Monday, October 1, 2007

Lunch in Segovia (by Michelle)

We don't often eat in cafes and restaurants, but in Segovia we skipped our sack lunches because our travel agent and friend, Antonio Caballo, treated us and Malcolm to a cafe in the Plaza Mayor with a fabulous view. Here we are sampling suckling pig, ensalada rusa, vegetable croquetas and beef sandwiches for the kids.

Proudly displayed in this restaurant's window (and many restaurant windows, actually) was a fresh sample of the "suckling pig" that Segovia is most-known for serving. I think many North Americans, myself included, tend to have a rather sanitized sense of what it is we eat. Seeing a young, recently killed piglet in a restaurant window is not something to "whet the appetite" for me. (Simon went a little pale when he saw the pig in the window after eating lunch. "Is that a real pig, Mom?" he cautiously asked.) In fact, the term "suckling pig" is enough to make me a little uncomfortable with eating it for lunch (calling attention to the mother-child relationship of the thing I am about to eat . . . harsh!), but when in Rome . . . Eva, our most enthusiastic (and least squeamish) carnivore, loved the meat and asked if we'd be going back. Today she said, "Oh, I loved the pig!"

I loved the croquetas, the view, and of course, the company.

1 comment:

steph said...

Little baby pig,looks like he's just taking a nap! When I was a kid,we had a pet pig named oinky. He would follow my sisters down to the bus stop. We must not have had him very long because I live the pork burritos at cafe rio! The castle is so a-m-a-z-i-n-g. How can that be real??