Tripa vacía, corazón sin alegríaGastronomía y dietética en los refranes españoles

Resum

In the rich collection of proverbs of the Spanish language, we find many in which food and culinary practices appear. Generally, they talk about basic ingredients and simple preparations, which are typical and connected to Spanish culture. Currently, food has been greatly enriched and diversified but the variety that is known today is not reflected in the traditional proverbs of the Spanish language. Some of the proverbs that mention food and its ingredients are not to be interpreted in a straight sense, but rather metaphorically. We have therefore decided to do without them and register only those that are related to gastronomy and dietetics and that are documented in the oldest Castilian proverb collections (15th to 17th centuries), as well as some Mexican proverbs, to cite also some characteristic foods of that country. Thanks to all of them, we know what people used to eat, the appreciation they felt for certain foods and drinks, as well as the precautions on them, if they were consumed in excess or at certain times of the year. A large part of the collected proverbs refers to wine, followed by those related to bread.