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El Cortador de Jamón, Seville, Spain

February 2022   •   Oil on Board   •   6" x 6"

This is a painting of the ham slicer (el cortador de jamón) at El Rinconcillo restaurant in Seville, Spain. The task of slicing paper-thin pieces of buttery jamón ibérico from a cured leg is taken very seriously in Spain, and while it's often done by the waiter or server in smaller tapas bars, it can also be a profession unto itself, with experts competing in competitions.

El Rinconcillo, dating to 1670, claims to be one of the oldest restaurants in Spain — if not the world. Though it is very much on the tourist map in contrast to some of the other restaurants we visited in 2017, eating there was an interesting experience. As each customer orders, the tally is tabulated in chalk on the bar in front of them, and then wiped clean for the next person.

A few years ago I painted another scene featuring jamones from our same trip to Seville.