And this little piggy

So living in what amounts to a pork free society, I've come to realize how many pork products I like. Used to be when I heard the word pork I made a face. I'm not a fan of pork chops (except for Kept Man's which is a recreation of a dish at Wood Tavern and perhaps Erik's but I haven't tried those yet) but I never really realized how many other parts of the pig I enjoy. (man that sounds dirty)

It's amazing to me how prevalent these products are at home back in the states and how DIFFICULT they are to find here. Anytime a recipe calls for bacon or procuitto or something along those lines, we inwardly groan both in longing and frustration as we're either going to have to supplement it with something else or pass over the recipe entirely. We are constantly scouring the grocery store for any pig products (to stock up whenever we get lucky and find some) and cursing any various Moroccan authority figures when we cannot.  Yesterday I went to the Moroccan equivalent of Costco and in the dairy section found salami, serano ham and bacon (yep, pig products mixed in with dairy). I immediately texted Kept Man with "found pig products" and received a "woo-hoo" in return. We are so easily pleased here.

Another situation which rams home my pork dependancy was during an attempt to torture myself earlier today by looking at the autumn menu at Wood Tavern back in Berkeley. Kept Man was making lamb sugo for dinner (which might I mention was excellent, I am spoiled) which was always a favorite of mine when we used to go there too often for dinner and I decided I just had to see what was on their current menu. As I was reading through the menu there were two new items that caught my eye, "Pig and Fig" and "Swine and Bovine". Both items immediately jumped off the page to me only because at this point they are such exotic items. Pork Belly! I might die from shock to see it here.

Thankfully we will soon be in the land of the Czechs where we can gorge ourselves on pig products and beer and be sedated for a while upon our return to Morocco. (but not too long)