In Galicia, pig ears are considered a delicacy. This dish is commonly refered to as las orellas, which means "ears" in Galician, the local language of Galicia. I have heard that eating pig ears is an activity that first started a long time ago. When times were hard, it was important to make the most of everything you had, which meant eating as much of the pig as possible.
I tried pig ears for the first time last weekend after so many people had encouraged me to eat them. My friends and I went to a restaurant called Las Orellas that is known for serving practically every single part of the pig. We didn't know what to expect from the orellas, but we were determined to try them!
I was expecting the ears to be fried, but since they were boiled, they definitely still looked raw and straight off the pig. When I tried the ears, the texture was very interesting. The smooth meat on either side of the cartilage was pretty good, but the cartilage in the middle was still crunchy. After trying a couple more pieces, I was glad I had tried it, although I didn't feel eager to try it again.
