Spanish Journey Part Two
2. Cordoba

Narrator
In Cordoba you get the impression that the past never disappeared completely. That is why there is no need to reinvent it or recreate it. Moorish Cordoba continues to glow with all its splendour.
In a way, this building contradicts the old proverb: "It is the winner that writes history." It was Catholic Spain that won the Reconquest, yet today this building is still known as La Mezquita [the Mosque]. If we let ourselves get carried away by its columns and filigree work we would still believe we were in the golden years of the Caliphate.
Nevertheless, not all the buildings from the Caliphate are in such good condition. In the outskirts of Cordoba is Medina Azahara [Madinat Al-Zahra in Arabic]. The man in charge of the restoration and reconstruction of the city is Antonio Vallejo.

Robert Elms
Was Madinat Al-Zahra originally a Moorish city?

Antonio Vallejo
Yes, it was a city that was founded in the 10th century by the first Caliph of Al-Andalus, Abderraman III, designed to be his personal residence as well as seat of the government of Al-Andalus. So not only were the Caliph and his court resident here, but all the administrative buildings of the Caliphate were also there. The destruction that took place here from the 11th century onwards was so devastating that not only did the city disappear but its place-name did as well. The name Madinat Al-Zahra disappeared off the map and nobody knew where it was. It was only rediscovered in the 19th century. The work we are engaged in at present is recovering the remains, putting this giant jigsaw puzzle back together and with that we can start rebuilding this site.

Robert Elms
Yes, and it is probably the work of a lifetime.

Antonio Vallejo
Yes, I'm sure you're right, the work of many lifetimes, not only mine. The reconstruction of this building is surely the biggest scientific project with regards to the restoration of our heritage that has taken place in this country this century.

Narrator
But it is not only the buildings of the past that are recovered as Spain attempts to recover the country's Arab heritage. In Cordoba, Don José García, owner of the restaurant El Caballo Rojo, has dedicated his life to culinary archaeology.

Robert Elms
This is from the time of the Moors, isn't it, with the spices and sweet and sour?

Don José García
It is one of the most interesting dishes in Mozarabic cuisine because it is a dish that comes from Syria. It is cooked in the oven with oil. Once it was golden they would take the vinegar and honey and cook it very, very, very slowly and then add a little saffron. Saffron has been known in history since the time of the Romans. The Romans never used it for seasoning.

Robert Elms
Finally we come to the desserts: are there many desserts here that have Arab influence?

Don José García
You have to take one thing into account: until the Moors arrived in Spain, sugar was unknown. They were the ones who introduced sugar, they brought sugar cane with them from Egypt. This dessert is very interesting because, as I said, they brought sugar and they also brought the citron fruit. There is a translation that describes it as "a large lemon" and it has a popular name, which is "angel hair." When you stew that compact mass with water and sugar, it creates a kind of hair, so delicate, yellow, and blonde that it is popularly known as "angel hair."

Robert Elms
This dinner is history brought back to life, isn't it?

Don José García
I was saying, just a few days ago, when the Queen of Spain was here, I made her some idiosyncratic dishes with what I have learnt from books, from what I have learnt of the history of Cordoba and she said to me: "Look Pepe, I am eating culture!" Exactly. Those were the words of the Queen of Spain.

Robert Elms
And that is wonderful, it is a wonderful story, thank you very much.

Don José García
Likewise.

[music]