If you have the chance to travel to Spain and run into a local amusement park, don't think about going any further. He was given the chance to taste the wonderful iberico ham. Because in their country, no holiday or family event is complete without this delicacy.
The iberico
The Iberian pig is a traditional breed of domestic pig, native to the Iberian Peninsula. It is found in Spain and in central and southern Portugal in clusters of condos. According to the most widely accepted theory, pigs were first brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Phoenicians from the eastern Mediterranean, where they mixed with wild boars. This is probably the origin of the ancestors of today's Iberian pigs. From Iberian pig production is deeply rooted in the Mediterranean ecosystem. It is a rare example in world pig farming where pigs make a crucial contribution to the conservation of the ecosystem. The Iberian breed is currently one of the few examples of a domesticated breed that has adapted to a pastoral environment where the land is particularly rich in natural resources, in this case acorns, oak and cork oak.
The Iberian breed has declined dramatically since 1960 due to a number of factors, such as the outbreak of African swine fever and the decline in the value of animal fats. However, in the last few years, Iberian pig production has increased to meet the renewed demand for high quality meat and cured products. It is the high intramuscular fat that gives the meat its typical marbling, which, combined with the traditional acorn-based feed, gives the ham its distinctive flavour.
Iberian pigs can be red or dark in colour, black to dark grey, with little hair and a lean body, hence the name pata negra, or „black hoof”.
Why is so special iberico
Jamon iberico is one of the world's ltastier ham! It is made from the hind legs of black Iberian pigs, and not everywhere, only in some Spanish regions. Salamanca, Cordoba, Huelva are cities famous for the production of iberico ham.
Top quality ham is subject to important rules - only 100% Iberian pigs are used and only acorn-fed animals are allowed. They even check that their ancestors, the animals that gave birth to them, have followed the same diet.
Its unique, special taste is due to the fact that Iberian pigs eat only acorns. Some farms even carefully select the acorns and feed them only the best. It has also been reported that perfect meat even peeled for them.
The link between iberico and ham
Due to the wide variety of housing and feeding methods, several types are distinguished. These are the cebo, recebo and bellota types. The difference depends mainly on the type and quality of the food consumed.
Another important factor is the curing of the ham. In general, it is a minimum of two years, but there are also producers who age it for more than 36 months. Curing is done in coarse-grained salt and then dried for many months. Obviously, the price is very much influenced by how long the ham is cured.
Four categories are distinguished. A premium category with black seal and the price can range from several hundred thousand forints to a million forints.
After the highest quality comes red seal, this means that one of the parents is no longer a purebred iberico. Then the green seal, which means free range, but they are fed only acorns, and finally the white seal pigs not kept in the open air.
The ham masters
It is a concept that is taken very seriously in Spain and has a tradition that goes back centuries. The ham master knows the pig, all the stages of curing and the right way to process the finished ham. There are traditions for this too. Iberian ham is sliced only with a knife, which has a long, narrow blade. A master ham-maker can use it to such an extent that he can produce slices that are almost paper-thin. It is no accident that there are competitions for ham masters. It is a very important rule that a slice must contain exactly the same proportion of meat and fat.#
