Curing hams was a necessity in the days before commercial refrigeration. My childhood memories of the neighborhood farms are the wood-fired scalding tanks, normally located near the windmill, milk cooling building and the smoke house. Hams and pork bellies, hanging in the smokehouse or in the ba...
The climate is largely desert and, according to the CIA Worldfactbook, 0% of the land is permanent crops (while 72% is permanent pasture land). So vegetables are extremely scarce in traditional cooking, as are herbs and spices. Cheese and milk based products are common, but horse, camel,...