Yes, you really are seeing what you think you see. The photo above contains pieces (nay, chunks, rather) of the crunchiest, fattiest, most soulful expression of the pig that I think I've ever encountered. The local Central European butcher shop in Safety Harbor (First Quality Sausage House") sells this product that they call teperto, which is loosely translated from Hungarian to mean "pork cracklings". On my last visit, I spied a hotel pan full of these piggy jewels behind the counter and asked about it - shop owner Aniko Rakoczi let me try one and explained (as my eyes rolled backwards into my skull upon first nibble) that she takes these thick-cut bacon slabs and oven roasts them (no deep frying, because, you know, that would be unhealthy) to a crisp. At $12 a pound (and worth every penny, mind you), it's one of the store's best-selling items (if fact, she told me to "call ahead next time if you want more - sometimes customers come in and buy the whole pan"). I took a brown sack loaded with half a pound of teperto back to the Canteen to share with the wife, kinder, and house guests, each of whom has their own dietary restrictions/hang-ups and each of whom reacted in the same manner as I did when they sampled the goods, that is, transported somewhere between ecstasy and unconsciousness. If you've ever wondered about the existence of God, this will have you singing his porcine praises...
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