Zarajos de Cuenca

Zarajos de Cuenca belong to Castilla-La Mancha, and more tightly to Cuenca: cleaned lamb intestines wound around a sarmiento, a dry vine shoot, then cooked until crisp outside and tender within. This is not a polite little bite dressed up for visitors. It is shepherd's food, market food, and it tastes of lamb, garlic, parsley, olive oil, and the clean smoke of vine wood when you can get it.

The method that decides it is drying. The intestines must be cleaned, blanched, wrapped tight, then dried very well before they touch the hot oil. Wet zarajos spit, steam, and go rubbery. Dry zarajos brown, tighten, and crisp at the edges, which is the whole pleasure of them.

If you are far from Cuenca, ask a good butcher for cleaned lamb small intestines, preferably from young lamb, and do not be shy about saying you need them ready for cooking. No sarmiento where you are? Use an untreated wooden skewer soaked in water; you lose the faint vine scent, but the shape and cooking stay right. If you can only find prepared zarajos from a Spanish butcher, even better. Pésalo, no lo adivines, and dry them properly. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.