Spanish jamón is a type of ham in the way that champagne is a type of fizzy drink.
How to raise your ham game with jamón, the champagne of pork products
Jamón is not thick and pink but a deep-red, delicately sliced finger food that resembles a slightly nutty, less-salty prosciutto. The cream of Spain’s ham crop, jamón Ibérico de bellota, is often lauded as the world’s best cured ham.
Whether you buy a jamón as a swanky appetizer for your next party or to keep in your kitchen for everyday noshing, there are some things jamón newbies need to know.
Got one. How do I cut it?
The perfect slice is bite-size and very thin, said Rubén García, chef and owner of D.C.’s Casa Teresa. You should be able to place it on your tongue and wait a few seconds for the fat to melt and release its flavor before you chew it, he said.
Achieving such a precise cut is both a craft and a profession in Spain, and the best cortadores de jamón wield a slicing knife like a violin bow.
“It’s not only cutting ham, it’s cutting ham properly and presenting it properly, because it’s an art,” said García.
Neus Coronado, one of three full-time slicers García employs, can produce a tidy pinwheel of uniform, nearly paper-thin slices in just a few minutes.
You, on the other hand, will just have to try your best.
How to start an Ibérico ham
Once you’re ready to dig in, you have to figure out which part to cut first. The thick, meaty maza is a good place to start if you’re feeding a crowd, but each region has good points.
REVEAL THE MEAT
Use a sturdy
carving knife to remove
a slab of skin and fat.
1
Knife direction
CUT THIN SLICES
Use a ham knife with
a narrow, flexible blade,
cut horizontally, aiming
for delicate 2- to 3-inch
slices.
2
CONTOUR AROUND BONES
Use a short-bladed
boning knife to trim
meat in tight places.
3
Main parts
Maza
It is the main piece. Larger slices can be cut here.
Contramaza
Similar to the maza but drier and narrower.
Babilla
The aromatic babilla is drier than the maza and smoother in flavor, but it has less meat.
Punta
The end is very juicy and tasty because fat filters down during the curing and aging process.
How to start an Ibérico ham
Once you’re ready to dig in, you have to figure out which part to cut first. The thick, meaty maza is a good place to start if you’re feeding a crowd, but each region has good points.
1
REVEAL THE MEAT
Use a sturdy
carving knife to remove
a slab of skin and fat.
Knife direction
2
CUT THIN SLICES
Use a ham knife with
a narrow, flexible blade,
cut horizontally, aiming
for delicate 2- to 3-inch
slices.
3
CONTOUR AROUND BONES
Use a short-bladed
boning knife to trim
meat in tight places.
Main parts
Maza
It is the main piece. Larger slices can be cut here.
Contramaza
Similar to the maza but drier and narrower.
Babilla
The aromatic babilla is drier than the maza and smoother in flavor, but it has less meat.
Punta
The end is very juicy and tasty because fat filters down during the curing and aging process.
How to start an Ibérico ham
Once you’re ready to dig in, you have to figure out which part to cut first.
The thick, meaty maza is a good place to start if you’re feeding a crowd, but each
region has good points.
CONTOUR AROUND BONES
Use a short-bladed
boning knife to trim
meat in tight places.
REVEAL THE MEAT
Use a sturdy
carving knife to remove
a slab of skin and fat.
CUT THIN SLICES
Use a ham knife with
a narrow, flexible blade,
cut horizontally, aiming for
delicate 2- to 3-inch slices.
1
2
3
Knife direction
Contramaza
START
HERE
Similar to the maza but drier and narrower.
Hoof
Maza
A hallmark of an Iberico jamón is the still-attached black hoof, a.k.a. the pata negra, which is also a synonym for high quality.
However, U.S. regulations require that hoofs be cut off before they’re imported.
Hock
Bones
Hard and fibrous, this portions is typically cut into cubes for tapas or stew.
Babilla
Used for soup or stew.
PUNTA
The aromatic babilla is drier than the maza and smoother in flavor, but it has less meat.
The end is very juicy and tasty because fat filters down during the curing and aging process.
Stand
Jamones can be rotated or locked in place for easy cutting.
How to start an Ibérico ham
Once you’re ready to dig in, you have to figure out which part to cut first. The thick, meaty maza is a good
place to start if you’re feeding a crowd, but each region has good points.
1
2
3
CONTOUR AROUND BONES
Use a short-bladed
boning knife to trim
meat in tight places.
REVEAL THE MEAT
Use a sturdy
carving knife to remove
a slab of skin and fat.
CUT THIN SLICES
Use a ham knife with
a narrow, flexible blade,
cut horizontally, aiming for
delicate 2- to 3-inch slices.
