Everything but the Squeal: Eating the Whole Hog in Northern Spain 
Features: - ISBN13: 9780374150105
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description: John Barlow, self-confessed glutton, found himself in a tricky situation: living in one of the most meat-loving places on earth, married to a vegetarian. The Barlows live in Galicia, the misty-green northwest corner of Spain, and home to a population that reveres and consumes every part of the pig. This gets Barlow thinking about the nature of our relationship with food—what’s delicious, what’s nasty, and what sort of obligation we have to the animals we eat. Over the course of one glorious, bilious year, Barlow vows to eat everything but the squeal. In his travels, Barlow takes part in the thousand-year-old antthrowing festival of Laza. He makes pig-bladder puddings for carnival. He washes down lots of pork with lots of wine. In the tradition of Calvin Trillin and Anthony Bourdain, Everything but the Squeal is an adventure in extreme eating, a hilariously quirky travel book, and a perceptive look at how what we eat makes us who we are.
Customer Ratings: - A gastro-porcine adventure. A cultural and culinary travelogue of Galicia told by a very humorous writer. Starts off very well, but about two thirds through, the poor fellow seems to lose his steam for more pork and digresses a bit. Apart from that I found it a thoroughly enjoyable and fun read. The exploration of the cultural significance of pork in Galician culture is fascinating. Unfortunately the book s marred by the absence of a map, showing the authors journey. I suppose, like a lot of other people, I know where La Coruna is, but my Galician geography ends there and a map would have been very helpful.
- Great Writing. Certainly, the focus of this book is on Barlow s travel in Spain to experience traditional pork recipes. (Or, was that just an excuse to travel around Galicia, meet people, and eat?) But, as he describes, eating is not just an act of fueling. It is a cultural activity. Barlow puts traditional eating in context by an insightful reflection on the way we eat today. Eating is just part of living as Barlow explains to us. This book is really about life. His use of great metaphores throughout the book makes for fun reading. I just loved this book. Very well written with a great sense of humor.
- more than just a celebration of tasty ham.... Barlow s premise first attracted me to buying this book: for searching the world for the perfect chorizo or the savoriest portion of pig is also a favorite, desperate pastime of mine, although Barlow keeps his pusuit close to home in his adopted home in northern spain. Aside from his year long pursuit of eating most pig parts, Barlow s narrative sneaks up on you and becomes an hilarious send up of local festivals in Galicia that he attends over the course of his year long pig dinner. This book goes beyond just funny food or travel writing. I traveled in northern spain as a student twenty years ago and he captures perfectly the mesmerizing outsiderness that an expat never shakes in foreign lands, but he combines it with a clear joy and love he has developed of the Galician people and their devotion to the tasty celtic pig. The foil during his quest, of his vegetarian wife, had me rolling on the floor with laughter. Buy this book even if you don t like sausage. A fine affair.
- John Barlow s culinary exploration of Northern Spain. EVERYTHING BUT THE SQUEAL: EATING THE WHOLE HOG IN NORTHERN SPAIN tells of John Barlow s culinary exploration of Northern Spain, where he searches out all the rural corners of the country in search of the best, rarest or most outrageous meals he can find. From an heirloom breed of hog that miraculously recovered from the brink of extinction to a thousand-year ant-throwing festival and making pig-bladder puddings for Carnival, his search for the ultimate pork and its unique Spanish connections makes for a powerful presentation indeed. Any library strong in international culinary explorations or travelogues needs this.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch - Quite a squeal. this is a very amusing and well paced book, part cook book and part travel book and quite good at both.
i originally bought this as a gift but read it myself and then bought 5 more copies to give as presents.
to be highly recommended.
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Everything but the Squeal: Eating the Whole Hog in Northern Spain (ID: 0374150109)
