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[Music]
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Welcome to Aspain Poco Poco.
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Hello. Today I'm so excited. We're going
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to talk about Hammon, which is We could
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talk about this for hours, let me just
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tell you. But we are going to
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but we're going to do it in 10 to 10 to
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15 minutes.
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We're going to make it succinct. We're
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going to try.
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Um, so
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I will say I think it's it's very
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interesting as my when my first visit to
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Spain, I was not expecting to see pig
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legs hanging everywhere in grocery
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stores at the airport at, you know, hon
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is a big deal here. I mean, it is they
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are everywhere.
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It is. And I'll say, and I don't know if
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they have this in sort of more regional
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parts of Spain still, but when I first
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came to Spain several decades ago, I
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mean, just the regular bars, they were
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curing them just hanging from the
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ceiling there. So your bar experience
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was just ham on hanging from the ceiling
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and and now of course you know you go to
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the grocery store, you go to places
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where they just have lots of them and
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that's sort of where you're buying it
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but they've been cured somewhere
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probably a bit more um you know covered.
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And the prices vary from like you know
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€50 for a whole leg to like €1,000. It's
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it's insane. And we're going to get into
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why.
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We're gonna get into why right here
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because we have different types of ham
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on. So if you're coming from another
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country where you've just seen hammon
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every now and again or a pushutto you
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maybe just have only had experience of a
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few but there is a massive variety of
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different types of hammon. So the most
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sort of luxurious one the most expensive
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one is the hammon iberetico which is the
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iberan iber iberian ham which is from
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this pen peninsula and it's from pigs
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that are native and unique to the
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Iberian peninsula. So that's why it's a
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very special hammon on to Spain.
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And if it has a black hoof, the
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patenegra is the highest quality. That's
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the the soup. Those are the ones going
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for the high dollar.
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Yes. And that's even within that you
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have like any other type of meat, you
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have a bit of a variety of what is the
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best of the best and then a little bit
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still good. But so the the best of the
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best would be the honico de bal which is
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acorn bayota. I'm having a really hard
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time with my Spanish right now
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with your double L. Don't worry, I have
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a million things I can't pronounce.
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So that that means acorn. So those are
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the ones that I mean they're all sort of
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free range, but this one is 100%
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freerange and they're fed on these
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acorns and they are the highest quality.
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So they're the special pig, fed on
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special food, fed at special times of
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year, on special grass and everything.
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So everything's super special and very
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unique and this is the the highest level
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and it is going to be very delicious
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and and it's it is delicious. It melts
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in your mouth. And then the next one
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would be the ammonico debo dampo which
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is that's a long title.
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That is a long title
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which is still free range Iberian ham.
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Um but the the pigs have a are fed on a
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mixture of food of acorns and grains and
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other natural foods and and grasses.
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They are pigs. They eat everything. But
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this is they control it a little bit
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more in in a still in a freerange
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environment and it's still that same
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Iberian.
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Yeah. And the freerange areas that
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they're that they are roaming on is
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called a dehessa and that is these sort
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of very open areas of pasture um that is
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sort of unique to to certain areas of
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Spain that have the right types of
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acorns and grass and everything that
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they're that they need to feed on. So
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this is a special sort of area for that.
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And um the third type is the honer debo.
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I say thebo you say sebo depends I guess
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on what part of Spain whether you do
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your thirds or not. Um and that is going
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to be primarily grain f grainfed. So
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that is the three different ones and
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it's still going to be really good and
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it's still the fancy pig
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but it's it's grainfed.
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Yeah.
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It's still got the genetics to make it
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good. It just doesn't have the same
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food. Right. And and in this
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go ahead.
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I was going to say when in this with
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these uh different we say what's the
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best and not so best that is really
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subjective because there are people that
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are going to prefer the taste of one
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over the other.
