El limón con la canela
la rosita con el jazmín
así me huelen tus carnes
cuando yo me arrimo a ti.
Lemon with cinnamon
Rose with jasmine
this is how you smell to me
when I get close to you.
A letra por tientos sang by Antonio Agujetas
I had a very unique upbringing in that I started ballet folklorico (Mexico folk dance) and flamenco at the same time around age six. I think my mom recognized I loved dancing and was trying to put me in different styles to see what I liked best.
I resonated with la flamenca straightaway and so it would be flamenco that I chose to study well into my twenties. Romani history, style of clothing, culinary ways, and of course their music, captured my curiosity early on. So, when the opportunity for me to stay in Andalucía at age 28 came about, I had the privilege to sit with two grandmothers (mother and daughter) who were descendants of gitano Romanis. They lived directly behind my little apartment in the old white village where I was staying–and if you are a flamenco enthusiast, it was the town where Camarón de la Isla’s father was born.
Listening and learning about the suffering their ancestors had endured was eerily familiar to my own. Under the Christian Reconquista of Spain they too were seen as “less than”. They were denied their language and rituals, their settlements were broken up, their foods changed, they were required to marry non-Roma people, and by the 17th century many of them were actually deported to the Americas. This trauma deeply affected their people and it is was still very noticeable. While trekking around southern Spain in 1999, I could plainly see that many Romani people were living in utter poverty depending on which neighborhood I was visiting. And yet, on these drives to different towns and villages–flamenco was always such a part of my experience with its music being played in cafes, bars, or on the beach. Flamenco is a Romani cultural expression, a way of expressing pain through dance, yet, it was this dance form that Spain had adopted as its own identity.
Spending time with these women in their home, listening to them tell stories of family (with my Spanish dictionary in hand or with another visitor translating as I am not fluent in Spanish), I realized we shared a very similar painful history as well as beautiful examples of resilience. Their grandchildren were in school, they were growing food at a nearby plot, they owned the home they lived in, and they were trying to keep their culture alive with their children. I think they saw something familiar in my eyes because we built a relationship of trust during those visits. They were extremely curious about me and would invite me over to learn how to prepare different dishes, and in exchange, I would teach them something. On that note, one of the dishes I taught them was New Mexico red chile sauce. It was very hard to come by dried red chiles that were actually “hot” in that town, but we worked with what we had and made the sauce. We also made flour tortillas but that’s another story.
I became a little fly on the wall as I would sit on the patio with them after lunch, listening to an old radio while they hung laundry out to dry or help water plants on patio. In hindsight, I now see how those homey little moments were such a treasure.
This is a very simple tea prepared with everyday aromatics found in many Andalucían kitchens (and now many Mexican kitchens) perfect in supporting our immune systems. I drank it on occasion while staying in Conil de la Frontera, when the grandmas had it going on the stove. They made it in a medium-sized pot and would warm the pot up as needed. They had mint growing in their tiny courtyard patio, and I believe the mint was a spearmint, but any mint variety should do. Oranges and lemons grow all over southern Spain, so I am sure the lemons were local. Be sure to wash them well if they are not organic, as you are preparing the tea with the peeling.
As with all herbal preparations, empower yourself by doing your own research on whether or not any herbal preparation is best in your current physical condition. I think it tastes delicious.
8 cups water
1 large or 2 small lemons, quartered
1 handful yerba buena (mint leaves)
5 sticks of canela (cinnamon)
Honey for serving
Fill pot with water
Add lemon, mint, and cinnamon sticks
Bring water to a boil
Reduce heat and simmer for half an hour
Keep tea on the stove like the grandmas did to drink throughout the day, or, store in refrigerator for later use by straining the liquid and storing it in a glass bottle/jar. Serve warm with honey.