Torta De Gallina

This recipe hails from the 'Libro de varios guisados,' a precious Mexican manuscript dated 1808, authored by Doña Maria Ramona Quixano y Contreras of Silao. The book is a handwritten collection, rich with recipes for chicken, salsas, and postres, offering a vibrant window into early 19th-century Mexican domestic cookery. 'Torta de Gallina' reflects a period of cultural blending, where Spanish and creole influences married European culinary traditions with New World ingredients, producing hearty, luxurious fare at the tables of well-to-do families. The recipe showcases the importance of poultry, the use of nuts, dried fruits, and warming spices—a reflection of the global pantry shaping colonial Mexican cuisine.

In the kitchen of 1808, this torta would have come together in a heavy clay cazuela—a broad, shallow earthenware vessel used over a wood or charcoal fire. Bread would have been torn or crumbled by hand, eggs beaten with a fork, and meat chopped on a wooden board with a large kitchen knife. Once mixed, the torta mixture would be set over the fire, likely with coals above and below to cook evenly 'between two fires.' The broth would be made in a small pot or cazuela, strained through a simple cloth or sieve before finishing the dish.