Sun-Times & Tribune: Spain-O-Rama + Odds ’N’ Ends

This week’s Tribune food section is very tightly themed around Spain, with six articles devoted to the country’s cuisine. Really, six!

1) A primer on how jamon Iberico de ballota is created, and then recipes! The $100 a pound price tag oughtn’t put you off [Tribune]

2) Or, what would happen if you tried to make jIdb right here in Iowa? Plenty of people are paying three grand a pig to find out. Followed by…the same recipes! [Tribune]

3) You will braise your chicken in Rioja. Got that? [Tribune]

4) You will also braise your turkey meatballs in Rioja! [Tribune]

5) Blood oranges are in season, and you can make salads or sorbet or cocktails with them. Don’t be afraid if you open yours and it’s a deep purple; that’s normal, apparently! [Tribune]

6) And if all those recipes weren’t enough, a Spanish cookbook recommendation [Tribune]

If we had the wherewithal, we’d hop on a plane tonight and go to Spain for a long eating weekend. P.S. if anyone wants to fund us, we will blog about it for you!

The Sun-Times, meanwhile, is all over the map. One article wants us to buy silicone cookware, and it’s absolutely right. Also right: white truffle salt. Less right: Planters’ NUT-rition Digestive Health Mix, which is $5.50 for nine ounces - because really, you could just make it yourself. And on another note entirely, Pat Bruno logs in with a piece about Isola Imports, the major supplier of Italian staples and delicacies to Chicago’s elite restaurants. Even Whole Foods buys from them!

[Photo: “Lime sorbet in blood orange juice,” L_&_S/flickr]