Perhaps bread, beer, oil and wine are the first processed and elaborated foods in human history. The fact is that bread has been a staple in our diet (and also essential) since prehistoric times.
Many, many years ago, humans learned to grind cereal grains by grinding them between two stones. There came a day that by chance, or perhaps curiosity, the flour was soaked in water and it turned into a paste. Later they told us that if that paste dried either because of the sun or because it was close to the fire, it became a more digestible mass than dry or powdery. And also by chance or carelessness they found the magic formula, some dough got lost in some dough and it fermented (yeast fungi and lactic acid bacteria -mother dough-) spontaneously. They put this dough in an oven and were very surprised because this bread was lighter and easier to digest than unleavened bread.
In times gone by (medieval times), ovens were a royal or lordly property monopoly and were leased at municipal auction (public ovens). In the Albaida Archive we have preserved, among others, documents from the 16th century (1541, 1566). XVII (1636), XVIII (1710), XIX (1833) where ovens are leased, operating ordinances are approved, the rights of the "flaqueria" (bakery, flequer = bread oven, baker), etc. Regarding the supply of bread, a distinction must be made between the oven, or place where the dough is baked, and the bakery, which would be the shop where the product was sold to the public. In the middle of the 19th century and already in the 20th century, private individuals became owners of the ovens (private ovens), but they had to send to the town hall the quantities of kilos of bread baked throughout the year (acts of 'work inspection and sworn report of sellers of wheat, flour and millers).
In a document from the year 1923 we can account for 6 ovens in the town: 1.- Carrer Alicante, nº3, 70 thousand kg. Bread and 90 thousand kg of flour sold; 2.- Carrer Major, nº 9, 16 thousand kg. Bread and two thousand five hundred kg of flour sold; 3.- Carrer Nou, nº 26, 36,500 kg. of bread and 1,300 kg. of flour sold; 4.- Carrer Trinitat, nº 11, this oven gives the information differently and says that they make 50 kg. of bread a day and sells 1,700 kg. of flour; 5.-Carrer Major, 6, 13,250 kg. of bread per year and 3,500 kg. of flour sells We can't find any answer from the 6th oven and we don't know which one it would be either.
The production of bread is divided into a set of chain processes that go from mixing ingredients to obtaining the final product, bread. The four stages of the baking process are: measurement of ingredients, the fermentation process, the formation of the pieces and cooking. To make a good kilo of bread, or at least that's what family and baker friends have told me, you need a kilo of wheat flour, six hundred milliliters of water, one hundred and fifty grams of sourdough, 20 grams of rent (yeast), 18 grams of salt.
In the past there were no retail establishments as we know them now, it was the universities or town councils that owned the monopoly of these services and leased them to individuals, for a period of one year. The person opting for the concession had to pay a commission to provide a service similar to today's grocery and drug stores. Until the middle of the 19th century, the town councils lived on the income provided by the private lease of a series of commercial activities such as the bakery, the inn, the tavern, the grocery store and the butcher.
University, title that was given to the towns of the Crown of Aragon that were not royal towns and, therefore, were not summoned to Courts. In history, it has also been, since the beginning of the 13th century, a collective of inhabitants of a city or town.
In the Albaida archive, we keep from 1625 to 1855 lease deeds for the taverns and other establishments that were leased.
The word TAVERN is an establishment where wine is sold at retail and where other alcoholic beverages are also served.
"Tavern that has good wine, fortune is close to it": it means that well-stocked and well-served trade usually prospers.
The word BAR is an establishment where drinks and food are served. It is an anglicism that means "bar" (table). It passed into French with the same meaning at the beginning of the 19th century and in the Spanish language we find the word, for the first time, in José Alemany's dictionary of 1917 defined as "bar counter".
Other commercial spaces were:
GROCERY, place or shop where oil, vinegar, dried legumes, cod, etc. are sold in retail. According to the royal order of 1818, the public places or "abacerías" will be composed only of the five articles, namely: wine, vinegar, brandy, oil and meat.
ULTRA MARINES, always in the plural, is an establishment where edible products are sold that, in general, can be easily preserved. These are genres that come to us from across the sea (from America or Asia), especially edibles, such as coffee, cocoa, sugar, etc.
The data :
1625, April, 12 and 14, two wine and oil taverns are auctioned: one is kept by Miquel Mollà and the other Vicent Gisbert leased for a year. 96 and 49 pounds per year, respectively; paying the tax imposed by the jurors and administrators of the town.
Sisa: it was a tax levied on edibles and other goods, deducting part of the weight or measure.
1784, the judge, councilors and trustee say that several steps have been taken to lease 3 shops and taverns separately, as is customary in the town, but that no bidder has appeared. They ask that they be rented together, tavern plus tent, because if there are people who would ask for them.
1855, October, lease auction of the Cardavall tavern and abaceria tent for the following year. They go together to try to get more bidders. They will sell, delivery, oil, wine, vinegar, rice, baejo, tuna, and dried legumes. 3 calls or bans are made and the same is sent to the surrounding towns (El Palomar, Atzeneta, Benissoda and Aljorf - it was still an independent town). The terms and conditions of the auction are: one year lease, monthly cash payment of the lease, deposit, no discount or waiver can be requested, no position will be accepted that does not cover or exceeds 2 /3 parts of the previous year (360 billion reais), the lessor's obligation to have the store full of wine, vinegar, oil, rice and dried legumes throughout the year and tuna from July to September, sardine and cod, all of good quality, and finally, EL VEÍ COLLITER of the town has full freedom to sell in his house, wholesale and retail at the prices that suit him and not pay any remuneration when the articles are own harvest
The secretary reads all the chapters of the lease and then lights it A PIECE OF MIST, warning and warning that the brokerage would only last as long as the match was lit. The lease of the tavern and abaceria of Cardavall Batiste Tormo i Vidal remains for the amount of 400 billion reais.
Trillion, alloy of silver and copper of variable proportion that was used as a metal for the manufacture of currency.
XX century,
1957 register, 3 café-bars, 5 grocers, 2 abaceries appear in the register of tax payers
In 1961, there are 13 establishments that pay taxes on the consumption of beverages and 14 supermarkets.
In 1979, there are 6 bars that have a terrace with tables and chairs during the summer months.
21st century, after the two crises suffered in these two decades, more bars to "get together" are closing than opening. Those bars of all life, eternal, unchanging, outside central places where friendship could arise between owner, waiter and customer and you went to have vermouth or picaeta.
The oldest and most open in the town of Albaida are "El Palau" (formerly "Fonda Comercio") and "Círculo Segrelles". The "Círculo Segrelles" had its first location on Carrer Nou and then moved to the current location on Carrer Major. It opened in 1927 under the name "Plus Ultra", but two years later it was renamed "Club Segrelles".
Joseph Moll
Health and ball
March news from the Albaida Library-Archive
