Y UN JAMÓN! (ham)

Ham is amazing here. Did you know that in Spain they eat pretty much every part of that animal? In my opinion, most of the parts are good, though sometimes very disturbing thinking about what you're eating. I've been pondering about this since lunch today because I was eating with a couple who suggested the plate called "pig's cheek". At first, I was quite apprehensive about trying this dish, but my curiosity got the best of me. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was very tender and delicious, but still sort of disturbing eating off of the cheekbone. Since I've been here, I've also tried pig's foot, ear, nose, and body... as well as cow stomach. The ear and nose were sort of gross because they were deep fried and crunchy. All in all though, pigs are tasty here. I thought that I disliked ham until I tried it here... the ham/pork/pig in the US just doesn't compare to Spanish pigs. Yum.

While trying to find the Spanish name for the "pig's cheek" plate, I came across this that I think sums up very well what I wanted to express in this post:

------------------------------------------------------

The Sunday Times - August 12, 2007

Tucking in and pigging out - Reviewed by Bee Wilson

There is a theory in anthropology, says the food writer Paul Richardson, that the human race can be divided into “porcophobes and porcophiles: those cultures that flee from the pig as a taboo animal and want nothing to do with it, alive or dead, and those that make pork meat a central plank of their nutritional and culinary lives”.

Spain is definitely one of the porcophile nations. Jamon iberico, chorizo, morcilla, lomo, pork and beans, panceta, pig’s cheeks, pig’s ear, roast suckling pig. . . there is no end to the delicious porky things to come out of the Spanish kitchen....

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Then he goes on to talk about the Spanish cuisine and more pork and ham. If you want to read the whole thing, it is here: http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article2225556.ece

A goal of mine is to try the Madrid delicacy of bull testicles. I've always been very curious about that ever since I saw someone eating them on reality show. And, how cool would it be to have the random fact that "I've eaten bull testicles"? Have you?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

In other news, I haven't been up to much. Just taking care of the kids, going to school, and trying to figure out how to renew my NIE (Spanish ID). Like everything here involving paperwork, it is a very frustrating thing to have to do. Other than that, things are going very well. Lately, I've been getting more and more excited to come hom. I really can't wait!

Linnell