Recipes from the day of Franco

A SECRET stash of recipes dating back to the Spanish Civil War has been uncovered in Spain.

The books containing 2,668 handwritten recipes were discovered during the renovation of Finca Torrecillas in Corvera, Asturias.

Each notebook was covered in meticulous handwriting, with different colour pencils used for headings and titles.

The books had been squirreled away by Maria Luisa, the current owners grandmother, and were thought to be written by her mother Isabel Estremera, who cooked in the Finca from 1930-1945.

The 17^th century Finca once fed some of the weary soldiers of the civil war throughout the Franco-era and was occasionally used as boarding house.

The hidden recipes hark back to a simpler time, when ingredients were rare.

Many of the ingredients in the book would have been hard to find at the time due to rationing, suggesting they may have been obtained on the black market.

The recipes are being transcribed by local author, Birmingham born Debbie Jenkins, with a view to publishing them as a recipe book.