The Art of Carving Spanish Ham

Carving Spanish ham is an art more difficult to master than it looks. It's not just about slicing any odd way. It requires skill and the right tools. I cannot teach you to carve it like a specialist but more or less you grab the basics when you've had good instructors and you've carved a ham or two to the bone. It is important to have a very sharp ham knife, which has a long and narrow blade and you should fix the piece in a ham holder, some sort of wooden framework with screws to secure both the wide end and the hoof. You start your cut from hoof to tip, that is from the upper raised part of the ham towards the bottom, first eliminating the thick fat but keeping the first slice of fat that you use to cover the ham meat when you finish. The very fat helps preserving the ham from drying and losing its quality. Beware you don't cut yourself. Keep your fingers off the direction of your knife's cut. It happens sometimes that it slips and you end up hurting the hand that is holding the ham. The slices should be as thin as possible and that is the difficult part. Try not to make a deep curve while you cut. The idea is to keep it flat and to cut thin. It doesn't matter if it takes longer for you and people clean up the dish before you finish serving the slices. That is normal! It happens all the time. Not everyone has the patience to go for the thinner slices and the nice presentation. The final result is definitely better. The shop in the picture is located in Barri Gotic, Barcelona, I think that it was at Plaça Sant Jaume.

Caganers and Politicians

Caganers and politicians have one thing in common, they both do the same s***. Caganers do it on the floor and it looks funny, politicians do it everywhere they go to give a speech and pass an antidemocratic law and that is certainly not funny. A caganer can impersonate almost everybody, it depends on the imagination of the artist that designs them. Caganers are used frequently to mock popular personalities although originally these figurines are meant for Nativity scenes. Caganers are from Catalonia and other regions nearby and it is common that they wear Catalan traditional clothes, that is, a white shirt, a barretina (red cap), dark pants and a faixa (a sort of sash or band around the waist). We have seen some interesting examples of caganers in Barcelona Photoblog in the past, as is the case of George Bush next to Fidel Castro and Artur Mas or Rafa Nadal, the famous tennis player. In today's image we see a traditional caganer turning his back on us, surrounded by a bunch of similar fellows and apparently just doing what they do best, dropping their stools, although this time there is a certain difference, he is wearing the Estelada or starred flag that is waved by Catalan independentists that is slightly different from the Senyera, accepted as the official Catalan flag. As you can see, although Caganers still represent the common people and mock almost anything, even politicians, they can be used to send a subtle message to whom it may concern.

Barcelona Carnival 2013: Elvis

Not than an Elvis impersonation is anything new to see specially without glasses but that tupee certainly caught my attention. This picture I took at Plaza Ibiza, Horta quarter once the local parade had come to an end. Participants and spectators joined at the square and started sharing experiences about the event. It's been yet another great year for Barcelona's Carnival this last weekend although technically it comes to an end tomorrow which is Ash Wednesday.

Worth mentioning is famous Sitges carnival that really lasts till the very end tomorrow and where many people from Barcelona go to if they have the chance.