The Jesuit legacy in Córdoba (Argentina) - Jesús María

The church of the estancia in Jesús María, Córdoba

Strongly recommended when visiting Córdoba in Argentina, is to take a tour of the Jesuit Block in the city and the Jesuit estancias spread around the province.
The presence of the Order of the Society of Jesus in the Spanish colony during the 17th and 18th centuries marked forever the character and the identity of Córdoba. The Jesuit priests that settled in the Spanish territories in the New World  brought with them not only their religious zeal to spread the Catholic faith among the indigenous people of the land (a practice that may be seen today as objectionable), but they also brought enlightment and progress in the form of the first university they created in the country, and the impulse they gave to the economy of the region through their agricultural and industrial establishments - the estancias.

The Jesuit Block (containing the church of the Society of Jesus, the priests' residence and the Collegium Maximum, later university) together with five of the Jesuit agricultural establishments spread around the province of Córdoba, were declared World Heritage Site in the year 2000 by the UNESCO.

The Jesuit estancias -as the large rural estates are known in Argentina- were mainly agricultural establishments founded by the order to produce the food, the goods and the resources needed to maintain the missions spread throughout the colony as well as the college and university they had founded in the city of Córdoba in 1613.
These estancias today are an excellent example of the fusion of the European and indigeneous cultures and they illustrate an unparalled social, religious and economic experiment that spread over 150 years of Argentinean history and lived on even after the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767.

Today we take a look at one of the Jesuit estancias, the one in the town of Jesús María, about 50 km from the city of Córdoba.

In 1618 the order bought land in the region of Guanasacate, as Jesús María was originally known in the language of the sanavirones, the indigenous people living in what is now the province of Córdoba. The bulk of the goods produced in this agricultural and manufacturing establishment went to maintain the Colegio Máximo, the college founded in 1610 in the city and which was later to become the university of Córdoba.

In the estancia of Jesús María, the priests instructed the natives in many manual crafts like candle and soap making, raising cattle and wine production for which they received a salary. There was also a population of approximately 300 slaves bought in the port of Buenos Aires who did most of the heavy work around the estate, leaving the natives to dedicate to the more specialised crafts.

Wine making was the main activity in Jesús María. In 1618 when the order bought the estate in the province of Córdoba, they also acquired 20.000 grapevines and they started their own wine production.
With an average of 600 cans of lagrimilla -as the wine became known- per year, the Jesuit winery of Jesús María was the first and later the largest wine producer in the viceroyship of the Río de la Plata. Their lagrimilla wine was the first wine produced in the colonies to make it to table of the Spanish king.

The tajamar or water reservoir made by the Jesuits in their estate in Jesús María to supply water for use in the cloister  as well as for irrigation of their crops and vines.

The architecture of the monastery/factory/residence complex is an example of the typical construction favoured by the Jesuits and is a fusion of European and indigenous colonial style.
A central courtyard is enclosed on two sides by a two-storey arched gallery that housed the cloister, while the third and fourth side were occupied by a storage building and a high wall. The priests' living quarters and communal rooms were located in the back of the construction.
The natives and the slaves lived in precarious huts spread in the outskirts of the estate, but these were in due time replaced by proper living quarters built of bricks, stones and tiles.
An ingenious compound of lavatories was built in the cloister of the estancia, making it the first construction in the country to have indoor toilets with their own waste disposal system.

The style of the single nave church is beautiful despite its simplicity; the only adornment of its central cupola is a relief work thought to have been made by native artisans. No picture taking is allowed inside the church, so unfortunately, I cannot offer you a peak into the interior of this jewel of 17th century religious architecture in Córdoba.

The simple façade of the church in the estancia de Jesús María

After the expulsion of the Jesuits from the colonies in 1767, the estancia of Jesús María (as all the other estates, missions and the university) went into private hands and a long period of decadence and deterioration followed.
During the first half of the 20th century, the national government took charge of the former Jesuit establishments declaring them national monuments and started with the renovation works.  Finally,  the UNESCO gave all the estancias and the Jesuit Block in the city of Córdoba the status of World Heritage Site in 2000.

