It is hard to believe that the, parched, arid landscape of Extramadura can yield such an abundance of fruit, meat and vegetables but on his trip to this part of Spain, the Big Pan Man learned  that this was indeed the case.

The region is famous for its acorn-fed black pigs,

which produce the gourmet quality Iberico ham, or jamon as it is called locally. Incidentally, the ham takes 3 years to dry cure.

 

But after a week of selfless sacrifice, eating his way through the back-roads and villages of the area, with his veggie sidekick Anna – meeting foodies and producers along the way –  the Big Pan Man discovered that Extramadura had much more to offer than just ham. He even unwittingly got involved in a bull (well cow…) fight.

After an uneventful 2.5 hour flight, the Big Pan Man hit the ground munching in a bar in the village of Calera de Leon.

His first bite was a tapas. Well I am sure that many people know the story of how tapas evolved but, for the sake of those who don’t,  here it is. It seems that workers would head to their local at the end of a hard day, to have a cerveca (beer) or a glass of wine. Unfortunately, flies had a habit of going for a dip in the drinks, so the bar-keepers began putting  hunks of bread onto the glasses. Over time the bread became sandwiches and then titbits of food. Tapas were born. At every bar that he stopped in, the Big Pan Man was given free nibbles with his drink. A bowl of olives or sunflower seeds at the very least and even, joy of joys, a plate of pork scratchings (they must have known he was coming!)

Anyway, back to his first tapa.

 

Guarrito frito are spiced, deep- fried, pieces of suckling pig served with a few chips, most hot tapas seemed to come with them.

As night approached, he moved on to another bar.

 

Where he was much taken with the novel beer pumps and with a plate of deep-fried shredded potato- wrapped langoustines in a spicy tomato salsa.

 

But it wasn’t all tapas and beer for the Big Pan Man. Friends recommended that he went to a cow festival in the region. I have to say that he is no stranger to agricultural shows and farmers’ markets and he set off expecting a gentle bucolic event with the hope of some interesting food.

The fiesta was in full swing when he arrived. The locals had erected a wooden medieval-style structure in the village square and were all very excited.

The Big Pan Man was able to peer through people’s legs and saw a lot of people shaking sticks, waving coloured cloths and shouting at some bewildered-looking cows. He thought this odd but soon tired of what he considered to be a bit of a non-event. In this slightly bored state of mind, the Big Pan Man decided to go for a walk around the village. Passing through a small wooden gate, he began wandering the streets.

What happened next must surely remind one of Spike Milligan’s pastiche of the poem ‘Casabianca’

The boy stood on the burning deck

whence all but he had fled.

TWIT!

Turning a corner, the big pan man noticed that all of the people around him were climbing walls and huddling in doorways. He then understood why.  There was a long-horned wild cow galloping straight at him!

Calmly and with complete stupidity, he stood his ground and snapped-off the following photographs………

 

I am sure that you will agree , that it was a very narrow escape but I am secretly proud of the Big Pan Man. Also, it demonstrates that he is not easily cowed (Boom! Boom!)

After his traumatic experience, he consoled himself with a plate of Pinchitos Morunos &b chips. Let’s hope he remembered to pack the Clearasil…….

Then he saw the poster.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRIPE

For many years, following a disastrous experience with an Andouilllete (tripe sausage) in Brittany, the Big Pan Man has had a fear of tripe.  then, in a bar in Fuente de Campos, the waiter handed him two delicious looking tapas, which he found toothsome. He enquired  as to what the two dishes were and was told that the white one was ‘callos’ and the brown one was ‘rinones’. Rinones means kidneys whilst callos means tripe. It was a revelation….and he determined not to turn his nose up at any part of an animal. The Big Pan Man’s philosophy regarding meat is that, if one kills an animal, one should eat all of it and not be wasteful. Mind you, he did see criadillas rebozadas (breadcrumbed calves testicles) on a menu but chose not to sample them……..

 

People & cats

During his hectic week in Extramadura, the Big Pan Man met some lovely people. Fellow foodies, food producers and loads of terrific cats – he loves cats and it’s mutual.

Looney, one of his feline pals.

In Calera de Leon,, which is where the Big Pan Man was staying, he was priviliged to meet Francisco Balsera Cubero & his wife Marie Carmen who had  set up a cake factory on the outskirts of the village, to create employment for local women, even though he is a successful water treatment engineer and his wife works at the university. They specialize in baking high quality cakes and biscuits according to traditional local recipes, using locally sourced ingredients.

Francisco & Marie Carmen outside their cake factory.

Some of the delicious cakes and biscuits.

The business has been so successful that it is managing to ride-out the Spanish recession. Francisco & Marie Carmen are just the sort of benign entrepreneurs both our countries need. Viva Horno de Tentudia!

Manuel Rodriguez Florencio owns a Jamon factory on the outskirts of Monesterio,

where he has a shop full of mouthwatering Jamons, sausages, fine olive oil and other local specialities.

Manuel & another veggie friend, Annie, in Manuel’s shop. Annie teaches Manuel and his 5 year old son English. Apparently, Annie asked Manuel’s son what his favourite food was and he replied “Pate’ de foie gras” Awesome….

The Big Pan Man was lucky to be shown round Manuel’s factory.

Health & Safety.

The Jamon is prepared entirely by hand by highly skilled

workers, in the most pristine of conditions.

The delicious result.

 

Time for another of the Big Pan Man’s furry friends

Fluffy has a thing about armpits.

To be continued…