Making a virtue of necessity: Food education and gastronomy in the Spanish Civil War and post-war period (1936–1952)

Abstract

The nutritional status of the Spanish population deteriorated as the civil war progressed, and particularly in the famine years that characterized the post-war period. In response to this crisis, in 1937 the Government of the Second Republic created the National Food Security Institute (Spanish name: Instituto Nacional de Higiene de la Alimentación). The Government of Catalonia also tackled the food shortages created by the war. In addition, other institutional and scientific scopes and from civil society, they developed a series of initiatives aimed at ensuring a diet that was “as healthy and effective as possible” within the constraints imposed first by the war and later by the hardship and scarcity of the autarkic period.To shed light on the scope and content of these initiatives, we analysed documents related to the National Food Security Institute and the literature published by the Government of Catalonia Propaganda Committee, as well as cookery and recipe books aimed at helping people prepare meals in times of war and/or food shortages. These publications explained how to make the most of the scant food resources available to the majority of the population and gave information on their nutritional value, emphasising those with a high vitamin content. In many instances, they show that the widespread hunger of those years proved to be boost of invention, spurring the creativity of cooks and gourmets.