Iberian Ham

PRODUCTION OF SPANISH HAM

Hogging the glory! Spanish ham comes from one of two different kinds of hogs – the Iberian hog and the White Hog (Landrace or Duroc strains of hogs)

The highest quality Spanish ham comes from the Iberian Hog, though this only makes up for 5% of all ham production in Spain. The feeding conditions of the hogs are just as important as the kinds of hogs used.

Iberian hogs are long legged, range fed and eat up to twenty pounds of acorns/day. “Jamón de Bellota” is “ham from acorns”. At this pace, the hogs gain about two pounds of fat/day but maintain a healthy lifestyle, living free range, not cooped up in tiny shacks or pens.

The combination of a high fat, acorn diet, with a free-range lifestyle gives the hams that special, nutty taste. The majority of Iberian hogs are raised in Southern Spain near Portugal.

FACTORS THAT DETERMINE COST OF CURED HAM

Three Factors that Determine the Cost of Spanish Ham:

1. The “jamón” or hind leg of the hog is much meatier than the “paleta” or front leg and shoulder. Hind legs are a better value for the money.
2. The Iberian, “pata negra” or black hoof – hogs are much more costly than the white hogs. The Iberian hogs are descendants of wild boars and have a more wild taste.
3. The alimentation of the hogs makes an enormous difference in the market price of the ham. For example, Jamón Ibérico de Bellota: this ham comes from pigs that have been fed exclusively acorns and herbs.

IDENTIFY A GOOD QUALITY IBERIAN HAM

 

1. The leg should be long and thin, without hair.
2. The hoof of the hog should be dark.
3. When you squeeze the ham with your fingers, your fingers should sink into the ham easily. The fat of the ham should be soft and smooth.
4. Your Iberic ham should weigh between 6 – 7.5 kgs.
5. Each Iberian ham has a date branded on its leg which shows the date (week and year) that the hog was killed. From this, you can determine whether it had a sufficient amount of curing – 20 – 28 months.
6. When you cut the Iberic ham, the best hams have strips of fat throughout the ham (not only on the side). These strips come from a hog that ate lots of acorns – the fat is spread evenly throughout the meat.

HEALTH BENEFITS

 

You must be thinking that eating any kind of cured meat has absolutely no health benefits whatsoever. True, if you gorge on a kilo of ham every day, your cholesterol might just pop through the roof, not to mention your weight. Spaniards, though, eat just a touch of ham (approximately 100 grams) almost everyday as an integral part of their Mediterranean Diet. What health benefits could possibly have?

Spanish ham is rich in iron, magnesium, zinc, calcium, phosphorous, vitamins B1, B2, and niacin. (See, I told you that this stuff was good for you!) 100 grams of Spanish ham provides 24% of the recommended daily intake of niacin and 33% protein. In fact, Jamon Serrano contains 50% more protein than fresh meat.

What about all those strips of marbled fat? Oleic acid is the primary component of fat in Iberian Ham. This fat is the kind that promotes production of HDL (the good cholesterol). It’s the same acid found in olive oil – another core ingredient of the Spanish diet.

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~ by mrquijote on April 1, 2007.