A local artist describing his work to a couple of tourists.

 The estancia of Jesús María houses today the National Jesuit Museum which aims to preserve an important part of the history of Córdoba and the country by recreating the original purpose of the complex. With eighteen exhibition rooms, the permanent collection of the museum includes archeological finds from the northern and central regions of the country, period furnishings and tools, and a very fine collection of 17th and 18th century religious art among other things. Temporary exhibitions as well as concerts, conferences and other cultural events are also periodically held within the ancient walls of the estancia.

This bird is probably a descendant of one of the old inhabitants of the estancia during the Jesuits' times.

In the 150 years that the Jesuits remained in the country they increased their prestige and their power carrying out an important role in the colonial society mainly as educators and entrepreneurs. In Córdoba they founded the first university in the Río de la Plata and one of the most prestigious universities in Latin America.  It is thanks to the university that the city of Córdoba is known still today as La Docta, meaning "the wise" in Spanish.
The estancias they owned were models of industry and progress from their very origins, and many of the activities and crafts introduced by the Order in the 17th and 18th century -like wine making and agriculture- still form the basis of the economy of the region.

* * *

There is still Nederland beyond Amsterdam

Typical landscape near Blankenham, Overijssel.

 Recently, while reading the blog A Flamingo in Utrecht, or more especifically, the post An Open Letter (of sorts) to Travel Publications, I thought how unfair it was that when tourists come to the Netherlands, they generally seem to think that only Amsterdam is worth visiting. It is indeed unfair to the rest of the country and to themselves, because they are missing out a whole country. What's more, if those tourists then go back home and claim that they've been to the Netherlands and that they now know all about the Dutch, they are practically lying.

Amsterdam is not the same as the Netherlands. It has a culture of its own, rich, varied, cosmopolitan, liberal... it is a great city to explore. I like Amsterdam and I go there quite often myself for a day out, meet with friends, visit museums or take photos. But it is still just a part of the Netherlands.

Alison -author of A Flamingo in Utrecht- explains why tourists normally make the mistake of limiting themselves to exploring Amsterdam while vising the country or of even thinking that if they've seen Amsterdam, then they've seen the Netherlands. Travel publications seem to be intent on creating this impression on tourists. When they want to feature the Netherlands, they report about Amsterdam. I've seen it myself back in Argentina. Distant family members or friends would call me and tell me they've seen a travel show about the Netherlands. I know that if I take the trouble of watching the show myself, I see giddy tv presenters having the time of their lives visiting the Sex Museum or some shop selling a very particular kind of mushrooms. As if that was all that there is to Amsterdam. What's worse, as if that is all there was to the Netherlands.

Amsterdam has the canals; yes, it does, and they are listed as UNESCO World Heritage, granted. Amsterdam has the tulips. Amsterdam has the Red Light District. Amsterdam has the coffeeshops. Amsterdam has the typical step, neck or spout gabled houses, great old architecture. Amsterdam offers a wide variety of restaurants, museums and attractions. It is all true.

Well, would you be very shocked if I told you that you can find all these things in most of the other Dutch big cities? You will find alll these things and more, for you will also discover what makes those cities different from Amsterdam and worth visiting as well.

There are beautiful city canals in Utrecht, and they are unique, because they are lined with wharf-basement structures that create a two-level street along them. If you are looking for some more idyllic hobbit-like views, then how about Giethoorn in Overijssel or any village in Friesland with their thatch-roofed houses and lovely bridges crossing over canals.

Canal and bikes in Utrecht.

Giethoorn, known as the Venice from the North.

 Flevoland, the youngest province in the country (and also man-made) has the largest bulb area (ergo tulips) in the country and has a special bulb route that will take you along the most magnificent endless tulip fields and along picturesque polder villages as well.

Tulip fields in the Northeast polder in Flevoland.

