Page 59 - DiVin022017

The Rolls Royce of Ham
by Marc Dugge and Oliver Neuroth, ARD Studio Madrid
Gourmets have to spend a lot of money for good Ibérico. But there are some things the ham needs for it to taste really good. For example, in nature the pig should be able to grub for acorns.
Some say it smells musty when the door to Alberto‘s shop in Madrid opens. They are mostly tourists who know Iberico ham only from pictures in their travel guide. The smell is hard to describe: a mixture of rancid fat, salt, and perhaps a hint of basement. Alberto also smells acorns, the food for the black pigs where the ham comes from. Smell is the wrong word, says Alberto. He says it‘s a fragrance - and calls Iberico ham the agship of Spanish cuisine.
Time seems to have stood still in Alberto‘s shop. On the counter there is an 80 year old scale. Without a digital display of course - instead it has shaky pointers. On the shelves are all kinds of Spanish sausage specialties - chorizo, morcilla, sobrasada - hanging from the ceiling are at least 30 ham clubs.
„My customers
shop has been here
years. Many people
rid, some also from
Spain. We also have
mers from abroad.
us because they‘ve
shop - for example
France, Germany, and also from Hong Kong. They are looking for ham shops that are classic and authentic.“
Alberto specialises in high-quality ham. A club costs bet- ween 250 and 500 euros - depending on the quality level. How high-quality a ham is can be seen on the label, which is attached to the claw: If it is coloured black or red, it is a ham of the best kind. A white label indicates the simplest quality level. Iberico ham comes exclusively from the regions of Andalusia and Extre- madura, which are in south-west Spain. The provinces of Huelva and Cordoba are known for particularly good Iberico.
„In Spain, about 30 million Iberico hams are produced every year. Of these, 28 million are of normal to poor quality. At most, half a million are really good. And the rest is average Iberico, the pigs are fed with grain. This means that you can get a lot more cheap, bad Iberico ham on the market than quality ham.“
Experts say: The best comes from Sierra de Huelva in Andalu- sia. An area near the Portugal border. A fertile, wild landscape. Small, white villages are nestled on the wooded hills. One place is famous in particular: the town of Jabugo. For a long time it has been synonymous with the nest Iberico ham.
Acorns are the main food that give the ham its good taste. They roll down from the trees, the oaks, between October and February. In this acorn time, which is called Montanera, the pigs eat so much that they become fatter and fatter. If an Iberian pig weighs 90 kilos at the beginning of Montanera, it can get up to 160 kilos by the end. Galloping around is no longer possible.
Iberico ham, the agship of Spanish cuisine.
know that this for around 100 come from Mad- other parts of many custo- They come to read about the
in gourmet guides. They are gourmets from
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