Gates, Arthur Bryants or Taberna de Pelon?
There's a little town near Segovia that boasts of their specialty. Suckling Pig is a dish whose flavor has been perfected for nearly 500 years. It comes at a steep price. If you cheap-out like me, you only get the head.
All I can say is that when my plate arrived in that greasy basement bar I was speechless. Compassion for the tiny thing fought with savage hunger that had been nurtured on the tender pork delicacies of KC BBQ. Before I lost my nerve I began to eat. The crackling skin tasted divine. The meat was moist and tender, especially around the cheek and under the jaw. The eyes had goody on the outside of them. What could I do? I eat baby-back ribs with no problem - do I cower now when "faced" with the culinary truth? No...
Pork has an interesting history in Spain. For 800 years, the Muslim rulers of Spain did not eat it, nor did the many Sephardic Jews that lived here. Following the very vengeful Christian Reconquest around 1490 A.D. It was a crime to be a Muslim or a Jew. A good way to protect your family and your assets was to be seen enjoying a good pork dish in public. If it was pork you were eating, you could not be accused of being a Muslim or a Jew. I, however, am Pentecostal and I like my pork - even if it is split and fried on a George Foreman Grill.
posted by windarkwingod | 10:55 AM
8 Comments:
You are a brave man.
You put adventure into eating. Good job! Way to dig into that pig face.
I prefer pork to beef and there is still no way I would be able to eat a pigs face, especially with it looking at me. I mean, who knows what wilbur was thinking when he got slaughtered. I know that eating ham and pork steak is still all of the same pig, but it just doesn't evoke the same feelings as looking at that picture did! I wouldn't eat a cows tongue or pigs feet either. There are just some things that you don't eat. (Unless they are in a tube ground up and called bologna or hot dog!--then it's fair game!)
Yeah, the whole food looking back at you is a little bothersome. That's part of my queasiness around lobster and crab.
However, the meat itself in that last picture looks real good.
Is that 2 heads or 1 head that has been split?
I think I would be ok ... except for the eyes. And something about picking meat out from around something's teeth so I can chew it with my teeth is a bit off-putting.
how are the fries?
That pigs face looks like something they would bring out on a food challenge on Survivor or Fear Factor. : )
The fries kept me sane, although some of them looked as if they had been chewed on...
I had the pigs feet T mentioned. I had the itty bitty pork fried knuckles and feet. Didn't know that's what I was ordering. The feet had no meat, just gristly itty bitty feet. The other bits of bone and meat were pretty decent. I'd try the suckling pig again, but I'd go for some meatier portion.
Post a Comment
<< Home