Spanish views from a small town

This morning I found on my Facebook wall an article from yesterday's New York Times Food section. It talks about home-curing meats and how simple it is. It encourages people to try it out, and includes some links to recipes at the bottom. To me, though, the times it gives in which to consume the results seem ridiculously short. I mean, three weeks in the fridge for home-cured bacon? Seriously? There was a time when every rural Galician family worth its salt had home-cured pork hunkered down in a special chest in layers of salt. Other pieces, such as hams and sausages would grace the chimney just above the open fireplace, the lareira . It was the only way to eat meat during the year without refrigerators, freezers, or local supermarkets and butchers. That meat would last months without refrigeration.  Now, few families butcher their own pig, and those that do generally freeze the meat. It's much faster and easier than salting down everything. Now, the liver, a delicacy to m...