Sampling the food of the regions has been one of the delights of our trip through Spain. We have been in Burgos (the birthplace of El Cid) for the past couple of days where two of the regional dishes are Cochinillo Asado (roast suckling pig) and Olla Podrida (stew of beans and meat, especially pork) I have seen the cute little whole piglets on sale in the butchers and I was a bit wary of ordering anything that might be looking at me from the plate. Olla Podrida was the special of the day at a cosy little restaurant we had eaten breakfast at earlier in the day, so that was the choice for both of us.
On of the things that I don’t enjoy about eating out is never knowing how small or large a plate of food may be, so we were both quite relieved when the waiter served us with a quite substantial but definitely manageable bowl of what looked red kidney bean soup. It was a chilly evening, so soup and crusty bread was just the thing. It did cross my mind that there wasn’t a lot of meat in it….
Just about to tuck in when the waiter arrived with a much more substantial and much less manageable casuela of assorted meats.
Is there an order in which you eat the meats? Do you start with the whole meats, then attack the bones? Or vice versa?
Do you cut pieces of meat and put them in with beans, or do you cut a piece of meat and eat it with a mouthful of beans? The bowl of beans was almost full to overflowing so I couldn’t see that you could add too much more
My hands are hovering over the knife, fork and spoon…..what will I do? I make a decision and cut into the morcilla, Spanish black pudding is made with a lot of rice and it falls apart when you cut into it. I take a spoonful of it and add some beans to the spoon, looking around to see if anyone is looking aghast at my total lack of Olla Podrida manners. So far, so good. I cut the chorizo in half in the casuela and eat it from there with a spoonful beans. Bravely and decisively I cut the meat off the ribs and transfer it to the bowl of beans, still no reaction from the diners around me. Full of confidence now I cut the meat off the assorted bones and pop it into the slowly emptying bowl of beans.
The pig’s ear is becoming more and more obvious floating in the beans. Is the pig’s ear like a bay leaf which you eat around and leave at the end? Or is it perhaps a delicacy that you save to the end to savour?
I leave that for the moment and ponder what is left in the casuela. Rude or not I am not eating the large chunk of fat, and as much as I would love to, I pass on picking up and chewing the remaining meat off the bones, although I am sure it is done in the safety of the home.
Back to the bowl I decide the pig’s ear can stay untouched, I am comfortably full of beans and pork of all different types, and I don’t appear to have offended anyone with my lack of Olla Podrida manners, so I call it a day.
Comfort food at its best, it’s a dish not to be missed if you are ever passing through Burgos.