Manchegan Origins & The Rural Gentry in La Mancha

The novel begins in a "lugar in la Mancha" and then goes on to describe our protagonist and soon-to-be knight errant, Señor Quijana. He is fifty years old (same age as Bilbo and Frodo!). He is described as weathered, scrawny, and thin (much the same way his horse is described). His occupation is best described as a hidalgo. He owns land but does not work it. He is not a nobleman or aristocrat, but he has some minor title and distant lineage that makes him a gentleman and part of a higher class than an average peasant or person in that area. His land, money, and title would make him well respected. Without these things, sadly, no one would have cared much about his madness and probably would have let him die on his first Sally. Perhaps this was why the story of a mad knight and Marquis was so striking to him when he was in Argamasilla de Alba.

Fernando Rey as Don Quijote

We know much about Don Quijote (and La Mancha in 1600) based on the description of his house and his meals. The house has a patio- better translated as a courtyard and not the English term borrowed from Spanish that we use for porches and outside seating areas. Think more like castles with an interior square. To best picture the house of Don Quijote, visiting the house of Cervantes in Alcala de Henares gives anyone a good idea of both the author and his character. I highly recommend a trip to Alcala if you are staying in Madrid. You can see this house and the original campus of Complutense University- one of the oldest universities in the world. It makes Harvard, our oldest in the US, seem new in comparison.

The Patio

Statues outside the house of Cervantes of DQ & SP

University of Alcala

Plaza de Cervantes in Alcala

While the top part is modern, the bottom half of the museum in Argamasilla de Alba gives you an idea of what Manchegan architecture was like in this time period...there will be more pictures in posts to come too!

We also know he has a housekeeper and a niece living with him. He has an extensive library, though he sold most of his profitable land to afford these books in the last year or so before the novel begins. So, he has land that he does not work himself and is able to support a niece and housekeeper in his home. Knowing that he has so many books also tells us that his land was certainly valuable because books were very expensive at that time. Clearly he has lost some of this wealth by the end of the novel due to his love of books. Still, he is able to give Sancho five mules to replace the one that he lost on their trip. He may not be wealthy, but he is probably the wealthiest person in his town. His family, at least, was wealthy in the past since they passed down the bits of armor that he uses for his sallies. Someone, at some point, was a knight or fought in a battle or bought a full suit of armor. That purchase is not cheap and not likely to be used for decoration only. He also has a greyhound for racing and enjoys hunting, which are typical hobbies for the higher classes.

The Spanish version of part I of Don Quijote is very well done, but it is in Spanish, so it may not be as easy to understand. Even if you cannot understand the language, it is worth watching!!

Lamb Stew

His status is reinforced by what he eats. He has occasional stews, but they tend to have more beef than lamb. Since lamb is more expensive than beef and beef is more expensive than pork or chicken or vegetables, we know he does eat very well occasionally with lamb stew but clearly not very often. At other times, probably more frequently,  he still eats well with a beef stew. Then we learn that he eats hash most nights, which shows a more average and typical meal for most of the time. This would be similar to the idea of eating chicken most of the time with beef for stew sometimes and a steak for special occasions. This is my interpretation anyways. The annotation by Grossman just says his meals show some economic hardship since he eats more beef than lamb. It is difficult to compare to today's meals to his exactly since meat is so readily available and more affordable than it would have been at that time.

Duelos y Quebrantos

Next, he eats "eggs and abstinence" on Saturday (according to the Grossman translation). When I asked my husband, he explained that it is a meal called "duelos y quebrantos." So, the translation is pretty accurate, but it doesn't sound like a meal when used that way. The translation is more like grief and breaking. I thought it was perhaps a religious practice when I read it, which it might stem from the idea of breaking a fast and the fact that other religions do not eat pork. It is a typical meal in La Mancha. Chickens are fairly easy to care for and will produce a lot of eggs, so eggs are an inexpensive and abundant item. Pork is also an affordable and abundant item because they are almost as easy to keep as chickens, but more importantly, Spaniards love every type of pork. The specialty is, of course, the super thin sliced smoked ham or jamon, but there are also plenty of sausages, filets, loins, etc. So, this dish, duelos y quebrantos, is essentially a mix of eggs and pork. The pork is usually jamon and chorizo. Scrambled eggs and bacon and sausage (the American equivalent perhaps) is absolutely delicious, so I'm not sure why it is "abstaining" except in consideration of abundance and cost of the ingredients compared to lamb or beef. This would not be jamon Iberico, the shockingly expensive but absolutely delicious type of ham made from pigs fed an acorns-only diet. It is a good meal, but not fancy.

Lentils

He eats lentils on Friday- a very popular dish throughout Spain and a regular meal at our home and when we visit family in Madrid. Don Quijote does get an occasional squab on Sundays as a treat. I have never had Squab, but it will be something on my list to try now.

Three fourths of his income went to these meals. I found this whole part so interesting about what the rural gentry spent their money on and the cost of certain meals, so I looked up what people spend of their income on food here and now. The average middle class American spends 13% on food, according to the USDA. That is no where near the 75% of Don Quijote's budget, but he did not have phone, internet, technology, or mass-produced items to spend his money on. Instead, he spent his money on food and leisure activities.

Squab

I wish we could go back to that simple life sometimes. I know it was hard and hardly the romantic image we have of farm life today, but it would be nice to have some aspects of that lifestyle. I would be happy to spend my time eating and reading books of chivalry. I wouldn't be a good hunter, but I could enjoy greyhound races perhaps. Though, I suppose he went mad partly because he was bored. It seems like he sought out unnecessary pain and hardship. In fact, he was desperate for it. Don Quijote certainly raises a lot more questions about life, happiness, and human nature than it answers. There is the danger with reading!

Households spend more money on food when incomes rise, but food represents a smaller portion of income as they allocate additional funds to other goods. In 2013, households in the middle income quintile spent an average of $5,728 on food, representing 13.1 percent of income, while the lowest income households spent $3,655 on food, representing 36.2 percent of income. Rising food prices and falling incomes put pressure on food budgets. In pre-recession 2006, households in the lowest income quintile spent 32 percent of their incomes on food

Jamon (Leg)

Anyways, back to the story and the trip to La Mancha. These dishes can be bought in any restaurant in the area now, mostly because of the reference to them in Don Quijote. Huevos y Quebrantos and lentils and migas and these other traditional meals were meant to be food prepared at home from leftovers or scraps and designed to be hearty meals for hard work. That doesn't mean they aren't good, but be careful about the prices charged for them. Some places will charge a fortune for these traditional meals because they know tourists are looking to taste the meals of Don Quijote. If it weren't so hard to find good Spanish ingredients (jamon and chorizo), I'd say make them at home before you go. Whole Foods does have some usually, and you can order from La Tienda or visit their store in Jamestown. However, by the time you do that, it'd be better to pay the prices in La Mancha to eat them there. I will talk more about food when we get to Almagro where I found some of my favorite foods of La Mancha. I am thinking to dedicate an entire post to food recommendations and places to eat!

sliced jamon

Chorizo

The last part of Cervantes' description intended to give a thorough understanding of the life and times of Senor Quijana (pre-Don Quijote) is that the rest of his income went to a festival outfit and a weekday outfit. The clothing of this time would be familiar through Shakespeare- tunic, breeches, and hose. The weekday outfit was described as coarse and dun-colored.

He has a housekeeper past forty, a niece less than twenty, and handy man to help with all the little chores around the house. There ends our formal introduction to the gentleman who will become Don Quijote. That transformation will happen very shortly- only two pages in- once he begins reading too much!