I'm cleaning the branches so the place stays clean. If not, then when you turn it over, the shovel will not trip. This year the late winter morning was sunny. The old cisqueros begin their work by cleaning the esplanade where the cisquera will be set up. Well, the ground is prepared in a place where it is as clean as possible, unless there are no stumps, as clean as possible, because to turn it over what is needed is for the shovel to enter the ground so that it does not trip. in the trunks that are in the branches. The rest of the collaborators at the party are in charge of preparing large bundles with the tamaras, which are the branches resulting from the pruning of the oaks. Engavillar Preparing the firewood, then you put it on your shoulder, pick it up, and take it to the cisquera. They are the remains that remain from the felling that has been done, from the felling of the oak, which cannot be used later. In the center of the esplanade, a small bonfire is prepared that will serve as the start of the cisco manufacturing process. The cisqueros from Las Cuevas de Soria are the team here. This, 70 or 80 years ago, was the energy that was consumed in the town, those of us who lived in the town. It has been lost because it is no longer consumed, something is used to cure chorizos, people use it... Almost like a tradition. Exactly, today it is tradition. Tradition and for our children to see... so that we know. The cisco was manufactured from the month of October to March, that is, taking the harshest months of winter in which the water froze and the cold felt on the skin. In the past, the cisqueras were set up in all the plots of the mountain and each family took care of their own. Currently, to organize the festival, a different plot is chosen each year. The work of making the cisco consists of piling up large bundles of branches that are thrown orderly and without limit on the bonfire that has been lit in the center of the oak forest. They have to be intertwined, one for one side and one for the other. Well, don't let them fall apart. If you do them well the sheaf doesn't break. Well, the firewood should be a little soaked because it makes it better, but it can also be made green, which is fine. And if it is dry from one year to the next too. But if it has been dry for more years, then it is very old, because the branch is thin and loses its resistance. And firewood, even if it is wet, is better for making cisco. Things go slower. The system of adding the firewood is... you have to go and add the firewood where you see that it is already stale to cover it so that it does not pass, because if you add it where you have continued adding the previous one. The point is to place the sheaf where the embers are most visible, so that the fire does not spread and melts evenly throughout. This without problems, nothing happens. Do not be afraid. You see nothing here. That's the good thing, that you have to squeeze the firewood so that it doesn't go empty. Of the last ones who were doing cisco, a certain Adolfino Romera, Isidro Cabrerizo, who is me, and Félix Aragonés. Well, maybe 30 years ago. It's just that in the past we came to the mountains and we brought a pair of pants and they came piece after piece, sewn upon sewn. It broke. another piece And not now, now we come with the monkeys, who are always more protected. Now it's already burning inside. In other words, it is already as if it were melting, cooking into a word. So that the cisco does not pass, where you see white, you have to add leaves that are being collected there, so that you can move all the sticks towards the part of the smoke. And it is the last thing that has gone out, the smoke. This is truly the Cisco broom, yes. It can be from a branch, it is holm oak. Now, for example, you add some leaves and it lets you get close. Already solved. So now you can get closer, if not, it burns a lot. The second part of the process consists of reducing the combustion of wood by preventing the entry of oxygen. To do this, with forcachas, leaf litter is spread over the cisquera. At the same time, the twig that has not yet burned is placed in the central part of the cisquera where the fire is. The point is to put the wood in very slowly so that a lot of sticks don't come out later, which is what we say, because if you put the wood in very quickly then it comes out poorly melted, as it were. It is used so that the fire slows down and the cisco does not burn. Well, you have to stir it to turn it around, so when you stop adding firewood you have to move the branches closer to the smoke so that the strongest fire remains where the smoke goes. When we think that it is cooked inside, we add some leaves so that it keeps for a while longer, so that it does not burn because of course, everything white that you see is a loss of cisco. As soon as we see that it is already cooked inside, then we put the horguinero in to turn it, so that we already see that the cisquera is past. Now we are going to put in the horguinero, which is this stick. Then, it is stuck, it is passed as much as possible and it is turned around and then the cisquera starts again on fire. With the horguinero, the cisqueros remove the embers from the base to the mouth, forming a flattened pile with an empty space in the center