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Very true. But one of the things that
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does make it special, which technically
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is something that would be revered, is
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the fact that it has this type of pig,
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has a um a marbling of the of the fat
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within the muscle that creates and
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technically a a situation where the
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where the where the meat is really
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really nice because you have this
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marbling. And sometimes you'll see um
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hammon that has, you know, meat and then
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it has a chunk of fat, you know, next to
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it on the edge and stuff. So you're not
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going to get that so much with this type
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cuz it's going to be more marbled and
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that sort of fancy. And also the
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and you want to serve it at like a room
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temperature too so that fat starts
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melting and it makes it all moist and
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and delicious. And
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and I will say with the when you get the
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expensive hamon that that fat tends to
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just melt. It really does. And then with
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the with the other types of hammon even
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if you bring it to room temperature it's
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still a sort of a a slice of fat kind
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of. I mean there's nothing wrong with
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that but it's not melting quite to the
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same degree which I think is part of it.
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Um also the high prices because of the
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aging process. So the this type of
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hammon has a very long 24 to 48 months
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of aging which
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that's a long time to delicious
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but worth it.
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How do you just stare at that leg
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hanging there?
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How did the first person do it? I'm just
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going to wait years for this you know
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without having another one that you're
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already eating. So,
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right,
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somebody started the process. Al, also
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speaking of which, limited production,
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um, skilled labor, like these are all
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the things that sort of go into why this
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particular hemmon is going to be more
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expensive.
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And I'm sure it's, you know, you family
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businesses keeping these secrets to
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themselves, only allowing a few members
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outside to know how how how to do their
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job, right?
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Absolutely. And it's, I'm sure, yeah,
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traditional within a family. Um, so
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that's the the that's the technically
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the expensive one, but like you said,
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each to their own. The Hammon Srano,
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which is the mountain ham, is literally
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made from well, white pigs or literally
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any other pig that isn't Iberian, is can
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be a a regular Hammon.
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So,
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and it is more affordable. I I I will
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say I was at the store last night
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looking at packages of Han and checking
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the prices and I was like, maybe I do
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want the biota. And then I looked at the
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package and I was like, €15 for like a
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perfect? No, we're good. We'll get the
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Serrano today. Yeah, today was Serrano
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kids. So,
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yes. I mean, this is true. I'm still
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waiting for someone to gift me one of
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the Iberian ham legs. I mean, that would
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be awesome with the
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Speaking of the things, if you get the
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leg, you have to also get the stand that
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it comes with, which can also be
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purchased at varying prices, right?
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From you can get those from 15 at the
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Chinese store to probably hundreds and
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hundreds at Elcourt. That's chrome or
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sterling silver or
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some beautiful wood with chrome. And
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then you know and then you basically you
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can have that in your house which is not
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an experience that we have because we
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have too many animals but you just have
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that ham on sitting there and you just
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slice it off as you need it which is
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delightful just not something that we've
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been able to do.
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It would be disconcerting for me to have
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that huge leg knowing that I have to
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finish that at some point in my life.
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Well the good thing is is it lasts for a
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long time. It's cured so you don't have
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to finish it anytime soon. But
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even so with the H1 Srano 2, you have
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varying degrees of of of how fancy those
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are and how expensive they are. If you
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want to let us know what those are.
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So the first one is the uh bodega which
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is it's a it's a basic type of the Srano
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home. Um but it has a shorter curing
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time between 10 to 12 months.
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So that's like kind of the lower quality
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I guess you could say because it's a
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shorter time frame
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and that's probably what you buy if
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you're going into the store and they
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have like a one euro pack of of hammon.
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I mean there's nothing wrong with it.
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It's just hasn't been cured as long.
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It's still really good. It makes a great
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tostada or sandwich. Nothing wrong with
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it. Yeah,
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exactly.
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I'm I'm a fan.
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And then there's the Han Serrano Reserva
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which is the the next tub in the higher
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quality. Um and the curing time in that
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is 12 to 15 months. So, it just gets
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better and better the longer it's cured.
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So, you can see how the other one when
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you're starting with a maybe a premier
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pig and then you cure it for, you know,
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a year to whatever, I mean, it's going
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to get
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it's going to get good.
