More obsession with pig

All hail the Black Iberian Pig, the bald, acorn-loving, Spanish porkers also known as pata negra (“black hoof”). These little boars and sows are like compact calorie burning machines that also have the ability to get really fat right under their skin and between their muscles. So, all hail the pork lover who decided that, after the pig is weaned off its mother, it should eat nothing but sweet corn and barley to fatten up, enough to let its happy trotters trot out into the oak forest and eat nothing but fallen acorns till slaughter.

But by far, all hail the butcher at our fancy schmancy butcher case, the meat-loving, care-free, free sample-slinging man who, after seeing us eye the gorgeous hunk of $89.99/lb Jamón Ibérico de Bellota in the case, gave us two very thin pieces of it for free. Never has a piece of waxy tissue paper looked so much like an offer from carnivorous gods. Never has a piece of cured meat looked so shiny from the delicious juices and molecules of acorn-fed fat! One bite of this thin strip of ham was meaty and delicate at the same time, with the slight salt of the rind adding some extra bursts of flavor while the fat and meat melted in my mouth like a delicious, soft, ham flavored strip of butter. I barely had to chew – it felt as if the fat dissolved over my tongue and told the meat, “Hey, come along for the ride.” Long after eating, our entire mouths were coated with a delicious wash of lightly salted flavor.

Jamon Iberico has been sitting in the back of my mind as something I would once hope to eat, and now it is something that is now at the forefront of my mind, as something that I hope to acquire, consistently, once I start making some money. Till then, little black pigs, eat your acorn-loving hearts out.