where the branches that have not yet burned will be placed. By moving the pile of embers, the temperature of the embers is reduced and the incineration is prevented from continuing. And the water. You have to throw her out. Now we will begin the shutdown process, which will collect water little by little and we will have to turn off the cisquera. We have to leave a space at the top of the pile so that the tamara can breathe and cook little by little, which is what we call the oak branch here. And from there comes the material that is the cisco. It will cook for approximately 20 minutes and half an hour. This is small and we will have it for 20 minutes. If it were a large one, we would have to have it more so that everything would be fine. The veteran cisqueros still remember the golden age of charcoal and cisco manufacturing, when the mountains of Las Cuevas de Soria smoked in winter from every corner. Well, in the past they used most of the cisco for braziers, because here there was a man who was very dedicated to charcoal and he might have 40 or 50 men working in the mountains, on his behalf. Then everyone in the town, if not all, 90% in the winters were exclusively in the mountains to burn cisco and charcoal. And first return to the smoke, which is where it goes out the most. The smoke is about to be in the north, as the day is coming. We have to go little by little with the shovel, turning it and extinguishing it with water, until we get it cooked to the exact point and that it sounds, that it clicks, that it sounds like a canutillo as they say in the area. Now we are going to let it cook a little more because there is a lot of fat and then we turn it one way and then the other and then we take it out. And try not to step on the cisco so as not to crush it. I always drag my foot. This is the most dangerous thing to set fire to. This thing turns on and it looks like it's off and it's burning inside. Well, the quality can be the same in summer as in winter. What happens is that when it goes out now, the way the ground is, then when the cisco returns, when it falls to the ground it picks up moisture. If it were in the middle of summer, then the ground was hot and then we would have to add more water. To smother the embers and stop the combustion process, the cisqueros move the burned twig with their shovels, passing it from one pile to another, while soaking it with water. The first turn always towards the smoke, where the smoke goes, to the system which is the place where there is the most fire so that it is easier to put out later. It is given three turns, normally three turns, and on the fourth it goes directly to the bag. How does it sound, uh, how does it sound, the foundry. With the product still hot, the veteran cisqueros proceed to packaging it in bags. The current ones are made of plastic materials and have replaced the traditional ones made of raffia, sisal and hemp. Now the bag is hit three times, and it is turned over. There, and the bag fits perfectly. Very good, very good. It has turned out very good. It sounds like a joke. The bad thing is that it has no sale. When there was a torn sack, a branch was taken from the branches, put here in front of the hole so it wouldn't come out and one less cisco paddle that I was carrying. And with that the cisco was no longer going away. So we had no loss in transportation and we had gained in packaging. As the bags are filled, their mouths are sewn with rope using needles carved from hard wood or those used by saddlers for their work. Once someone gives fire. And when the cavalry carried it to the town, maybe you would arrive and some sack would be on fire. And there have been people who have put it in the river, taken it out and said, it's already turned off. And in the end it burned. You have to empty it and turn it a few times to turn it off. If not, it doesn't turn off. And separate the bags, because of course, if we put them all together and there is one that catches fire, they will all burn. Well, before it was sold. Now he gets into a ship to see if anyone wants him. We have made this cisquera for example with 18 bags, but we have made them with 60 bags and maybe more. Well today 18 bags, about 22 kilos. 400, it's 400, yes, 400. It has been 22 years since the veteran cisqueros and a group of enthusiasts for the traditions of Las Cuevas de Soria decided to rescue their craft from oblivion to transmit it to new generations. The party continues in the mountains with a popular meal roasted over embers and enjoyed with good drinks of wine. The festive day ends at sunset with the transport of the bags to a warehouse. The cisco obtained will be stored in the bags until it is requested by those potential buyers who still use the brazier as a heat source. Currently, the cisqueros festival in Las Cuevas de Soria remains faithful to its date on the second Sunday of March, with the collaboration of a group of young people who have learned the cisco manufacturing technique. I am Eugenio Monesma, director and producer of the documentary you just watched. If you liked it, I encourage you to subscribe to the channel by activating notifications from the bell and so you can enjoy the hundreds of documentaries that I already have on the channel and which I will be uploading weekly.
