One of the things I like most about Andalusia is what I call its “tapas culture,” which is what was to have been the topic of this post. Instead, I’ve decided to wax poetic about tapeando some other day and save this entry for a discussion about swine.

Spaniards in general consume what’s widely known as “the Mediterranean diet”, which includes fish, legumes, eggs and rice. Tortillas here aren’t made of corn flour, and they aren’t dipped in salsa. Spanish tortillas are made from potatoes, eggs and anything else available that’ll add a little flavor and color. In addition to the basic Mediterranean diet, Andalusians have a particularly strong attachment to pork. Once, during an interview in a rural pueblecito, I asked an old woman if she could accept the practice of Islam in Spain, to which she had no objection. However, when the subject turned to a special menu on the AVE for those who can’t eat pork due to religiously dictated dietary restrictions, she responded with vehemence: “If you don’t like jamón, just get out of Spain!” Yes, they are that serious about pork here.

Especially valued is Jamón Serrano, which is the foreleg of swine that is cured in its entirety - hoof and all - and hung from the ceiling, for easy viewing. This can be a bit of a shocker for those unaccustomed to dwelling on the fact that the meat they eat truly did originate from a once-living thing that, once upon a time, must certainly have had a mother that loved it. This jamón has been considered a delicacy on the Peninsula since the Roman Empire.

Neat fact #1: All meat labeled “Jamón Iberico” is taken from free roaming, black swine that consume only acorns that have fallen from trees.

So what’s up with this obsession with pork? Around 700 CE, the Moors, a diverse group of Arab and Berber Muslims, invaded the Iberian Peninsula and wrested it from the Christian Visigoths. After the forced expulsion of Muslims (many of them Spanish converts) 700 years later, an individual proved that he or she was a good Catholic through, amongst other things, the consumption of pork (which, of course, is haram, or forbidden, in the Qur´an). This is the explanation most widely accepted in Spain, which, although perhaps not historically accurate, does nevertheless further an understanding of how Spaniards conceptualize themselves (as definitively not Muslim).

Neat fact #2: My neighborhood market was constructed over an old castle where many poor souls were once tried for heresy and later hung. Oh, the things you discover shopping for fresh fish and veggies.

However, it’s not just through what Andalusians eat that we can come to understand a bit about them, it’s also how they eat what they eat. Next month, as promised: tapas culture.