S U M M E R 2 0 1 5 | W E S T W O R L D A L B E R T A 25
Aracena, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the
westernmost range of Spain's Sierra Morena
Mountains. The park borders the village of
Corteconcepción, where the Eíriz family has
been making artisanal ham for five genera-
tions, since their company, Jamones Eíriz, was
established in 1818.
As an ardent animal lover and what I like
to call a "mindful meat eater," this is one of the
most memorable experiences of the trip for
me. I share gleeful sideways glances with the
other group members as the happy pigs' curled
little tails bounce past us toward Manolo and
the tasty acorns falling around him.
Next, we tour the site's ham production
facility – poking fun at one another's hairnets
and blue, elfin shoe covers. We arrive in a
bright interior courtyard to discover tables set
with a dizzying selection of rosemary-flavoured
hard cheese and fortified wine, as well as, of
course, the entire array of Eíriz ham. After-
ward, we link arms and walk back to the coach,
grinning from ear to ear.
Myth
#
5, Proven Deliciously Wrong:
The food sucks.
It's day five – Seville – and 10 of us are huddled
around a table on the terrace at Casa Robles, a
fine-dining restaurant that serves traditional
Andalusian cuisine. We laugh, pouring Tem-
pranillo wine and passing plates of silky Iberian
ham, pescaito frito (fried fish), boquerones
(anchovies), chipironcitos a la plancha (grilled
baby squid) and bread. We arrived in town late
this afternoon, after making the 75-minute
drive southwest from the mountains.
Our collective Spanish is rusty at best, with
the exception of Carol, a Spanish-speaking,
Dominican-born New Yorker who did a fabu-
lous job of ordering the spread now before us.
This kind of dining, it seems, is typical of
