I’m not very good with meat products (oo-er), partly due to having been vegetarian for a large part of my life, and partly through general squeamishness. However after sampling the lentil & chorizo estofada made by my ex-flatmate The Lovely Natasha I thought I would have a go at reproducing it.

Although there are any number of charcuterie/cansaladeria stalls in my local market, there is a place on my street whose window displays (see photo) have always drawn my attention, so I thought I’d try there instead this morning.

Yes, that is a shrink-wrapped mannequin with jamon shoulder pads. Kindly note the Cinderella-style shoe fashioned from greaseproof paper in the bottom right-hand corner. These people are my kind of mad.

Inside, the shop was frantically busy with greaseproof-wrapped packages of goodies flying over the counter to customers who were calling out their orders, and ‘next customer’ numbers being yelled out in Catalan by the team behind the counter. I got 19 from the ticket dispenser which was a bit of a worry as I can only count to ten in Catalan so I spent my waiting time peering over the shoulders of the other customers to see who had ’18’ – I’d be after them, presumably.

Interestingly they make a lot of their products on the premises, specifically the ‘oven ready’ croquettes, canellonis etc. I made the mistake of peering into the kitchen and saw a two of the staff wrestling with something decidedly intestine-like. Yes – they also make their own sausages.

When my turn came I bluffed my way through my order by pointing and saying ‘300 grams d’aquesta’. Considering the laundry-list orders most of the other customers were hollering, my 3 euros worth of chorizo seemed rather paltry so I made up for it by doing my ‘una d’aquesta’ / point routine to a couple of the slightly home-made looking pots of terrine/pate at a couple of euros each – perfect for tomorrow’s picnic and with some fresh bread to accompany the homemade carrot and ginger soup  that Dr Doingtheshopping and I will be having for dinner later.

Packaging is greaseproof paper so recycleable. With a small order they will offer you a carrier bag. If you have bought enough then you get a paper bag with a decent handle (that you can take home and use to store your paper recycling, of course).

La Botifarreria de Santa Maria: http://www.labotifarreria.com: Embutidos, cheese, preserved meats.

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