There are Red Light streets in every city in the Netherlands and yes, they are legal and they are controlled by sanitary authorities and kept safe by the police. There are also coffeeshops with their share of soft drugs in other cities around the country, though as of January of this year, it is illegal for foreigners to smoke in these coffeshops in the three southern provinces of the country. Good news for you if that's what you are after: the Netherlands has 9 other provinces, besides Limburg, Zeeland and Brabant.

"Goodies" displayed in a window of a tattoo shop in a city of Friesland.

 The beautiful architecture typical of the Dutch Golden Age can be admired and photographed till you drop in cities like Delft, The Hague, Middelburg, or even little dear Zwollywood, as I like to call my own city of Zwolle.

A beautiful stepped gable in the city of Bolsward, in Friesland.

The imposing City Hall of Middelburg, in Zeeland.

 The two restaurants in the country that boast three Michelin stars are not in Amsterdam - one is in Sluis, in the province of Zeeland and the other is in .... surprise, surprise, Zwollywood, where De Librije restaurant is, besides, the first Dutch restaurant ever to get a Michelin star in the whole country.
If you are a foody, you may want to explore the zeeuwse cuisine of Zeeland or the bourgoundisch cuisine of Limburg and Brabant.

Apart from the first Dtch restaurant to be awarded a Michelin star in the country, Zwolle offers an extensive variety of excellent restaurants and cafés.

 And what can we say of the landscapes? To admire the typical Dutch landscape and its incomparable natural light, you simply have to get out there.

Windmills somewhere near Alkmaar in North Holland.

Engelse Werk in Zwolle.

Ice skating in Overijssel.

 As for the museums, yes, Amsterdam has wonderful ones that you have to visit if you want to see the great masters. But there are great museums in other Dutch cities as well where you can also see your favourite van Goghs, Vermeers or Rubens. How about the Mauritshuis in The Hague with its large collection of Dutch painters such as Vermeer, Rembrandt, Steen or Hals ? Or the Kröller Muller museum located in the setting of the beautiful Veluwe National Park and its very important collection of van Goghs, Picassos and Modriaans?

The Mauritshuis museum in The Hague.

Seriously. There is so much more to the Netherlands besides Amsterdam.Take a train to The Hague and go to the beach in Scheveningen or Kijkduin; or to Delft and visit Vermeer's house. Take your car and ride along the Alfsluitdijk, the 32 km long surge barrier that has cut off the Ijsselmeer from the North Sea. Do some reading, ask, surf the net - nowadays it's not that difficult to find the information you need. Move around a little or a lot - but go back home with the satisfaction of having seen the real Netherlands.

With this in mind, I have added a new tab to this blog under the title Visit the Netherlands. There I will be posting links to all the entries I publish related to places to visit or things to do and see around the country. I hope it can be useful to anyone planning to travel to the Netherlands or even to those of us living here and planning to spend a weekend away from home or to take a day trip with family or friends and do something fun.

Food from home: Diego's ñoquis de papa (potato gnocchi)

potato gnocchi with a leek and tarragon cream sauce. © 2011 Diego Bianchi.

(puedes leer esta receta en español en Contacto con lo Divino) 

Getting used to new kinds food was one of the aspects of my new life as an expat in the Netherlands that proved to be one of the hardest things I had to cope with. Nine years after moving out here from Argentina, I still miss my food from home. I guess that even when you adapt to your new country and assimilate and embrace the new culture, food is still something that you never quite let go. The food from home is like your own family, your people - no matter how far from home you are, you still carry them close to your heart.

Diego is a porteño, a native of the capital city of Argentina, Buenos Aires. Food and photography are two of his passions and he always brings these two together when he posts his recipes on his blog, Contacto con lo Divino. Every time I see the fantastic photos of his food I feel a sudden and strong nostalgia for home, because he usually cooks dishes that are familiar to me, to my Argentinean soul and palate.

Here is one of his pasta recipes that caught my attention. I often crave for ñoquis (as we call gnocchi in Spanish) at home and I am trying Diego's recipe tomorrow for ñoquis del 29 (Gnocchi Day every 29th of the month) ... an Argentinean tradition I will tell you all about when I post my take on this recipe soon.

