Jamon Iberico de Bellota: The Best Ham in the World

I was lucky enough to be at my cousin's house in Paris for Easter. Really really lucky. His guests from Barcelona, Pilar Rueda and Bertrand Callier, brought some Jamon Iberico de Bellota from Barcelona for the occasion. They brought sliced ham for the appetizer course and sausages for the aperitif. Normally I'm not a fan of pork, but this ham was so succulent I couldn't stop eating. The sausages were so tasty. Sausage normally tastes like fat with some flavor on the side, but this sausage was pure flavor with barely any fat on the side. Ok, I'm sure there was fat, but I sure as heck didn't taste it! I always knew Spain produced the best ham in the world, but this ham just blew my mind.

The ham is also generically called Pata Negra, since the hooves of the pigs are black. Now these aren't any old pigs mind you. They are the pride of Spain, fed on a free-range diet of acorns and wild plants. They are also treated somewhat like royalty. According to this site, for about two years after birth and until their "sacrifice", the pigs live in specially maintained oak forests.  After the "sacrifice" takes place, the ham is salted and cured from two to four years. At this stage, much of the remaining fat of the ham converts into good fat, like the fat from olive oil (because the pigs are fed acorns).

I don't think I can look at ham again without remembering the succulent "Pata Negra" ham. I've been spoiled for life! And when I say spoiled, I mean truly spoiled, because it apparently sells for 70 Pounds a kilo in the UK. If you happen to be in Barcelona, you can purchase it here.