MadridEating; Jamon Iberico de Bellota, Ham of Hams

Cutting to the chase, no proper introductions. Just very raw and straight forward. Jamon. Jamon de Iberico. Jamon Iberico de Bellota. Before anything else I will say, it is the best cured meat in the entire world, heck, while I am at it, the universe !!! (OK I may be exaggerating .. well, just a little bit ..)

Being a chef I know it costs a heck of a lot to buy it in. Some even get a leg of Jamon Serrano and, don’t get me wrong, it is also expensive and tastes really great. But, the jamon iberico de Bellota tastes just out of this world. The ones that are exported all over the world which I have tasted before aren’t like the ones that you get while in Spain, which are in a league of their own. It makes you think that you have become some sort of a “ham snob”, that anything else won’t ever match up. But if you ever get the chance to go to Spain, taste the jamon Iberico de bellota THERE!! Because from what I gathered when I was there is that THE BEST JAMON IBERICO DE BELLOTA NEVER LEAVES SPAIN FOR EXPORT! It is all kept in Spain! And I was brought around to taste the best in Madrid. Namely at the Mercado de San Miguel.

My name is Benjamin and I am a ham snob …. hahaaa

So what is this jamon Iberico de bellota ???

Jamón ibérico, Iberico ham, also called pata negra, is a type of cured ham produced mostly in Spain and in some Portuguese regions, where it’s called presunto ibérico. It is at least 75% black Iberian pig, also called the cerdo negro (black pig), native to southwestern Spain and southeastern Portugal. These pigs are fatter and the meat is more marbled than regular pigs (regular pigs hahaaa …. ). They are mostly given cereal feed and allowed limited free range time where herbs supplement their diet. According to Spain’s Denominación de Origen rules on food products, jamón ibérico may be made from cross-bred pigs as long as they are at least 75% ibérico

Jamón Ibérico comprises only about 10% of Spain’s annual ham production. Ibérico hams are aged from 24 to 36 months and have distinct marbling, a dark purple color, and an intense ham flavour coming from mono-unsaturated fat.

Jamón Ibérico Bellota: a sub category of Jamón Ibérico where the pigs are free to roam the meadows of the ‘dehesa’. Prized both for their smooth texture and rich savoury taste. A good ibérico ham has regular flecks of intramuscular fat. During the autumn before the slaughter, they are “released” to feed on acorns, sometimes gaining as much as a kilo of weight a day. When the acorns are falling from the trees, the pigs are released to fatten up.  Iberico pigs love acorn grazing. Each pig can eat ten kilos of acorns a day. When the pigs destined to be Bellota hams are “released” onto the Dehesa at the age of about 10 months they weigh in about 200 pounds each. The once svelte young pigs become gleeful plump pigs, gaining up to 2 pounds of fat each day. After 3 to 4 months of the period known as the ‘montanera’ each pig roughly doubles its weight. In the winter, once they have reached a certain weight, their time has arrived for the ‘sacrifice.

The ‘matanza’, or sacrifice, has traditionally been a family affair. A pig would be slaughtered and the whole family would gather to preserve the meat for the rest of the year. Chorizo, salchichón and morcilla sausages would be made on the spot. Choice cuts would be set aside to be eaten fresh. And the fatty legs would be packed in sea salt and hung to dry in the cool winter air. This process still continues in some towns as it has for thousands of years. And over the last century, family factories have begun curing these hams in large quantities using the same methods. The hams are left to absorb the salt for a few weeks. Then they are hung in factories that still have open windows to allow the mountain air to circulate around the hams.

Iberico hams cure for two to four years.  This extraordinarily long curing process is possible because of the huge amount of fat on each ham and, in the case of the Bellota hams, the antioxidant quality of their diets. Over the curing period they loose nearly half their weight as the fat drips away.

An incredible reaction occurs as the winter moves to spring and summer. The salted ham starts to sweat. Because of the salt, bacteria cannot take hold, but massive chemical changes occur. The meat becomes more dry, and cools off as the second winter commences. The special aspect of Iberico is that it can go through this cycle two or three times. The result is a build up of complex, volatile molecules in the ham that transform it from a piece of pork into an orchestra of flavours. Much of the resultant fat is mono-unsaturated. Because of its diet of acorns, much of the jamón’s fat is oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid that has been shown to lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol.  Through the aging period of heating and cooling, salting and drying, the fats are broken down. Because of the antioxidants in the acorns and the unique curing process, the saturated fats are changed into healthy mono-unsaturated fats high in oleic acid. The only fat higher in oleic acid is olive oil.

The Jamon iberico is basically catogorised into 3 types of ham.

* The finest jamón ibérico is called jamón ibérico de bellota (acorn). This ham is from free-range pigs that roam oak forests (called la dehesa) along the border between Spain and Portugal, and eat only acorns  during this last period. It is also known as Jamón Iberico de Montanera. The exercise and the diet has a significant impact on the flavor of the meat; the ham is cured for 36 months.

* The next grade of jamón ibérico is called jamón ibérico de recebo. This ham is from pigs that are pastured and fed a combination of acorns and grain.

* The third type of jamón ibérico is called jamón ibérico de cebo, or simply, jamón ibérico. This ham is from pigs that are fed only grain. The ham is cured for 24 months.

Take a walk from Gran Via all the way to Sol and further. You would be able to see endless shops selling this prized ham from whole legs to vacuum sealed slices. In all forms of the ham. This really is one of the prized products of Spain and the world. There are endless restaurants selling it and naming themselves after the ham. The most common one would be the Museo del Jamon.

Here you can get the jamon and typical dishes cooked from it. And of course other yummy dishes as well. One dish that we had was Fabada, an Asturianan dish made from beans with black pudding, chorizo and here they use the fat from the jamon iberico. Rich and simply fantastic!

Obviously before leaving I made very sure that I bought some of this precious ham back !!!

Well not “too much” .. hahaaa …. I hope this gives you alittle insight to the great jamon iberico de bellota !!! And I say again, try it when you’re in Spain !

Happy Fooding !!!