DIEGO'S RECIPE:  (serves 4-5 people)

Ingredients for the ñoquis:

1kg potatoes - 500g flour, and some extra for kneading - 1 egg - 1tbspoon salt - nutmeg, to taste.


Ingredients for the sauce:

100g smoked pancetta or streaky bacon - 400g single cream - 1 1/2 tbspoon dehydrated leeks with tarragon mix or if you can't find this mix, use 1 tbspoon dried tarragon and 1 chopped stalk of leek (the white stalks, it tends to be overpowering, so if you don't like your sauce too oniony, just use half a stalk) - 2 cloves of garlic - 1 red pepper - 100ml white wine - 2 teaspoon flour - a bit of chopped parsley.

Preparation:

Making the ñoquis:

• Choose potatoes that are roughly of the same size so that they cook evenly. Wash them well and put them in a pan with cold water and some salt to boil. You don't need to peel the potatoes, for the skin will prevent them from absorbing too much liquid. If this happens, you will need to add more flour and this will definitely ruin the taste of the ñoquis. 

© 2011 Diego Bianchi

•  Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the potatoes - roughly about 25 minutes. To check if they are ready, insert a skewer in the potatoes and it should go in easily without any resistance. Try not to overcook them or again, they will absorbe too much water. 
• Drain the water and peel them right away. Cooks normally have asbestos fingers but if they're too hot use a fork and a knife or better even, a ricer if you have one; push the potatoes through it and the skin will stay in the ricer.
• Start mashing the potatoes while they're still hot; if they are already getting cold they will be too hard to mash and you'll get lumps. 

@ 2011 Diego Bianchi

• Add a tablespoon of salt, an egg and season with nutmeg. Mix all the ingredients well with the potato masher. 
• When everything is properly mixed, it's the time to place the dough on a floured surface. Knead it adding the flour little by little until you have a dough that is smooth and doesn't stick to your hands. 

© 2011 Diego Bianchi

• Leave the dough to rest until it has cooled down completely. 

 © 2011 Diego Bianchi

• Take a portion of dough and roll it with your hands to form a long thin sausage, dusting the surface and the dough with a bit of extra flour. 

© 2011 Diego Bianchi

• Cut the dough into small portions of 1,5/2cm approximately. Do the same with the rest of the dough.

© 2011 Diego Bianchi

• Take the little portions of dough one by one, pressing them gently and sliding them down a fork or a ñoqui board. Once shaped, place the ñoquis on a floured surface.

© 2011 Diego Bianchi

• In a pan put a generous amount of water to boil with some cooking salt. Lift the ñoquis with a spatula or flat tool and drop them (gently!) into the boiling water. Put the lid on the pan and let the water boil again. The ñoquis will start coming up to the surface in just a few minutes. They are ready when they are just "al dente" (firm, but not hard).

© 2011 Diego Bianchi

Making the sauce:

•  Bake the pancetta slices in a pan without adding any oil or fat. Once they are golden, remove them and chop them roughly.  

© 2011 Diego Bianchi

• Now chop the red pepper finely and bake in some olive oil together with the chopped garlic cloves. Once done, add the pancetta, the cream and mix.

© 2011 Diego Bianchi

• Then add the mix of dehydrated leeks with tarragon if you have it, or the fresh leeks with the dried tarragon. If you are using the fresh leeks, then let them soften a bit. Add the white wine and let the sauce reduce over a low gas. Don't let the sauce boil.

© 2011 Diego Bianchi

• To thicken the sauce you can add the two teaspoons of flour and let it cook just for a few more minutes. It is now ready to serve.
• Serve the ñoquis on the plates with a generous amount of sauce and sprinkle some very finely chopped parsley over the top. 

Buen apetito!

© 2011 Diego Bianchi

Thanks a lot, Diego, for letting me post your recipe and your fantastic photos!

Preserving the cultural heritage: a visit to the Zuiderzeemuseum

A sea that was no longer a sea. Water that became land.

