18th March 2011. It's taken me 130 posts to get around to this..! Shame on me. Question of the Day: What is Bayonne justifiably famous for..? (apart from the bayonet) Yes - Jambon de Bayonne or Bayonne ham!
As you know by now, where there's a food speciality in France, you can guarantee that a Confrérie won't be far behind:
.. and, this being the Pays Basque, that means a song!
This next clip looks like it was filmed at the annual Foire du Jambon de Bayonne. In my view, while I do eat it, I always find it a bit too thick for me as it is normally sliced by hand in the manner shown at 1:07:
In Italy, the prosciutto is sliced paper-thin on a machine such that it melts in the mouth. If only I could find someone to slice jambon de Bayonne wafer thin for me.
 |
| Jambon de Bayonne |
Apparently pigs reared as far north as Poitiers can be used to make jambon de Bayonne. There's also a brand "Aoste" which many people assume to be prosciutto from Italy but is actually made in France.
I encountered Prosciutto San Daniele in northern Italy and they eat it sliced very thinly there so that it melts in the mouth.. as seen at 3:09 in this clip.. and that's exactly how I used to bring it back from Italy when I was working there:
I'm reminded of the time I was in a Waitrose supermarket in England and standing at the delicatessen counter for something I noticed a large San Daniele ham hanging up on the wall with some other hams and salamis. I asked the girl if I could have 300gms of San Daniele ham and she looked at me with eyebrows raised.
"We don't have any of that sir," she said.
I said, "How about some from the ham hanging up behind you?"
She replied, "That's just a hollow plastic model for decoration.."
Aaaaagghh!
Aaaaagghh!
And while I remember, I was once at the meat counter in a Morrisons supermarket buying a leg of lamb and I asked the girl where it came from..
She replied, "The fridge.."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corsicans have a reputation in France for being somnolent, not too active and overfond of their siesta. The great French comic Fernandel, blessed with an instantly recognisable and naturally funny horse-like face, made fun of them in his song "Le Tango Corse".. (in which he describes the dance as "la sieste organisée..")
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corsicans have a reputation in France for being somnolent, not too active and overfond of their siesta. The great French comic Fernandel, blessed with an instantly recognisable and naturally funny horse-like face, made fun of them in his song "Le Tango Corse".. (in which he describes the dance as "la sieste organisée..")
19th March 2011. Went up the river against a very strong current this morning in a coxed quad sculler of nenettes! We did a very enjoyable 12km (Running total: 500km). I've said it before but it's always a pleasure to row with the fairer sex as they're never slow in getting their oar in!
The rugby.. ah yes.. I did say in an earlier post that the Ireland v England 6 Nations rugby match had the potential to be a
The rugby.. ah yes.. I did say in an earlier post that the Ireland v England 6 Nations rugby match had the potential to be a
and was it ever..! Ireland comprehensively outplayed Martin Johnson's emerging England team 24-8. England still finished top of the table and it will be a valuable lesson for them. Hopefully!
Scotland beat Italy 21-8 and France restored some pride with a 28-9 victory over Wales. It was odd watching the France-Wales match.. who did I want to win? Well played Ireland!
