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Pork Loin in Salt and Herbs. And a Spanish Transport Strike!

There’s a big transport strike here in Spain since Monday and everything is getting directly affected; there’s nearly no fish left in the big markets, the meat’s shelves at supermarkets are starting to get empty, fresh fruits and veggies are hard to find… Can you imagine?

The main reason for this catastrophic situation is the high price of the gas. The transport sector will keep this attitude until they get an agreement with the government. Also some gas stations have run out of it and now our police has to escort gas cistern trucks to fill the empty tanks.

However, Catalan government has assured its citizens that basic products will be on place, such as medicines, food and gas. My first thought was to fill up my car’s gas tank and my fridge (take a look) and pantry. Living in a village may have some advantages. Today I still could buy: fresh Salmon, fresh Swiss chard, avocados, bananas, ripe tomatoes, green onions and red peppers.

I had a beautiful piece of pork boneless’ head’s loin and needed free space in the fridge, so it was a good time to cook it in salt and herbs!
Some time ago, Ivy from Kopiaste, and I made a package exchange and she sent me some Gigantes which I used to cook a wonderful Caldo Gallego. The package also contained a bunch of fresh Oregano and now it was the perfect time to use it!

Ingredients for 4 servings: A piece of boneless head pork loin (1 kilo), 2 1/2 kilos of Thick salt (make sure is for this special use), 4 teaspoons of olive oil (0,4º), 1 teaspoon of oregano leaves and 1 teaspoon of thyme leaves. Some mushrooms finely sliced and a bit of diced cured ham to eat aside.
In a small bowl mix the olive oil and the herbs. Spread all over the pork loin and place on top of a 1 centimeter (aprox) salt height.
Cover with the rest of the salt. Preheat oven at 200ºC and place in a middle rack for 45 minutes. Now, this piece was so thick that when I took it off the oven the central part was a bit raw for my taste. So, after cutting the meat in slices, I had a hot pan in the heat and just cook it for a few seconds.

The result was spectacular! The combo of salt and herbs is highly recommendable!!!! So easy to prepare… and once in the oven… you can go back to your computer and blog for 45 – 60 more minutes until the meal is ready :D. If there’s any leftovers, just put in a container with some extra virgin olive oil, some black pepper balls and a bay leaf. Place in the fridge and have it ready for a sandwich together with some lettuce and a good mayonnaise or allioli. I’m sending this recipe over to Weekend Herb Blogging. A fantastic event created by Kalyn from Kalyn’s Kitchen and hosted this week by Astrid of Paulchen’s Food Blog.

Also, sweet Ivy sent me the You Make my Day Award!!! Thanks so much Ivy :D. It means a lot to me♥ ♥ ♥
And I’m sending it to:

* Judy from No Fear Entertaining
* Jen from A2write
* Mallory from The Salty Cod
* Nikki from Canary Girl
* Courtney from Coco Cooks

The list could be soooooo long, but as always, we can only choose 5 blogs, so, enjoy the award, girls!!!!

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Comments

06/11/2008 · 11:40 h by Ben

Hi Nuria!
I read on the news about that strike, isn’t that horrible? Over here we are suffering because of high gas prices too, but not as much as you guys in Europe. I hope this situation gets resolved pronto.

And that dish looks really good. you are so smart to fill up your gas tank and your fridge first :-p

06/11/2008 · 12:08 h by Peter G

Hola Nuria! I dont want to sound negative, but I think it will get worse before things get better. Its such a tragedy to hear of these things world wide. In regards to your pork. I think it’s amazing the way you cooked it like that…and the sandwich con mayonesa sounds even better!

06/11/2008 · 12:53 h by Judy @ No Fear Entertaining

Oh Nuria that is so horrible about the strike! Good girl though – Food and Gas. All the important things. We go through that every time we are threatened by a hurricane. The gas stations run out of gas and the grocery store runs out of non-perishable goods!!!

Thanks so much for the award – You make my day too!!!

06/11/2008 · 13:02 h by Núria

Hola Ben! So glad to see you back querido♥! I don’t want to think what will happen if this situation longs for weeks…. I hope they find an agreement soon. Meanwhile my brain is deep fried thinking about ways to cook and preserve food so that nothing gets old in the fridge!

Peter I hope you don’t see that in a magic ball… because the situation could be unbearable!
Thanks for your kind words on the pork loin, I was the first surprised of such wonderful flavour. Never combined the salt and herbs before :D

06/11/2008 · 13:11 h by Peter M

Nuria, from looking at your fridge I see that you forgot to but your cheese! lol

I know this pork loin will taste fabuloso, merely from the Greek oregano that Ivy sent you.

06/11/2008 · 13:54 h by gay

Hi Nuria, the pork looks gorgeous! Wasn’t it too salty?

06/11/2008 · 14:39 h by Núria

Hola Judy :D I would be sooooooo scared to live in a place that suffered from tornados or earthquakes or any other superNatural phenomenon….
You do deserve the Award!!!! :D

Hola SuperPeterCalifragilisticoexpialidoso! Actually there is some Roquefort in the left bottom space! And Ivy’s Oregano was amazingly flavoured!

Hola Gay :D. The salt isn’t only used to cook it, when you take it off the oven take all the salt away and serve. Maybe some grains will get stucked to the meat but the rest is left apart. Believe me: not salty at all!

06/11/2008 · 16:53 h by Ivy

He,he,he, you jealous Spanish people. You are so envious of the Greeks that you copy us now???? Just joking but we had the same problem a few weeks ago and after that even the prices in the farmers’ market rose. Your pork sounds delicious. I would try this soon. I’ve made fish covered with salt and it was very good.