It happened in 1932. With the inauguration of the barrier dam or Afsluitdijk that year, the Zuiderzee (Southern Sea, in Dutch) was finally cut off from the North Sea and as of that moment, it ceased to be a zee (sea, in Dutch) and became a meer (lake, in Dutch); the Ijsselmeer was born.

The Ijsselmeer, former Zuiderzee, seen from Enkhuizen.

Arriving at the outdoor part of the Zuiderzee Museum by boat.

When the Zuiderzee became the Ijsselmeer, many people were afraid that the culture and lifestyle of the region would be changed and lost forever. For this reason, immediately after the barrier dam was finished, plans were drawn for the creation of a living museum village that would preserve the cultural heritage of the Zuiderzee area.
After a lot of planning and hard work, the Zuiderzee museum became a reality in 1948.

In the beginning, only the indoor section of the museum was open to the public. The outdoor section -an ambitious project to recreate a typical Zuiderzze community with a fishing village, a city canal with its typical houses, shops and important buildings; a polder, and a harbour- took many years to complete and it finally opened in 1983.

First, water had to become land, and a peninsula was created in the Ijsselmeer by piling up sand on the seabed. Then the village had to be designed and built, and the people of the Zuiderzeemuseum had to search high and low to find the appropriate houses and buildings that would recreate not only the geographical and architectural, but also the social environment typical of the region.

The ferry boat that takes visitors from the jetty to the peninsula where the museum is located. In the background, the chimneys of the lime kilns (ovens) of the museum.

 Many of the houses and buildings that we see today in the museum were donated by  municipalities located around the former Zuiderzee.  Houses that were due to be demolished, were instead preserved and transported to their new location in the living museum village, taking into account not only their style and architecture, but also preserving the original function for which they had served the past.

The process of recreating the lifestyle and culture of the former Zuiderzee region took much more than just transporting old houses from cities like Kampen or Harderwijk for example, and reassembling them at the museum site.
Old plans of towns and villages around the Zuiderzee were used to recreate as accurately as possible, a typical community at the turn of the 20th century. Ditches and canals were digged, streets were paved, neighbourhoods were built and important historical buildings that could not be taken apart in their original location -like the school from Kollum or the boathouse, for example- were replicated. Every section of the new living village was carefully planned and even a polder was created between the town canal and the fishing village. 

Today the Zuiderzeemuseum consists of two sections: the buiten- (outdoor) and the binnenmuseum (indoor museum).

Very young "cheese-makers" were having trouble loading the cheese to be transported.

 

With my dad at the cooper's, trying some barrels on. I chose an oversized one and my dad a very small one - it was so snug that I was afraid he'd not be able to get out of it!

In the outdoor section of the Zuiderzeemuseum you can stroll down the streets of a typical town with its characteristic buildings, like the church, the school, the post office or the farmers' bank; there are craftsmen's warehouses such as the sail maker's, the blacksmith's and the barrel maker's.
A number of typical turn of the century shops were replicated too; there is a photography shop where you can have your photo taken in the typical attire; there are also a sweet shop, a barber's and a chemist's.
Visitors can go into the different buildings or houses and admire period furniture and see old machinery at work. Volunteers from the museum often do demonstrations of the different crafts that were traditional in the region, to give an idea of what life was like in a typical Zuiderzee community.

One of the relocated houses in the museum. Real families lived there for generations.

A typical dining-room set for lunch at the boat-maker's.

Fish curing was a traditional occupation in the Zuiderzee region.

In its indoor section, the museum houses several exhibitions that make the visitor acquainted with the rich history and cultural heritage of the Zuiderzee region through art, photography and design. The calendar of activities, events and exhibitions for children, for schools and for adults is displayed in the official website of the Zuiderzeemuseum. All the practical information that is needed to plan a visit at any time of the year, including times, prices, a map of the whole complex and a route description, can be found in their website, too.

The greenhouse of one of the relocated farm houses in the outdoor museum.

A vegetable garden of a typical Zuiderzee farm.

