evolution of a jamón eater
This is a long one... to me, worth the detail, but for anyone not particularly interested in the finer points of jamón craftsmanship or our odyssey to find the perfect jamón, a TLDR summary is at the bottom :)
Like most Americans, when I first traveled to Spain in 2012, I had never heard of jamón. I had certainly never tasted it. I was more familiar with Spanish dishes like gazpacho and paella. So, little did I know that jamón is one of the most popular and frequently eaten foods in Spain. It’s everywhere. You can find it in specialty stores, grocery stores, corner stores, restaurants, bars, and every home. It’s even its own flavor of chips. But in spite of its popularity, I was suspicious when I first encountered jamón.
The two biggest reasons for my suspicion were its appearance and preparation. Firstly, a jamón looks different from meats we’re used to in the US. The dainty servings of meats in most American grocery stores in no way resemble the animal they started as. A jamón, however, is an entire leg of pork with some skin, bones, and hoof still intact, and it weighs nearly 20lbs. In addition, jamón is a salt cured meat, which, for those of us less familiar with traditional food preservation processes, means it’s not cooked. Even though I was assured that it’s safe to eat and doesn’t need to be refrigerated, I was unsettled every time I saw jamón out in the open. And Spaniards keep these giant, uncooked, pig legs hanging from the ceiling or resting on large wooden stands on their kitchen counters. Strange, no?
A typical jamón selection in a local shop.
Luckily, jamón is served almost the complete opposite as it’s stored: in small portions of thin, delicate slices. Also, it's pretty difficult to avoid for long (a friend of ours was given jamón on her 'vegetarian' sandwich). So in spite of my initial skepticism, I was eventually willing to give it a try. And thank god I did... It. Is. DELICIOUS.
If you’ve never tried jamón, the closest way I can think to describe it is by imagining the best piece of prosciutto you’ve ever eaten. Then imagine it being 100 times more wonderful with a subtle richness and a lovely buttery texture. It’s so delicious that a Westword writer said if she could enjoy a meal of the world’s finest delicacies, a plate of jamón iberico would be her first course. After eating just one plate of thinly sliced jamón, I completely forgot about my initial hesitation. From then on, I ate jamón at nearly every opportunity, which was a lot – maybe too much, as evidenced by this photo Julien took after an indulgent visit to the Mueso de Jamón in Madrid in 2012.
But a five-year hiatus back in the US was more than enough to regain my love of the Spanish delicacy. One of the things I was most excited to do when we got back to Spain in 2017 was enjoy jamón again! This time, we wanted to eat it like a local. Since many families buy a jamón to enjoy over the course of several months, especially during the holidays, we decided to buy a jamón of our own!
Of course, nothing is as simple as it seems; buying a jamón is no exception. They’re pretty big, so we wanted to be sure we got one we really liked! As any good researcher would do, I started to investigate our options. In the process I became more than a little fascinated with the tradition and craftsmanship of jamón. Julien probably thinks it’s bordering on obsession, but I couldn’t help myself! So here’s a bit of what I learned... The flavor and quality of jamón are influenced by three main things: the breed of pig, its diet and lifestyle, and the traditional salt curing process. All of these are monitored by the Spanish government. Jamón is regulated like bourbon in Kentucky or beer in Germany – very closely.
- Breed of Pig - There are two types of Spanish jamón that come from different breeds of pig: jamón iberico and jamón serrano. Black Iberian Pig is the breed traditionally used for jamón and is the only type of pig that can be used for jamón iberico because of its unique lineage and quality. According to Jamon.com – yes, there is a jamon.com – the lineage of the Black Iberian Pig can be traced to pre-history when they ran wild in the Iberian Peninsula. Jamón iberico is often called “pata negra” (“black hoof”) because of its characteristic black coloring. Other, more conventional breeds of pigs are classified as jamón serrano. They have become a popular option for jamón because they cost less to raise and produce.
- Diet and Lifestyle - The diet and lifestyle of the jamón pigs are also critical to their flavor. The highest quality pigs are allowed to roam and eat their natural diet, which consists primarily of “bellotas” (“acorns”). Select pata negra eat a diet of only bellotas. But most jamón pigs are given a diet of grains or a mixture of grains and acorns. A jamón’s flavor is also developed by the pig’s activity and muscle development. The hoof is a key indicator of the pig’s daily life, and customers often look at the hoof to determine whether the pig was active when it was alive. Pointed nails suggest that the pig was more sedentary and probably given food rather than required to forage for it. While curved hooves indicate that the pig was active and had ample time to roam and forage – signs of good meat.
- Salt Curing - The last major component of jamón quality is how it's cured and for how long. The curing process hasn’t changed substantially since it began centuries ago and consists of storing the leg in salt. Each producer has their own proprietary process, which adds to the flavor. Curing can take anywhere from a several months up to several years. As a jamón cures, it loses a significant portion of its original weight and develops rich, unique flavors.
Phew, that was a lot of information about pigs! But it helped us understand the revered status and culture around jamón in Spain. And ultimately it led us to the indisputable conclusion that iberico bellota is THE jamón. It has the best flavors and craftsmanship as well as quality of life for the pig. Decision made. Right?
