origins, and this book reinforces that belief on every page. I used to think of my grandmother as the "swiss chard queen"; here I learned that it's a primary crypto jewish food, the injestion of which could have led one to be a victim of the inqisition for "judaizing." Not only is it a cookbook, as has been noted elsewhere, but a poignant, close-up history of those unfortunate souls persecuted by the spanish simply because they were jews. The recipes are all do-able and just like grandma used to make.

I Lost my Appetite:
Sorry, I was looking for cool kosher Spanish recipes. The title "A Drizzle of Honey" sounded good but.... In front of each recipe is a story about someone who was tortured or burned at the stake or persecuted. Some of the descriptions are quite graphic, for example, a woman was tortured by putting a thin cloth over her mouth and the pouring a jug of water in which gave her the sensation of drowning. At the last moment, they pulled the cloth out, and she told them anything they wanted. She begged only to die, but they did it to her again. Following is her recipe for heaven-knows-what -- I'm not hungry anymore. In another vignette, a daughter turns her mother in to be burned at the stake, by reporting that her mother threw a crucifix down the latrine. Another recipe follows. It *was* a fascinating study of the Inquisition, but as a cookbook, it's terrible. Don't let the pretty picture on the cover fool you. For now, I'll stick with my 1,000 Jewish Recipes book, which contains some healthy Sephardic recipes.

Highly readable history and cookbook that really works:
In a book that is equal parts history and cookbook, authors Gitlitz and Davidson explore the world of the Crypto-Jews or Conversos - Jews who converted to Christianity during the Spanish Inquisition but who continued to practice their religion in secret. Inquisitors were tireless in their efforts to uncover these clandestine Jews, and one of their means was to identify characteristically Jewish traditions in food preparation and eating. Their records provide part of the basis for this fascinating look at how the sweep of world history intersected with the mundane details of ordinary lives. The introduction includes a discussion of characteristic ingredients and techniques, and each recipe is accompanied by the story of the person who was implicated by the simple act of preparing a meal. Most of the recipes are too exotic for my family's taste, but the ones I tried worked well. If you like to encounter history through taste and smell and the experience of re-creating your ancestors' dinners - or just want to imagine what those meals were like - then you will relish this book.

Preoccupied with the Inquisition:
This is a well researched book with many interesting recipes and historical comments by reputable scholars. I was looking forward to a celebration of the rich interchange between the Jewish, Catholic and Moorish communities of Spain experienced for centuries on end. Jewish consciousness permeates much of Spanish culture from Alfonso El Sabio, to Teresa of Avila etc. That is what I was looking for: something which would be a means of understanding and bridge-building. I am sad to say that beginning with the first sentence on the dust cover there is a fixation on the victimhood of Jews in Spain. Rather than celebrating a wonderful interweaving of cultures the book chose to reinforce age-old prejudices. It is one more example of a centuries old tradition that tars the Christian Spaniards with the brush of persecution and perpetuates the myth of "Black Spain".

A wonderful book:
A Drizzle of Honey is many books at once. While it is often featured in cookbook sections, that is a tiny part of what makes it great. Indeed, as a cookbook it is strange, because like most pre-columbian european cuisine, the food does not seem very apetizing. What is wonderful is that the book is a great social history, telling how crypto Jews who remained in Spain after the inquisition were often caught because of foods that they ate and when they ate them. One can imagine the inquisition puzzling over recipes to identify some as "jewish" and therefore suspect. The stories that the author gives along with the recipes are extremely moving and tell the tale of a people struggling to hold onto their identity in the face of adversity. While you may not want to eat the food, it will certainly want to make you cry.