Everything but the Squeal, a year of pigging out in northern Spain

This is one of the best books I have read this year. John Barlow, may be a self-confessed glutton, but he is also a gifted food writer.

Some might call his mission – a vow to eat everything but the squeal of a pig – a meat-lover’s dream. His vegetarian wife certainly thought otherwise! As Barlow roams misty Galicia in northern Spain he documents his quest, which is not entirely difficult in this pork-loving corner of the country.  During the year he unearths traditional recipes, baulks at the idea of some, and generally enlarges the reader’s understanding of just how rich and versatile an animal the pig is!

Apart from this it is a quirky intimate introduction to a little-known part of Spain.

John Barlow, paperback, Wakefield Press, 2009 (www.wakefieldpress.com.au), rrp A$24.95