Yesterday, I took some clients from Hong Kong on one of my ham tour to the Sierra of Aracena. We had some rain a few weeks ago but nothing since so the countryside is still looking rather dry. Taking a walk on the farm that we visited, we saw quite a few pigs looking for the first acorns that have fallen to the ground. The period of time when the pigs eat acorns and put on a lot of weight is known in Spanish as the “montanera”. It is quite typical for an Iberian pig to gain 60 to 80 kilos during this period. Acorns account for most of the weight gain along with grass which is not in plentiful supply at the moment and so everyone is hoping that it will rain again soon. In the first photo below you can see a pig rooting around for some acorns and in the second some acorns still on the tree.
At the farm our hostess cut some slices off one of the family’s hams for us to taste along with a glass of fine, the perfect accompaniment, as I think I have mentioned in at least one previous blog entry.
