Sorry, Guys, I haven't seen it.

Last film I saw with any sort of cooking in it was a rerun of the Zeta Jones flick, in which she played a chef. One before that was Queen Letefa in that Last Holiday, or whatever it was called.

I'm not really a film buff. Could you tell? :o

From Pintxos (which, btw, is pronounced peen chos) we've made two dishes so far. First was marinated baby octopus with fennel & tomato salad, which was absolutely fantastic! Then made the lamb loin with kumquat chutney. Also a winner.

Next on the list, I think, are his cold melon shooters with serrano ham crisps.

RE: "Next on the list, I think, are his cold melon shooters with serrano ham crisps. "

Brook, have you been able to catch any of Mario Battali's "new" PBS series- the one where he and NYTimes food-writer mark Bittman travel across Spain w/ actress Gwynneth Paltrow? We get the show here on Saturday afternoons...

I'm not a serious Mario fan, but I dig the show. They try all sorts of bites at l'il hole in the wall places, and Serrano Ham plays a huge role in most regions there. One can hardly watch them dine in any city/village without partaking of the pig in some manner! I think you'd like the show, if you haven't seen it. I think it's like 2-3 dozen episodes- I've seen roughly half of them over the winter...

Been following discussions of that series on several forums, Kevin, but haven't seen it myself.

Our local affiliate doesn't show any cooking shows to speak of. Instead it's top heavy with needle arts stuff. For awhile they were showing Lidia, but dropped her. :mad:

As to Serrano, what ticks me off is the people who describe it as a Spanish version of prosciutto. With all respect to my Italian friends, they are totally different in taste, as the cures are different. Plus Serrano is a bit saltier.

But, then again, there are people who describe Speck as a German version of prosciutto, so what can you do.

RE: "what ticks me off is the people who describe it as a Spanish version of prosciutto"

Exactly, Brook... Which, BTW Mario/Bittman also refer to it as a Spanish "prosciutto". I know- I know! Baztardos! (Hee-Hee!)

My very own husband born and raised in Germany calls Speck sort of like the German version of proscuitto. I've had speck many times and I know it's different but what are you going to use to describe it to a person who has never seen it in their life? At least when he describes it that way people know they are looking for a thinly cut non smoked pork product.