Museo Del Jamon on Madrid's Calle de Atocha is also a watering hole. The omnipresent cigarettes give smoked ham a new meaning.
Museo Del Jamon on Madrid's Calle de Atocha is also a watering hole. The omnipresent cigarettes give smoked ham a new meaning.
An Imam and a Rabbi walk into a bar, in Madrid, sit down and ask for the menu, take a brief look, and say in one voice: “Do you have anything other than ham?”
When I travel, cuisine usually accounts for a significant portion of the attraction, so you can imagine my disappointment upon arriving in Madrid last week. It was like a slap in the face being in one of the world most glamorous cities, in a country whose cuisine is over-glorified abroad, and find out that there are basically three items on the menu: Paella (which turns out I make better than most restaurants catering to tourists in Madrid), Tortilla (as bland an omelet gets), and Jamón (ham, perhaps the most extensive, and forcefully a source for pride in the menu).
I shall not go on ranting about the quality of the cuisine, as my three days in Madrid are by no means a scientific study, and I know that I could have found a wider, tastier selection had I gotten off the beaten path, because I honestly do not believe that 46 million people just eat bad food.
Fayyad's Sausage-less Paella
I shall rant, however, about the other observation I made during this brief trip: The ubiquity of ham in the Spanish menu. Not only does ham in its numerous varieties occupy the lion’s share of the list, but it is also, or pork fat, inserted in just about every dish there is. Dear Spain, my Paella is made without sausage, and it’s better than the one you served me.
Now I understand that some people find ham to be a delicacy, although the word loses some of its meaning with abundance, but if ham is not your cup of tea, especially for religious and cultural reasons, you’ll find it is inescapable.
For years, I expressed my dream of narrating a journey around the world through a tale of the evolution of eats: ingredients, cooking technique, serving style, and fusions. I thought I was original, until my brother Ameer pointed me to the works of anthropologist Marvin Harris a few days ago… so much for that project.
I insist on presenting my theory on this matter, however, for after my dismay at the epiphany, I found it mildly entertaining.
For eight centuries ending in 1492, Spain was Al-Andalus, the Arabic name it was given by its Muslim rulers. It’s safe to say, for those eight hundred years, ham was scarcer than illegal narcotics. Before that, I’m sure it was part of the diet, just like in Italy and France, but unlikely was as omnipresent in every dish as it is today.
The history of the Spanish inquisition may explain the prevalence of the cured pig. No sooner than the Islamic state fell, did the Spaniard armies, aided by other from the north, begin to expel Muslims out of the Iberian Peninsula, some were able to remain in place by converting to Christianity or pretending to do so. Jews who lived under the protection of the Islamic fate suffered a similar fate.
Imposing ham on all inhabitants makes life near impossible for “Moors” and “Judaizers” and forces out the closeted ones among them. Try refusing to partake in a meal with ham in it and you shall suffer the fate of Natalie Portman in Goya’s Ghosts. The excessive inclusion of ham in the land’s cuisine, no matter how delicious it is, is a method of exclusion. It is in effect, a means of ethnic cleansing.
And thus, a fine culinary tradition was lost 500 years ago, and the Spaniards themselves are paying for it more than any one else. Cheeky bastards…
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I guess China's taste for pork is an attack on Muslims and Jews also. As much as I love this site, that was completely ridiculous. Even if this was an attempt at humor, it wasn't a good one.
Spain has been one of the few European countries sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, why the hell would you even suggest they are anti semitic ?
Posted by Yassir | August 4, 2010, 6:56 pmThis isn't about anti-Semitism today; it's about the history of culinary traditions:
http://harpers.org/archive/2007/10/hbc-90001382
Posted by Benjamin Geer | August 5, 2010, 8:11 amI'm SO sorry about it!
(
and it's very delicious when it's real. Potato omelette can be fantastic but in the beaten track the don't cook it well.
? If you want I can even take you to halal places..:-)
I'm Spaniard, from Madrid and if I had known I could have made your life much more interesting in the culinary sense
The real paella does not have ham at all
would you, please, give me notice of your arrival and let me show you the city
Posted by someone from madrid | August 4, 2010, 7:04 pmOh wow, I did not expect a Madrid resident to be among the first readers of this post… How embarrassing!!!
Please know I still love your beautiful city, and I will take you up on the offer for a guided tour. Feel free to send me a note through the blog's contact info. Thank you
Posted by Fayyad | August 4, 2010, 7:15 pmBeing myself from Spain I cannot but tell you that it was your fault spending all your money to travel up to there and behave as a regular tourist. Spanish food is one of the best in the world if you just do some research on where to eat. That´s what I also did when I came to live in Texas: It´s not all about meat.
Posted by Laila Familiar | August 5, 2010, 4:19 amawesome analysis.
It is generally agreed that amongst all of Europe, Spaniard have ingrained ham in to their cuisine with greatest 'success'.
No coincidence as food was used as a means of rooting out the closet Muslims and Jews; and as a cultural domination over them; eventually annihilating them. We can all thank the Vatican for that.
Posted by OooKhalid | August 5, 2010, 11:36 pmSo true! I live in madrid, I,m christian bacon-lover, and even I just can,t take the pork any more! My local makes the most amazing tortilla, I have it every day… One week they offered the choice of tortilla with porc, or normal tortilla… For 4 days I had the one with pork… On day five I just asked for the regular one: big mistake! Evil eyes and disapproving looks all around. I heard during the inquisition that converted jews and muslims used to have pork festivals and parade down village streets with pig, to eat in public later… Still didn’t save them from being expelled 200 years after their non-converting bretheren! Great country, funny history! Next time you,re in madrid, check out txirimiri in la latina for contemporary tapas supper, or try cafe gijon for a well priced lunch menu del dia…
Posted by ramzi | August 8, 2010, 4:15 pmActually, one of the ways conversos were made to perform their new identity as good christians was to eat pork products in public. For conversos from Muslim families, eating pork and drinking wine in the public square on Friday. And for conversos from Jewish families, Saturdays.
Those other Mediterranean cultures on the front-lines with Islam — southern Italy, the Balkans — all feature pork. Like dress, food consumption is a way to mark identity — and to differentiate your self from your other.
btw, once converso communities figured out the game of dissimulation, they played with it. formerly Jewish families prided themselves at being the best curers of ham. Remember Dulcinea, Don Quixote's true love? Her family is described as such — a wink, wink to readers who know that the best pork lovers are conversos that have something to hide.
The best is, murcia, blood sausage. When made with pig's blood, and served with a nice rioja, it's triply unhalal for Muslims.
Posted by Sancho Panza | August 8, 2010, 10:00 pmThanks for the blog! If you want to keep up with your Spanish online or on your iPhone a good service is Babbel.com (http://www.babbel.com). Buen viaje!
Posted by Mara | August 31, 2010, 3:27 pmThank you so much, this was a good read. I was actually born in Spain ( not telling what year though!) but was moved around europe and lastly settled in Britain when I was 7. I dont remember much of the few years I was in spain, but the delicious smell of spanish food always seems to ring a bell in me or something. Funny, how I dont remember anything except the smells,isn’t it! I even found a whole website dedicated to spanish recipe, which gave me great delight and thought I ought to share with your readers. Anyway, thank you again. I’ll get my son to add your cast to my rss thing…
Posted by Maximo Quinter | December 2, 2010, 6:46 am