Richard Frisbie
Jamón Ibérico de Bellota: The World’s Best Ham is from Extremadura, Spain
The complex culinary history of Extremadura goes back thousands of years of migrating and conquering peoples – Lusitanian, Celtic, Roman, and Arabs, to name but a few – who all brought their dishes and different techniques and sensibilities for making the dishes of those before them, to create a fantastic mix of flavors.
The one constant is Extremadura’s rich pantry of foods. Its beef, Pork, olives, fruits, vegetables, and cheese all rival the finest in the world for quality and taste.
The definitive proof of Extremadura’s culinary history comes from the unlikely remains of the burned library of the convent of San Benito de Alcantara. After Napoleon’s forces conquered the region, reports of the loss of manuscripts hundreds of years old confirm that the French General Junot saved the convent’s Kitchen Recipe Book from the fire.
He gave it to his wife, and it soon became the talk of Paris. Convention has it that this Spanish recipe book eventually became the foundation of classic French cuisine. Or, as the famed French Chef Auguste Escoffier claimed, this recipe book was “the best trophy, the only good thing France got from the Spanish Independence War.”
After dropping that bomb on French culinary sophisticates, let’s return to Extremadura’s cuisine. In Spain, a PDO is a Protected Designation of Origin, meaning specific criteria must be met to use that designation – sources, aging, processing, and appearance are all controlled. This applies to cheeses, hams, olive oil, animal breeds, and other agricultural products.
Among Extremadura’s world-renowned culinary products is ham – Jamon. Jamon comes in three styles: Serrano, Iberico, and Iberico bellota. Serrano is made from pigs of any breed in Spain. Iberico refers to cured hams from the Iberico breed that are not fed on acorns. Iberico bellota are cured hams from Iberico pigs fed on acorns. Extremadura has two PDOs – Iberico Bellota and Bellota, which is acorn-fed but not 100% Iberico.
To produce these high-quality hams, the pigs are raised free-range in Extremadura’s unique Dehesa environment, a mix of fields and wild holm and cork oak trees.
While they can be fed corn and grain as they mature, the best are fed only acorns during their last four months of life. During this time, called the Montanera, they nearly double their weight to more than 350 lbs. To put that in perspective, it takes 15 pounds of acorns for each pound they gain. Because the acorns contain the same oleic acid found in olive oil, the pig’s fat is monounsaturated, good for you, like olive oil.
The lengthy curing process begins once the pig is large enough to be butchered. First, they prep the leg by removing some skin and fat, leaving a distinctive “V” on the ham. They then cover it in salt and refrigerate it at 98% humidity for several weeks. Then they wash it to remove the salt and put it into a vice-like device that presses it into a typical ham shape.
After curing for 90 to 120 days, beginning at 2 degrees centigrade (35.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and 98% humidity, then slowly adjusted until it finishes at room temperature and humidity, hams are hung for one to three years in a well-ventilated, shaded room to finish curing. Hams from pigs fed acorns take the longest. The ham will lose 1/3 of its original weight during the process.
Each ham receives a color-coded tag. White is the lowest and meant for any pigs not fed acorns. Green is for 50% pure Iberian pigs that are not fed acorns. Red is for 50-75% Iberian pigs fed some acorns. Black is for 100% Iberian pigs fed acorns the last four months of their lives. They earn the coveted designation Jamon Iberico Bellota, which many consider one of the world’s finest hams.
And now you know why they cost so much. A typical ham could sell for more than $1000 and take about five years to produce from birth to cured ham. But with one taste, you’ll know they’re worth it.
During a tasting, I learned that a bite-sized, paper-thin slice at room temperature should rest in your mouth as the fat melts and the flavors build. Then chewing releases an umami combination of nutty, sweet, succulent goodness, with the mouthfeel of rich olive oil — delicious!
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Also Read:
- Dinner in Madrid: Paella at La Barraca Restaurant
- Wine Tasting Dinner at Parador de Plasencia in Extremadura, Spain
- Extremadura: The Pantry of Spain
- Saturday Tapas Nights at Dos Mestizos Spanish Restaurant
- On the Trail of the Best Jamón in the World