06/11/2008 · 17:49 h by JennDZ - The Leftover Queen

Sorry to hear about the strike over there, but at least you have the essentials. We have a stash of non-perishables under the bed in case of hurricanes.
Hurricanes aside, this gas problem is worldwide and I am wondering how long it will be until we are in the same situation!
But at least you have Greek Oregano! :)

06/11/2008 · 17:58 h by Núria

Wow Ivy, didn’t know you went through the same thing… how horrible! How long did it last in Greece? Hope not much :D
This recipe is highly recommendable! I’m really happy with the result!!!

Hola Jenn! How can you manage to live with that fear? I don’t believe I would be able…. It scares me soooooo!
The fuel problem is a big one… and I think that using rice and grain and corn to do a new gas will make things even worse!

06/12/2008 · 8:07 h by Mallory Elise

NADAL!

who was surprised.

jajaja thank you for the award! of course im putting it on my page! it’s there right now.

strikes—here they are called the greve–the french love them, that is why, i purchased a bike!

roquefort i read you admitted to someone up there———chevre! and camembert….pepino pepato–italian cheese….sooo good. ps. im going on my last trip this weekend—ROME!

06/12/2008 · 8:15 h by Núria

AWWGGGHHH… Mallory!!! You are such a lucky girl… Rome♥♥♥. I was there for a very short time but I felt in love with this magical city!!!! Have fun darling! Will be expentantly waiting for your posts :D

06/12/2008 · 10:32 h by Jen of A2eatwrite

Nuria, that’s a shame about the strike – I’m glad you’re stocked up! I’ve always wondered about those salt-herb crusted meats – your explanation was so clear, I’ll have to try this!

Thank you so much for the lovely award, too – you made my day!

06/12/2008 · 10:56 h by Maryann

Yes, the gas prices are affecting us all..but your dish looks yummy :)

06/12/2008 · 11:09 h by canarygirl

Hola Núria! :) It’s just awful about the transport strike…tomorrow the truck drivers are closing down the main freeway here for the strike as well. Yesterday on the news it was terrible to see the farmers having to dump out all of their milk and fruits and vegetables. :( I guess around here, we are going to be eating more fish, tomatoes, bananas and avocados, since those are all locally produced.

Congratulations on your award, my dear!!! And thank you ever so much for awarding it to me. You are so sweet, and really make my day, too! :D

06/12/2008 · 11:10 h by canarygirl

Oh! And I almost forgot! Your salt baked pork looks SO good! I love fish that way…I need to try this!!

06/12/2008 · 12:03 h by Núria

Hola Jen :D Go ahead and try… it’s so easy and gives no work at all… just chewing and swallowing ;-)

Thanks a lot Maryann!

Yes, Nikki, the worse is to see all food lost or wasted and smashed over the floor!
You deserve the award! Always so full of good energy :D

06/12/2008 · 12:26 h by Bellini Valli

It is amazing how much we rely upon transportation to get our goods and sundries to our homes. I don’t know what the price of gas is in Spain but here it has gone up to $1.35 a litre….what it puzzling about that is that one prvince over in Alberta they are big oil producers and yet our oil comes from overseas. I could easily “wolf down” your scrumptious roast while I was waiting for shelves to be restocked again. I have never tried a salt rub and I do have the tiniest of roasts sitting in my freezer:D

06/12/2008 · 14:42 h by Núria

Hola Val! Here the diesel (my car gas)costs 1,18 Euros per liter which is more than what you pay, isn’t it?
Yes! Tell me about it… sending our products overseas and buying some other ones with lower quality and higher costs from somewhere else :(
I like the Wolf down expression you used :D

06/12/2008 · 14:58 h by Ann

So difficult to deal with the strike, I know… and glad to know you’ve got the basics available. Your meal looks just wonderful!

06/12/2008 · 19:09 h by Núria

Thanks for your concern Ann! Hopefully the strike will end before my food :D

06/19/2008 · 16:47 h by glamah16

I cook mine similar. Certain Someones mother showed me how. Its surprislingly tender and juicy!Love it.

06/20/2008 · 7:43 h by Núria

Yeah Courtney! I just discovered the mixed version herbs+salt and I love it!

06/21/2008 · 2:28 h by Kalyn

Sorry to hear about the transit strike; that must be very frustrating. The pork sounds wonderful with the salt and herbs.

06/22/2008 · 10:21 h by Núria

Hola Kalyn! The strike is over!!!! Thank God! the pork was delicious and the leftovers were used for Pita together with some coloured peppers and onions :D… so good!

06/22/2008 · 16:49 h by [eatingclub] vancouver || js

This looks like a must-try. I’ve been wary of pork loin because the last couple of times I tried to cook with it I did not have a satisfactory result.

What is the “boneless head pork loin”? Is it the same as just a pork loin?

06/25/2008 · 9:21 h by Núria

Hola Eatingclub! Sorry for the delay… I’ve been far from a decent internet connection. The boneless head pork loin means the first piece, the beginning of the pork loin (not the whole piece). Please forgive my english :(

06/26/2008 · 4:17 h by Jude

Your dish looks soo good. That last picture is just begging for crusty dipping bread.

06/26/2008 · 7:11 h by Núria

Hola Jude! Welcome to Spanish Recipes!!! Thanks for your kind comment… you are so right… it was wonderful after 3 days :D

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