Spain: Jamón it!

In Spain, at least down south in Andalucía, they are obsessed with jamón serrano. That is dry-cured ham, people. And when I say obsessed, I mean, they worship the pork.

This is a typical sight in any grocery store and in every bar and restaurant:



Those are whole leg o' hams hanging on a rack.

The kind with the black hoof is supposed to be the most special (jamón Ibérico), because those pigs get to roam around in the woods getting fat on acorns until... um...



Because I am basically vegetarian, I can't get over there being a hoof attached to my food, period. If you are squeamish about ham, do not go to Spain. If, however, you like pork a whole lot, you may want to consider selling everything and relocating there.

I'm really not kidding. Here is a "friend" I made in the local market in Madrid.



He saw me taking photos of food (I guess this marked me as TOURIST, though I do it at home, too) and tried to gross me out by showing me the appetizing dead piglet he had in a bag. Oh. F*ing great.

See his friends laughing like naughty little gremlins in the background? I totally kept my cool, acted all nonchalant, and took the photo. Wasn't going to let them win. I do hope they wash that wee little piggy down with a nice cold glass of karma.