Knife direction
START
HERE
Hoof
Contramaza
A hallmark of an Iberico jamón is the still-attached black hoof, a.k.a. the pata negra, which is also a synonym for high quality.
However, U.S. regulations require that hoofs be cut off before they’re imported.
Similar to the maza but drier and narrower.
Maza
Bones
Hock
Used for soup or stew.
Hard and fibrous, this portions is typically cut into cubes for tapas or stew.
Babilla
The aromatic babilla is drier than the maza and smoother in flavor, but it has less meat.
Punta
The end is very juicy and tasty because fat filters down during the curing and aging process.
Stand
Jamones can be rotated or locked in place for easy cutting.
Don’t despair if your slices look more … free-form.
“It’s not easy,” said Casa Teresa’s general manager, Alex Muñoz, who said he thought he was a decent slicer before working closely with pros. “I was butchering it at my house in Spain all my life.”
Professional carvers also know how to maximize the amount of meat carved from the bone, a key skill when dealing with an extremely pricey ingredient.
If you’re struggling, there are plenty of online tutorials, including this one from Cinco Jotas, one of Spain’s best-known jamón producers.
Because jamones are dry-cured, they can sit in their cutting stands at room temperature as long as the room is relatively cool and dry. That’s good news, because at two to three feet long, they’d be tough to wedge into a typical fridge. (One of the authors of this story keeps his on top of his washing machine.)
Be sure to cover the exposed meat with plastic wrap — or, to be authentic, the slab of fat you sliced off — so it doesn’t dry out.
Guinness recognizes at least four ham-related slicing records, all held by Spaniards: the longest slicing stint (72 hours 13 minutes 8 seconds), the most sliced in an hour (25.5 pounds, in 2,497 slices), the longest slice of meat (98 feet 9.4 inches or 30.11 meters) and the most people slicing meat simultaneously (205).
What makes this ham so special?
Basically, special pigs and a special process.
The most prized jamón is made from black Ibérico pigs, descendants of wild boar that are native to the forested meadows of southwestern Spain and southeastern Portugal.
The Ibérico breed
Ibérico pigs are black with very little hair
and black hoofs.
≈ 30 in
Ham
≈ 15-20 pounds
Shoulder
45% yield
≈ 12-14 pounds
35% yield
Ham vs. shoulder
The shoulder or “paletilla” is the front leg of the pig, while the ham or “jamon” is the hind leg.
The term "ham" is often used for both, but because they are salted and cured differently, the difference in flavor and price can be significant.
The Ibérico breed
≈ 30 in
Ibérico pigs are black
with very little hair
and black
hoofs.
Ham
15-20 pounds
45% yield
Shoulder
12-14 pounds
35% yield
Ham vs. shoulder
The shoulder or “paletilla” is the front leg of the pig, while the ham or “jamon” is the hind leg.
The term "ham" is often used for both, but because they are salted and cured differently, the difference in flavor and price can be significant.
After early piglet-hood, they are released to frolic and forage in huge dehesas, rolling forests partially converted to pastures. In fall and winter, they scarf the fresh acorns that fall from the trees and give the meat its slightly nutty flavor. One pig can eat 22 pounds of acorns a day.
The characteristics of the acorns come through so distinctly in the meat that connoisseurs can taste the difference in pigs raised in different regions.
Because the pigs need to move around and build muscle for the meat to marble and develop properly, the Spanish government mandates minimum space per animal based on the amount of tree cover in an area. Cinco Jotas, for example, allots five or more acres of land per pig — and sometimes double or triple that, depending on climate conditions, communications director María Castro Bermúdez-Coronel wrote in an email. Pigs regularly roam several miles each day.
The ‘bellota’ diet
If trees cover 10 percent or less of the area, 1 pig will need 10 acres of space to be labeled "bellota."
FC Barcelona pitch for scale.
If the trees cover about
a third of the area, the
ratio can be 1 pig per
2.5 acres.
The ‘bellota’ diet
If trees cover 10 percent or less of the area, 1 pig will need 10 acres of space to be labeled “bellota.”
FC Barcelona pitch for scale.
If the trees cover about
a third of the area, the
ratio can be 1 pig per
2.5 acres.
At about 2 years old, the pigs are “sacrificed,” a preferred term for the traditional killing method.
The hams are then salted and hung in cellars to dry, part of a laborious curing process that takes years — typically three to five years at Cinco Jotas, for instance.
How do I know what to buy?
Jamón Ibérico comes in four classifications based on a pig’s genes and its diet, and labels are color-coded to reflect the strict standards set by Spain.
The priciest and highest-rated is 100 percent Ibérico de bellota, which can cost $1,600 or more in the United States for a typical 18-pounder. (In Spain, the same ham would cost 600 euros, or about $650, García said.) Only free-roaming, acorn-fed, full-blooded Ibérico pigs earn the coveted black label.
