Dulcísima y sin fastidio: Food in Cuenca in the Eighteenth Century etudied from texts and images

Abstract

The study of Hispanic America colonial food in the eighteenth century, shows that the acclimatization of plants and animals, initiated during the sixteenth century, have almost reached levels of perfection, but also showcases the richness and variety of local products which, in some cases, form the basis of a culturally blended cuisine. This topic is studied for the territory of the Real Audiencia de Quito, with special reference to the Corregimiento de Cuenca, and area of great agricultural diversity and varied cultural base. Travelers and officials who wrote their impressions of these territories highlight the qualities of many plants but especially of fruits that are object of repeated references, but those are not the only documents since in the murals of the cloisters of El Carmen de la Asunción, fruits are represented with great detail and variety. The symbolic meanings of power and food are studied in relation with the building of an idealized vision of reality in a context in which the supply area of Cuenca reaches tens of kilometers away, covering varied ecological niches. The author concludes that nature becomes a metaphorical imagery of reality, hiding the tensions that characterize a society on the eve of a political change of great magnitude.