Where Can I Buy Jamon Serrano or Iberico Near Me
How to Buy Jamón Ibérico: What to Wait for and Where to Get It
This Spanish ham is some of the best that money tin can buy.
To the untrained eye and palate, a ham is merely a ham—unremarkably, one entire pig leg or shoulder, sliced into brusk, rectangular, paper-thin sheets. But with and then many types of ham on the market place, it tin be hard to know which is the best and why. When information technology comes to Spanish ham, knowledge is power.
And then if you lot're looking to purchase some of the best jamón, or Spanish ham, that money tin can buy, make certain you lot know what you're looking for.
The different categories of jamón
Understanding the distinctions amongst the different kinds of Spanish ham is a expert starting point, every bit each type is carefully designated past police.
Jamón Serrano is made from white pigs—commonly Landrace or Duroc breeds, which have white hooves and are typically raised indoors and fed a mix of grains. The product is less fat than Ibérico.
Jamón Ibérico is made from farm-raised, normally crossbred Ibérico pigs that are raised indoors and fed hay.
Jamón Ibérico Cebo de Campo is the side by side level above that and is made from crossbred free-range Ibérico pigs that are fed a mixture of acorns and hay.
Jamón Ibérico de Bellota, finally, is the premier level—the type that has inspired cult-similar following—that is made from free-range, black-hued and footed Ibérico pigs that subsist solely on acorns.
Why acorns? The dehesas, or meadows, of western Spain serve a variety of economic and environmental purposes. The Holm and cork oak trees provide high-quality forest that is exported for the global wine manufacture (as well as for other purposes), and is the ideal canopy for the region's flora and fauna. The acorns that come up from the trees also happen to exist the perfect food for free-range pigs: each pig can eat most 10 kilos of acorns a 24-hour interval and the result, after a long curing period of two to 4 years, creates a nutty, rich-tasting product that is high in monosaturated fat, high in oleic acid and low in saturated fatty.
What to look for
When possible, opt for hand-sliced over motorcar-sliced jamón, considering master carvers piece in a way that properly distributes fat among the entire piece—something that cannot be replicated past a machine. Also, only purchase ham that's been vacuum sealed.
Credit: Rene Johnston/Getty Images
Just there's more than to it, of course. 1 thing to notice is that there are three colors, which range from bright red in the more well-cured areas, to pinkish, says Teresa de la Cierva, Member of the Spanish Majestic Academy of Gastronomy & Vice-president of the Gastronomy Academy of Madrid. "White marbled fat deposits a sheen when the meat is exposed to room temperature and small white "crystals" announce low salinity and gradual, slow curing. Hints of pink shown in the muscle fiber indicate prolonged curing, forth with the purity of the brood."
Then, in that location are the dissimilar cuts, many of which are not known outside of Kingdom of spain. An Ibérico ham leg has iv distinctive parts to it: the punta,babilla, maza andjarrete . Each has its own distinctive aroma, flavor and texture and, in southern and western Spain, can be paired with a different kind of Sherry, depending on whether it's sweeter or drier, fatty or more than fibrous.
Credit: Courtesy of Cinco Jotas
"The meat in the top 3rd of the ham, the maza, is soft, juicy and unctuous. It melts in your hands," de la Cierva says. "The babilla, orcontramaza, which is near the lesser of the ham andjarrete, which comes from a small area next to the talocrural joint, feature a more than gristly and firm-bodied consistency which increases the chewing time and enjoyment." Thejarrete is the rarest cut of all—it takes a significantly skilled carver to exist able to extract it from around the bone. The hard-to-reach punta, at the tip of the ham, is a bit sweeter and significantly more marbled.
Where to Buy It
The most premium brand from Spain, Cinco Jotas (5J), is as well one of the main exporters of cured ham around the world and sells to the Usa via its online shop. But specialty shops effectually the country, like Despaña in New York City, carry Jamón Iberico likewise, every bit do other online stores, like Virginia-based La Tienda, or fifty-fifty on Amazon.
Source: https://www.foodandwine.com/news/jamon-iberico-where-buy
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