From the 1st of February, the “Museu Etnográfico da Madeira” will open to the public, in the museum’s lobby, the new temporary exhibition, within the scope of its biannual project, “ACCESS TO COLLECTIONS IN RESERVE”: “THE GYPSY – bran stove ”.
With the aim of providing greater collections rotation, the museum continues the project called “Access to Collections in Reserve”, with a new theme being presented every six months.
This semester, the museum recovered and made known, a centuries-old technique of cooking food.
Firewood, used to cook food, although abundant in some localities, was, in more remote times, a scarce commodity, due to its great demand and use. To obtain it, it was necessary to travel long distances in the mountains and in inaccessible places.
It was then that the gypsy appeared, used a little throughout the island, a wise way of using wood bran, from the work of carpentry and sawdust.
This material, difficult to burn, became combustible when pressed inside a tuff stone, built for the purpose, or, more recently, inside a tinplate container, reusing the “paint cans”.
The bran is introduced and pressed into the can, with two plump sticks, one fitted vertically, the other horizontally, which are then removed, forming the combustion tube, where the fire is set.
We can compare the gypsy to the modern gas stove, since its flame is constant and lasting. A gypsy emits a flame capable of cooking for 5 to 6 hours.
The origin of this technique, as well as its name, is unknown, although the latter may be related to the way of life of the gypsy ethnic group, the nomadism, as it is a stove that is easy to transport and assemble.
Technological development and the emergence of new ways of cooking led to the abandonment of the use of gypsy.
On the “1ª Lombada”, in the “Ponta Delgada” parish, in the municipality of São Vicente, some families use “Gypsy” sporadically, especially in get-togethers, where they cook for a large number of people, thus saving on gas costs, namely on the 1st of May, in “Serrada da Velha” and on the 1st Octave, at Christmas.
Entrance to the temporary exhibition is free.