So I was having one of "those days" at work today
and I took a trip to the market during lunch. I had to pick up some lunch meat
for the house. I arrived to a lovely specialty foods store at one end of the
market. Delaurenti and wound my way through the shelves of gourmet products
from around the world that you will never find at your grocery store. I love
looking at food stuffs that I have never seen before. If I had a higher income
right now I would have probably bought almost every item in the store, then
tried every single one when I got home. But alas, I went to the counter and
ordered only the two items that were requested from David; Roasted Ham and
Spicy Sopressata. While standing in front of the crazy selections of all kinds
of cured meats....
I read over all of the titles, then I saw it. Jamon Iberico. If you are not familiar with this cured meat Simon Majumdar a food writer describes this as one of the greatest foods on earth;
"Jamon iberico de bellota is prized for its unique taste, created in part by the aroma of sweet acorns that the pigs feed on ("bellota" means "acorn"). Iberico pigs must graze under Encina oak trees, because their acorns give the pigs’ fat a rich, creamy texture that melts in your mouth. The salt curing of the meat and the three years of aging that follows makes for a taste that lingers like a fine wine."
Read more: http://www.askmen.com/fine_living/wine_dine_archive_300/346_jamon-iberico-5-things-you-didnt-know.html#ixzz1xcYIrmV9
I have drooled watching Anthony Bourdain eating this beautiful paper thin meat on the Food Network, but never thought I could be eating it in Seattle. I thought this was a buy-the-plane-ticket-just-to-see kinda of a food. But there it was. Then I looked at the price, $79.99 a pound...
Well that explains the way people rave about it. So I decided to buy 4 slices. I mean they slice it so thin, how much can it cost? about $6.50 is the answer. Pretty steep for 4 slices of paper thin jamon. But, hopefully it will be worth it.
I left the market,
but not before being tempted by the huge case of cheese!
After work I treated myself for
getting through the tough day at work with four lovely slices of Jamon Iberico
and Prosecco!
Perfect!
I also bought a bottle of wine for tonight. We have been trying to watch this movie forever and both have been too tired by the end of the day, so I thought it would give us both some incentive to stay awake.
No comments:
Post a Comment