Abstract
What makes a luxury good so valued among the elite? How is luxury defined? This paper examines sugar and the value placed on sweet treats in early 17th-century Spain when sugar was a prized, expensive good among the elite. The 1611 cookbook by royal chef Francisco Martínez Montiño draws attention to this through the popularity of sweet goods, the portion sizes of the recipes, and the emphasis on sweet treats being served at gatherings, and the 1747 recipe book written by the head pastry chef for the Spanish crown Juan de la Mata provides an interesting contrast as sugar’s availability increased and the definition of its value as a luxury item changed. This paper employs these items written by agents of the crown to ascertain how the elite used sugar as a communicator of power and later redefined its value as a luxury good, as scarcity could no longer serve as the sole indicator. The separation in time between the two works allows for an analysis of the role of sugar in elite circles during an alteration of the value of sugar and the creation and self-fashioning of a new professional craft of pastry makers as savory separates from sweet.
Recommended Citation
Rafaty, Liam (2025) "Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice: Sweets as a Communicator of Power and Wealth in Early Modern Spain," Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal: 6 (1), 90-106. https://works.swarthmore.edu/suhj/vol6/iss1/4
