When does a custom become a classic? For some it has to do with permanence over time, for others with excellence… Or perhaps it is a conjunction of both things. And how Mirtha Legrand He says, she’s a legend, and your Sunday teas with friends They are a classic that endures over the years.
Dozens of guests passed through those snacks, some of them with perfect attendance and others more itinerant, as is the case of Susana Giménez. Somehow, that Sunday celebration that used to take place after the live broadcast of her televised lunches managed to become a meeting point for the diva with her “small table.”
When, who and where
You no longer need an invitation, the appointment is every Sunday at 5:30 p.m. at Chiqui’s house in Barrio Parque. If for some reason the meeting does not take place, Mirtha herself gives advance notice through WhatsApp. The assistants are the businessman Martin Cabralesthe producer Dany Mañas, Alejandro Veroutis, Alfredo Cortiyour image advisor Hector Vidal Rivas, her lifelong friends Maria Teresa Villaroel and Amalia Idoyaga, Marcela Tinayrethe designer Gino Bogani and Teté Coustarot. Sometimes everyone can be there, sometimes someone has a commitment, but the tea is made no matter what. There is no exact year of birth of the meriencenas; On more than one occasion, his assistants referred to the fact that it is something they have done “always.”
“A few days ago I found in my files a note from Gente from 1980 about teas. Susana, Bergara Leumann and Percivalle were there, as well as me, who was their young producer,” details Mañas in conversation with THE NATION and highlights that they are only made in Mirtha’s house and not in that of any other member of the group, which is why she always occupies the head of the table. “For years he had lunches from Monday to Friday, teas at his house on Sundays, so he only rested on Saturdays from the main place at the table”he highlights. The rest of the guests have no fixed place, although they feel more or less the same every week.
If for some reason Mirtha cannot be present (work or illness, otherwise she is never absent), the tea is not made. “If it’s summer, those of us who are in Mardel eat several times at the Costa Galana with her, on the days she doesn’t go to the theaters.” One of the hardest times was during the pandemic, where unlike what many people did, they did not get together by video call. Furthermore, that year was a very sad year because on May 1st Goldy, Mirtha’s twin sister, died at 93.
As in the lunches and dinners that she has in front of the camera, the conversations are very varied and she is always up to date with everything: “We talk about current events, with heated debates, led by Mirtha. Marcela, Teté and I, We accompany her with information, laughter and searching Google on our phones for some information or character name.. I bring a lot of humor and sometimes I have prepared songs,” says the producer. “There isn’t a Sunday that doesn’t ask me what I saw in the theater, because I generally tell him all the good things I see in the off-screen. You are also interested in knowing which are the most successful shows on Corrientes Street.”.
The news of the moment does not go unnoticed during the snack either: “Of course we talk about the political issues of the week and now, the World Cup, Messi and the National Team are added“, clarifies Mañas.
Snack by steps
As if it were one of their television programs, in which there is a time for everything and nothing, from the decoration to the menu, is left to chance, the invitation begins with a talk of approximately half an hour where the protagonists greet each other. Then they go to the dining room where every week there is a surprise, As explained by the producer who knew how to accompany the host on her program for more than a decade: “The tablecloths and tea sets change every Sunday and are always the same tone, for example, all pink, or all white. And there is always a floral centerpiece.”
Already near the table, before sitting down they take the Sunday photo that one of them, usually Teté or Martín Cabrales, always uploads to their networks. The assigned “photographer” is Mónica, Legrand’s collaborator, with Mañas’s phone number who, as soon as she arrives home, sends her to everyone. As happens in all groups of friends, one shot is not enough because someone always comes out with their eyes closed or chatting, although the hostess makes the exception: “Mirtha is always perfect.”
What is served on the table? Usually the person in charge of providing the food is the Chiqui, which can be crumb sandwiches, doughs, puddings, while guests add some other delicacy. For example, Dany remembers to almost always bring cakes, although other times she has ordered sweet bread, churros or chipá, also depending on the time of year; For example, during the weekend of May 25 they enjoyed hot chocolate. To drink there is tea prepared by Mónica and water, and as the afternoon goes by… Pizza with soda! Alcohol is never served and so, after 8pm, they have a kind of dinner to conclude the weekend. “Cup, cup, everyone goes home!” says the owner of the house a while before nine at night, thus ending the day.
Mañas cannot remember any particular snack or any anecdote that week after week generates, on the one hand, moments of great laughter and on the other, very heated debates, all very similar to what happens in Mirtha’s night. A very special moment is when occasional guests arrive for the tea, such as Susana Giménez for example, who several times came as a “surprise” (for Mirtha, since the others were aware that she would appear) or when the Cuban journalist and writer Ismael Cala was present, on some occasion that coincided with his stay in the country.
Legrand’s Sunday tea is much more than a gathering with friends: it is a tradition that has been going on for more than thirty years. There they eat delicious things and talk about everything like any group of friends does, there is laughter and tears, they talk about theater and politics, current events and personal things.
This Sunday will not be the exception: at 17.30, Mirtha will be ready with tablecloths and new dishes waiting for her lifelong friends with tea, pastries, cakes, pizza and complicity.
