EL TUETANO

Branching out a bit at market.

I decided we needed to make some beef stock, and what is beef stock without marrow bones. I didn't know the word for "marrow," so I looked it up and there were 2 words: médula and tuétano. I decided (for no good reason) to go for médula, probably because it was easier for me to remember. We went to my favorite beef/pork guy and I asked for "huesos con médula para la sopa." He corrected me with tuétano and dug out what you see on the left. I said that I wanted meat on the bones, too. He nodded and climbed straight up the wall of his booth (in his white boots, white jacket and hat) and I heard him sawing (electrically). Down he came with the rest of what you see (short ribs), only in long pieces which he cut into smaller pieces, also cutting off the fat. He gave us the tuétano for free.

Giddy with delight, I decided to tackle the herb/spice/bean sellers. These things are displayed in huge burlap bags, and who know what is what (except for the beans). Yes, I could ask, but who wants to hold up the line asking dumb questions. Not me. I decided to try for pimentón, paprika. The guy looked confused, then an older guy said yes, they had it, did I want red or green. Red, right? Smoked (in the Spanish style) or sweet (Hungarian style)? The latter (even thought el sr J prefers smoked). How about 8 pesos worth? OK, what do I know. This is what I got. Pimentón now goes into everything, including salad dressing. Get used to it, sr J.