I improved my lunch experience today with some careful planning. First of all, I purchased a variety of fruit this morning: some cerezas (cherries), albaricoques (apricots) and a kiwi. The fresh fruit selection, much of it coming from the Canaries, Azores, and North Africa, is very good in Spain, and makes a logical alternative to my dearth of vegetables.
Also, I searched out a shop with jámon within a few feet of the door of the archives. I ducked out immediately at 2pm and caught the guy while he was still open. Fresh jámon is quite good, but as you can see in the picture, one hour later and it is already sweaty and greasy.
Jámon is salt-cured ham, with a little bit of sugar as well. It is almost identical to Italian prosciutto, and not unlike what passes for prosciutto in the US. It is nothing like our country ham. Cooked ham, as we are accustomed to at home is available here as jámon de York. As I have mentioned before, jámon owes a portion of its popularity to the fashionable public consumption of pork which was, when it mattered, a good way to demonstrate your non-Jewishness. Thankfully, centuries after such issues matter, it is still ubiquitous in Spain.
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