Everyone has an opinion about ham, mechanics, and medicine.
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Category:On the road with Basilio
I've been promoting our finest product to every corner of Spain and the world for a long time now; and although there are days when, like in any job, you feel like giving it all up, in the end the satisfaction outweighs the effort. The best part is that when I mention my work, everyone has an opinion about it. There used to be a saying, "Everyone has an opinion about mechanics and medicine," I'd add, "Everyone has an opinion about ham, mechanics, and medicine."
Nowadays, when people find out what I'm involved in, they usually take pity on me, saying that things are really bad and that hams are given away... I can assure you that I haven't seen one given away yet, well, yes! at some raffles, those where you get a free jug of water with the ham...
I could write several blog posts about hams, with anecdotes, questions, and so on. For example, once in Belgium, someone insisted that the ham leg I was showing him was a goat's leg because it was black. No matter how much I insisted it was a pig's leg, the man didn't believe me. There are many similar cases. Although we take it for granted, there are many people around the world who don't know what a ham is; they don't understand why crazy people like us would kill a pig, separate its legs, salt them, and wait several years to eat them, patiently watching the process unfold. And it's understandable that all of this surprises those who don't know.
The word Salamanca evokes ham, and the word Guijuelo, even more so. It's a source of pride for us to bring a piece of our land to every corner of the world, and for the public to associate our beloved province with, without a doubt, the highest quality product in Spanish, and even world, gastronomy. If those of us dedicated to this work put our heart and soul into it, in just a few years, we will undoubtedly be known worldwide as the birthplace of such a magnificent product. Before, saying the word Jabugo was like mentioning something untouchable; your mouth would agape, your taste buds would start salivating, most of the time out of ignorance, since unfortunately few of us had tasted this delicacy. But imagination is a powerful thing. Little by little, like ants, Guijuelo ham is making its way, and, to use a car analogy, we're overtaking them on the right, with all due respect to our friends from Huelva.
That's why it often saddens me to hear our fellow countrymen criticize a town as productive as Guijuelo, undoubtedly the industrial engine of our province. If Guijuelo produces and sells, all of us in Salamanca benefit. I know that, given our nature as stubborn Castilians, we sometimes struggle to acknowledge the merits and successes of our neighbors, even our friends, but right now is a time when we all need to pull together and think more broadly, not just navel-gazing.
People from Salamanca who live outside the province are much more appreciative when they talk about the products of our region. Unfortunately, we have to emigrate to recognize the merits and qualities of a product like this and its producers. Some things are always better seen from a distance.
See you next week.