An ideal visit to the Zuiderzeemuseum should take at least half a day, so keep this in mind while planning your trip.
There is a fast-food restaurant -the Amsterdam House- and a pub, -café Hindelopen- where you can have a drink or have a quick lunch if you get hungry. 
Take into account that the outdoor section of the museum is not open during the winter period. This year (2012), it will be open from 31 March to 28 October.
The indoor part of the museum, on the other hand,  is open all the year round, from 10:00 to 17:00. You can buy the tickets online from their website if you want; the entrance ticket includes the ferry boat trip from the harbour in Enkhuizen to the outdoor museum.

A classroom in the style of the early 20th century.

The hallway of the school with the children's wooden shoes lined up outside the classroom.

No matter what your interests are or whether you are young or old, you are always bound to find something to do or that will attract your attention in this very special museum in the Netherlands.

There had to be a windmill in the outdoor museum, of course.

Ice-skating Fever in the Netherlands

Ice-skaters on the Thornbecke canal in Zwolle last Saturday during the First Zwolse Grachtentocht.

The period of true winter weather we had during the last couple of weeks seems now to be over and with it, the ice-skating fever seems to have subsided, too.

I have lived in the Netherlands for almost 9 years now and I have seen hard-ish winters (nothing really too extreme) and mild winters; gentle snowfall and a blizzard or two with lots of snow falling in a very short time. I've also seen the Dutch landscape getting totally covered in white and nature going very still under the ice, as if every single creature out there in the open was going to sleep, waiting for the spring to come back alive.

Ice skaters in the main canal around the historic city centre in Zwolle.

 But in the Netherlands it doesn't take too long for that stillness to be broken. The birds may be gone, the wind may blow wild and the ground may be covered in white, but that is exactly when this sort of buzz starts slowly to build up, like a bug getting hold of everyone until it becomes like a fever and soon enough half the nation is out there, balancing on their skates, criss-crossing waterways and city canals over the ice.

Only a few days ago we were all holding our breath in front of the tv every time the word Elfstedentocht was mentioned by the newsreaders. A couple of posts ago I explained how excited everyone was about the possibility of finally seeing a new edition of this Eleven Cities Marathon after 15 years of Elfstedentocht withdrawal, for the race has not been held since 1997 due to the lack of good quality ice to make the event possible.
Unfortunately, by the end of last week the committee in charge of inspecting the ice conditions up in Friesland had decided that it would not be possible to host the marathon this year and everyone was really very disappointed.

Another shot taken during the Zwolse Grachtentocht last Saturday.

But it seems that despite the general disappointment, people across the Netherlands, Dutch and non-Dutch, were determined not to let all that beautiful ice go to waste.Whole families were out there riding on sleds or skating on the frozen canals. Despite the cold, young people were hanging out and having fun on the ice and little kids wrapped up in warm clothes were there too, learning how to stand upright on their brand new skates. Experienced skaters were seen showing off and also first-timers, safely leaning on the back of a chair to keep their balance, carefully taking their first turns on the icy tracks.

Over the weekend there were many tochten (marathons) across the country. Amsterdam had its Keizersgracht tocht; up north in Friesland people were skating on the waterways along the Elfstedentocht route in the places where the ice was in perfect condition. In the beautiful town of Giethoorn the 14th Hollands Venetiëtocht was held; the first edition of this marathon in this century.

A young girl learning to skate on ice with the help of a chair.

It was probably this dad's turn to look after the baby but he could not stay away from all that lovely ice.

In Zwolle, we had the Eerste Zwolsegrachten tocht (first marathon of the canals in Zwolle) last Saturday. In just a couple of days, a number of entrepreneurs from the catering sector came up with the idea of organising our own tocht along the Zwolse canals. The idea was received with great enthusiasm by thousands of Zwollenaren (people of Zwolle)  and 1500 participated in the marathon, making it a big success and of course, heel erg gezellig! (a lot of fun)

A view over the city canal in Zwolle during the Zwolse grachtentocht

 Hopefully, we won't have to wait for too many years to see a new edition of the Zwolse grachtentocht; and to be sure, we continue to wait and pray for der Tocht van Tochten (the marathon of all marathons) to finally take place for the first time in this century - the 16th edition of the Elfstedentocht.