Unfortunately, in all this investigation, I neglected to look at the approximate costs of the different types of jamón. Knowing that jamón in general can be very affordable, I didn’t fully appreciate that THE jamón comes with THE price tag... easily around 400€ (nearly $500 USD). Ones from the most distinguished producers are over 1,000€. Undeterred, we started shopping around to see if there were any deals on jamón iberico bellota. There were a few holiday sales at large retailers (think Spanish Costco), but still nothing within our budget. So, we were faced with a cost/quality dilemma: do we stop being jamón snobs and get another, probably lovely, jamón serrano or do we take some advice from Bruno Mars? Well, our adulthood rationality won, and we decided to be responsible, non-rockstars with a cost-conscious jamón serrano.
We still wanted to be sure to get one with a flavor we enjoyed because even a budget-friendly jamón can take months to eat. So, ready to part with our lavish dreams of iberico bellota, we embarked on a tour of jamón shops around El Palo.
There were a lot of jamón options with different producers, curing times, and flavor profiles. Some we were able to sample; others weren’t available for individual slices. We got our hopes up about one particular serrano option, but when we tried it (after the owner’s friend brought some from his shop in a neighboring town!), we were not fans... and the saga continued. We wanted to get a jamón. We really did. And yet, we were starting to feel disheartened and in over our heads.
Being the indecisive, yet hopeful, couple that we are (see: the plan to travel ‘for a bit’), we decided to check just one more place and wandered into the Romero Torres carniceria (“meat shop”) down the street from our house. After helping a few other customers, the lively young woman behind the counter, Isa (EE-sa), asked what we wanted. Tired and overwhelmed with even more jamón choices, we stuttered. We started to say something about being tourists who really like jamón and then something else about living in Spain for six months. We mentioned that of course we would like a jamón iberico bellota, but they’re a bit cost prohibitive. And as we rambled about maybe trying some of her other jamón options, Isa jumped in to ask, “¿Pues, habéis considerado una paleta?” (“Well, have you thought about a paleta?”)
A “paleta”?? In reading (way too much) about jamón, I came across a lot of new words – serrano, iberico, pata negra, bellota – but not “paleta”. Our confusion showed, because Isa quickly pointed to the different cured legs around her shop, which to our untrained eyes, all looked the same – meat, leg, hoof. But what we learned, under Isa’s expert guidance, is that the large, dense hind leg of a pig is a jamón. The smaller, front leg of the same pig is a paleta. Yep. Same breed. Same diet. Same lifestyle. Same distinct curing process. Just a smaller serving and, therefore, lower cost. Among large Spanish families, paletas are less popular than jamón because they don’t last as long. But for us, a smaller size was actually perfect. I was so excited!
But maybe it was too good to be true... Could it really be possible to have rockstar quality on a backup-singer's budget? In this case, the answer was yes! With one thoughtful question, Isa solved our dilemma. And less than ten minutes later, we were the proud owners of a paleta iberico bellota.
Isa posing for a picture with us after we bought our first Spanish paleta
The saga of learning about jamón and buying a paleta was a lot of fun. Slowly but surely, we’re enjoying our paleta and sharing it with friends. I’m learning how to correctly prepare a serving which is a whole other adventure that might involve a trip to watch the national jamón slicing competition (no joke). In the meantime, we are happy to be immersed in Spanish life and hope you might be able to come visit us. We’ll have a plate of iberico bellota ready if you do!
TLDR (Too Long! Didn't Read.)
Like most Americans, when I first traveled to Spain in 2012, I had never heard of jamón. And in spite of the fact that you could find jamón pretty much anywhere, I was suspicious when I first encountered jamón. First of all, it looks different from meats we’re used to in the US. It’s an entire leg of pork with some skin, bones, and hoof still intact, and it weighs nearly 20lbs. Also, it’s a salt-cured meat, which means it’s not cooked. Even though I was assured that it’s safe to eat and doesn’t need to be refrigerated, I was unsettled every time I saw jamón out in the open. Luckily for me, it’s hard to avoid jamón for too long. After I tried just a little, I was hooked!
When we came back to Spain in November, we wanted to embrace the culture and tradition around jamón and get one of our own. In deciding which to buy, we learned that the flavor and quality of jamón are influenced by three main things: the breed of pig, its diet and lifestyle, and the traditional salt curing process. After reading (an excessive amount) about jamón, we knew we wanted a bellota iberico, which comes from a special breed of pig that roams freely and eats only wild acorns. But as soon as we started shopping, we realized how expensive this delicacy can be - easily over 400€ (nearly $500 USD). So we recalibrated our expectations and decided instead to look for a really delicious, more moderately-priced jamón serrano. In our search, we visited a lot of local carnicerias and tasted a lot of jamón. Unfortunately, we couldn't find an option that we liked. We had nearly given up when we wandered into a shop down the street from our house and met a wonderful expert named Isa.
After we explained our dilemma, Isa asked if we had considered buying a paleta. We had never heard of a paleta. But what we learned, under Isa’s expert guidance, is that the large, hind leg of a pig is a jamón. The smaller, front leg of the same pig is a paleta. Same breed. Same diet. Same lifestyle. Same curing process. Paletas are just a smaller serving and, therefore, cost less. Ten minutes later, we were the proud owners of a paleta iberico bellota! Since then, we’ve been slowly enjoying our paleta and sharing it with friends. I’m learning how to correctly prepare a serving which is a whole other adventure. If you’re able to come visit us here in Spain, we’ll be sure to have a plate of iberico bellota ready for you!
