- The term lacon is a Galician word, derived from the Latin
“lacca”, which has no straight translation into English.
It refers to the pig’s shoulder ham, regarding especially to cured
meat. We are facing, therefore, a genuine concept which defines a product
rooted in the most ancient customs of our homeland.
-
References
to this product, either of historical nature or within the framework
of Galician gastronomic tradition, are manifold.
The first quotation appearing refers to the period of fasting and
abstinence in the lands of our Region; so, a passage of the Synodal
Constitutions of Orense, from 1619, reads the following: “On
eating such as lacons and other thickness on Saturday shalt the custom
in this bishopric be kept, which is that of allowing eating…”
Refering to the XVII and early XVIII centuries, and related to the
living conditions and eating habits of the peasantry from the interior
of Lugo, several references to the lacon can be found in the Protocols’
section of the Provincial History Archive of Lugo. In these, we learn
that lacons only hanged, by then, in the larders of those belonging
to the privileged classes, such as noblemen or parish priests. Later
in the XVIII century, several texts confirm that lacon was the subject
of an important trading traffic in Galicia.
It is mentioned in a plethora of works related to Galician traditional
gastronomy. Especially remarkable is the book “The Practical
Cookery” (La Cocina Práctica) by Manuel Puga y Parga,
alias "Picadillo" (“Mince”), which comprises
several recipes where the lacon appears as an indispensable commodity.
Its first edition dates back to 1905. From then on, each and every
work related to Galician gastronomy will make reference to that book.
We cannot neglect, among those, “Galician Cookery” (A
Cociña Galega), a book published by Álvaro Cunqueiro
in 1973 which is the most outstanding work on this land's gastronomy.
- Well into the XX century, references on its consumption
appear everywhere and, from the sixties on, its popularization becomes
undeniable.
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