Get up very early to cook legumes with thermal water

There are days when I wake up very early to work, and I wonder who's working when it's still dark. Today I met some who "get going" at 5:30. At that time, they leave their tent and go to the hot spring in front of the church in Caldes de Montbui, with a wheelbarrow and three special (thicker) hot water jugs. When they get back to the tent, with the jugs full, they change the water for the chickpeas that had been soaking overnight—they pour in the hot spring water they brought—and put the pot on the fire. They do the same with the beans.

The ingredients are basic: thermal water, legumes, and a pinch of salt. They make as many trips to the spring as necessary to fill all the pots. When they're full and simmering, they make a few final trips to the spring to refill the carafes. At 8:30, they open the shop and sell the freshly cooked legumes. Until 8:30. But in the afternoon, they continue the work: they clean the pots and refill them with water from the carafes, let it cool, and at night, they add new legumes. They soak until the next day, and then, at 5:30, the routine of trips to the spring begins again.

"My grandmother already made all of this in the 1930s, when she opened the cooked legumes store," explains Christian Parellada, head of Legumbres Couple, one of Caldes' historic businesses that's still active. "She started even earlier because she cooked over a wood fire, and she had to be patient if the wood wasn't dry enough. We can light the gas stove instantly with a spark from the lighter," says Christian. "The thermal water (thanks to its minerals and the fact that it's somewhat bicarbonate) makes the cooked legumes softer with fewer hours on the stove. And since the water is already hot from the spring, it takes less time to start boiling," he tells me. "Many people in the town use the thermal water to make broth or cook. In the houses, they would line up to get water to eat," Christian comments.

Two other businesses in Caldes also use the thermal water to make their products: the Cal Sanmartí noodles and the Forn la Espiga de Oro.

The source where people mainly go to get thermal water—for cooking, bathing, cleaning, etc.—is Font del Lleó. Some people come by car to carry more and more bottles. Cars aren't allowed here because this is a pedestrian zone, but I think the police pretend they don't notice.

For a long time, coopers and basket makers have used this water (because it easily bent their raw materials, wood and wicker). It was also used to make yogurt and to peel the almonds for carquinyolis, one of Caldes' native products (by the way, how many towns in Catalonia defend the "paternity" or "maternity" of carquinyolis!). The water from the spring makes it possible to peel the almonds very well. Meanwhile, the thermal water leaves clothes whiter, cleaner, and softer. In Caldes, there are some municipal laundries where people still do laundry.

A walk through the center of Caldes with Anna Monleón, longtime director of the Thermalia Museum. We pass by an iron plaque on the well that regulates the water supply, on which is written "Caldas de MontbuyAnd I avoid stepping on it, I don't know why. There's a lot of history in Caldes that hasn't been erased.

We are now at the Roman baths, located in the same square as the Font del Lleó. In Roman times, these baths were not for enjoyment but for healing the sick, some of whom traveled a long way to come here. Throughout history, these baths have also housed a granary and a prison (several women accused of witchcraft were imprisoned there, twelve of whom were executed).

"What we see now is just a small part of the great thermal complex that existed in Roman times," Anna tells me. We're standing in front of a pool—without water—with steps on the sides. "It was one of the caldarium (hot water pool) –he specifies–. Notice that the original water inlets and outlets are there," he tells me.

In the 19th century, thermal baths returned to Caldes. "A mid-19th century Caldes is the most important thermal town in Catalonia and certainly in Spain, with eight spas on offer," Anna Monleón tells me, and recalls that kings such as Isabel II, writers such as Víctor Balaguer, musicians such as Ricard Lamote de Grignon, and also the football team have stayed there. therapeutic properties of its thermal water by bathing.

To fully understand the importance of thermal baths in Caldes, you must visit the Thermalia Museum, also located in the Plaza de la Font del Lleó. It is located in a building that, during the medieval period and until the 1970s, was a hospital offering, especially in its early days, free baths to the poor and medical services. Thermalia also dedicates space to art: it displays works by Manolo Hugué, who spent the end of his life in Caldes to treat bone conditions. There are also works by Picasso, who had a close relationship with Manolo Hugué's family.

At Thermalia you will find, among other curiosities, a set of Thermion brand bottles, on which it says "Natural medicinal water from Caldas de Montbuy(yes, the town's name is misspelled again). The initiative, from the beginning of the 20th century, did not prosper, because the benefits of the thermal water of Caldes are through bathing, not for drinking, its Its composition does not allow it to be kept in good condition, and its taste does not generate much enthusiasm.