Cinco De Mayo

One of the hardest parts of leaving San Diego to come to Barcelona is the drastic difference in quantity and quality of mexican food. There are benefits of Spanish food, such as the fact that nobody laughs at how much I sweat while eating it. But alas, I really miss the excellent california burritos, and tacos, and all the other interesting salsas and sauces that only those lucky enough to live near the border get to enjoy.

So, I had a thought, in honor of Cinco De Mayo, I should make Mexican food. So, I pulled out one of J's 4 mexican cookbooks, and settled on a pork tacos recipe. We went out in search of all the ingredients. Jalapenos? dont even think about it... Black beans? we found some canned in the 5th store, after I had already settled on pinto. Pork shoulder? hard to tell...

I ended up buying something called "cuello de cerdo" which literally means pig neck, but the cut of meat seemed similar, so I said, "let's roll with it" (with J's approval of course... I am

like the little kid that wants to help his parents out in the kitchen, but needs supervision and approval for each step, before moving on to the next. Those that know J's cooking know why I can't live up to her standards on my own!)

It took me 2 days, and only a few mistakes (somehow I manage to read directions 10 times, but still miss little things like leaving the garlic unpeeled, or cutting the meat into cubes before putting into water, instead of just dumping the whole chunk in). After a few hours and getting most of the way there, I was fortunate to have J step in and do a quick fix to get me back on track, while still letting me finish so that I can take the credit! Overall, I think it was pretty successful. We found a style of tortilla we really like, the best way I can describe it is a flour tortilla with the taste of cornbread.

Moral of the story: I know where you can get a good burrito in Barcelona... mi casa. The finished product...