How to identify the type of jamón?
BLACK HOOF
(“PATA NEGRA”)
100%
Ibérico de
Bellota
Ibérico
de Bellota
Ibérico
Cebo
de Campo
Ibérico
Cebo or just
Ibérico
Ibérico pigs
crossed
with other
breeds
Ibérico pigs
crossed
with other
breeds
Ibérico pigs
crossed
with other
breeds
100%
Ibérico
breed
Acorns diet
Acorns
Fodder
Fodder / acorns
Free-range
Farm-raised
White
Black
Red
Green
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
WHITE
HOOF
Jamón Serrano
From white pigs
of the Duroc, Landrace or
other breeds. It is the most
affordable option ( )
$
Cereals
diet
Labelled with a
Ham-shaped ‘S’
Farm-raised
How to identify the type of jamón?
WHITE
HOOF
BLACK HOOF
(“PATA NEGRA”)
Jamón 100%
Ibérico
de Bellota
Jamón
Ibérico
de Bellota
Jamón
Ibérico
Cebo
de Campo
Jamón
Ibérico
Cebo or just
Jamón Ibérico
Jamón
Serrano
Ibérico pigs
crossed
with other
breeds
Ibérico pigs
crossed
with other
breeds
White pigs
of the Duroc,
Landrace or
other breeds
Ibérico pigs
crossed
with other
breeds
100%
Ibérico
breed
Cereals
Acorns diet
Acorns
Fodder
Fodder / acorns
Free-range
Free-range
Free-range
Farm-raised
Farm-raised
Ham-
shaped
‘S’
White
Black
Red
Green
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
How to identify
the type of jamón?
WHITE
HOOF
BLACK HOOF
(“PATA NEGRA”)
Jamón Ibérico
Cebo or just
Jamón Ibérico
TYPE
Jamón
Serrano
Jamón Ibérico
Cebo de Campo
Jamón 100%
Ibérico
de Bellota
Jamón Ibérico
de Bellota
BREED
Ibérico pigs
crossed
with other
breeds
Ibérico pigs
crossed
with other
breeds
100%
Ibérico
breed
White pigs
of the Duroc,
Landrace
or other breeds
Ibérico pigs
crossed
with other
breeds
DIET
Cereals
Fodder
Acorns
Acorns
Fodder / acorns
FARMING
Free-range
Free-range
Free-range
Farm-raised
Farm-raised
Ham-
shaped
‘S’
LABEL
White
Black
Red
Green
PRICE
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
How to identify the type of jamón?
HAM TYPE
BREED
DIET
FARMING
LABEL
PRICE
$
$
$
$
$
Acorns
Free-range
Black
100% Ibérico breed
Jamón 100% Ibérico
de Bellota
BLACK HOOF
(“PATA NEGRA”)
Jamón Ibérico
de Bellota
Ibérico pigs crossed
with other breeds
$
$
$
$
Red
Acorns
Free-range
Jamón Ibérico
Cebo de Campo
Ibérico pigs crossed
with other breeds
$
$
$
Fodder and acorns
Free-range
Green
Jamón Ibérico Cebo
or just Jamón Ibérico
Ibérico pigs crossed
with other breeds
$
$
Farm-raised
White
Fodder
White pigs of the
Duroc, Landrace
or other breeds
Ham-shaped
‘S’
Jamón Serrano
$
Farm-raised
Cereals
WHITE HOOF
The Food and Drug Administration requirement to remove the black hoof is so tough for purists to stomach that some U.S. restaurants attach fake hoofs. García said he is considering covering the severed bone ends at his restaurant with baby-size black Air Jordans. (We are mostly, but not entirely, sure he was joking.)
About this story
In December, deputy graphics director and jamón newbie Tim Meko asked several Spaniards in Post Graphics how to handle the jamón serrano he bought to serve at Christmas. The question and the meat sparked a weeks-long discussion, an unhealthy obsession in his dog and this story. Spain-based assignment editor Samuel Granados — he’s the one with a jamón on his washer — grew up eating Spanish ham and compiled a raft of information on the topic. Reporter Bonnie Berkowitz, who had not heard of jamón before that morning, was assigned to write the piece to make sure it was accessible to any readers who might be equally clueless. She has since sampled jamón Ibérico de bellota at Casa Teresa in the traditional way, with small breadsticks called picos and a dry amontillado.
Additional information came from cortador de jamón Alberto Tovar at Casa Teresa, the Spanish government website, Cinco Jotas, dehesa-extremadura.com, Consorcio del Jamón Serrano Español and Consorcio de Jabugo.