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It's going to get delicious. And then
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our top tier of the uh Serrano is the
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Grand Reserva, which is um aged for more
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than 15 months. So, that's
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So, that's the longest of the the
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longest of the lesser and still
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delicious. And then we have some little
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specialty areas. Um, and let's see how
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my Spanish is going now. We have the
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Hamande Terruel. H, how's that? I did
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that one. Okay,
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that that, you know, it sounds great to
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me.
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So that's an area and that has that. So
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they have a special system over there
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and so they've got a little bit famous
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and then you also have the Hamand de
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Travel
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um, another area. These are these are
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regions of Spain that have have kind of
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created their own specialty within the
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Hammon. Um,
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and they can't be outside. It's kind of
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like Champagne can only come from this
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one region. These hams are here. And
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when we were doing this research last
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night when I, like I just said, I was
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looking at the Hmons at the store and I
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saw the one duriel and it was quite
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expensive, so I didn't buy it. But I was
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like, I had never noticed that before.
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So, I felt like I have learned something
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and felt a little bit closer to our
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community from our
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I feel the same way because now I go and
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I'm like, "Oh, there's the Grand
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Reserver." And I had always thought when
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I saw that on packaging that that was
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just something that each company that
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was making Hammon was just like making
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up words kind of like we're going to
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call this the Grand Reserver because it
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sounds like really fancy. But now I'm
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seeing it's great to now see that this
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is actually a whole system that is run
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throughout the Hammon so that
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everybody's so I kind of love I love
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that we're doing this. It's awesome.
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It's a method, not just a consumer
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product. Right. Consumption.
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Now, you had a friend that was telling
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you, which I have I don't have enough
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experience with with Hemon on to know
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this, but you had a friend that was
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telling you about the different cuts
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within the leg, which I don't think is
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listed on the packaging, but maybe if
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you have your own leg or something.
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Well, and and you go and there's a lot
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when you go to the grocery stores, they
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do have like a deli counter. They have
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like five legs lined up and people are
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getting f freshly. They'll have it in
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the prepackaged stuff, but people are
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like, "Nope, I want it cut from the pig
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right now." And there's certain areas,
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and some people were like, "You're not
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at the area I want, so I don't want
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that." Because there's areas with more
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fat and with less fat. So, some people
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want it more less fat and because they
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like that drier consistency, and some
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people want it more moist. And the maza
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or mate area is located between the
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shank, which is the middle part of the
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leg, and the hip. And this a lot of
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people would consider is the best
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because it's it's very tender. that's
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going to have a lot of the
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marbilization, the juiciness, all that
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kind of rich flavor. But the shank and
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and the bun also have their own
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characteristics. The butt is going to
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have more fat and then the shank end is
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going to be the less fat kind of.
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Right. So different people might like
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different parts. Right.
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Right.
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Love it. And then so I, you know, like I
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said, haven't tried all the different
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parts and how it we need a we need a ham
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on tasting. This would be a good thing
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to go do. Um my so another thing which
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doesn't kind of it's not technically
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Hammon but I do have a friend that um is
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from the Leyon region north of Madrid
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and they have a what I call and every
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Spanish person is going to cry when they
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hear this. They have something what I
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call a beef hammon. So, it's a cured
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beef and it's called a tatina in
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Spanish. And that is a cured beef and it
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is um I'm So, hamon has a flavor and the
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Iberian Hammon has a different flavor a
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little bit if you start getting the beef
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one is
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it's not just a different flavor. It's
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more flavorful in my opinion. Just like
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very very
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It bursts in your mouth. It bursts in
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your mouth. And I I have just started
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seeing it at the grocery store here. So
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keep an keep an eye because I saw one
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loan section of package. I was like
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that's the beef cuz I had tried it like
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a year ago from the specialty store and
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then it was at the it was at the merc. I
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was like let me get it. And the other
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thing that they have there is they have
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it also out of rabbit. They have a cure
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rabbit meat as well.
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I don't know if I want to go down that
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road but that's kind of cool. Did you
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try it or you didn't get in?
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It is delicious. No, of course I got it.
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I don't know. Yeah, but I mean
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I mean when I'm in Spain, I'm in allh
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hog. You know what I mean?
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Yeah. If you're going to do it, just
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just go all in. So I think there's this
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uh Cina is something that is there's
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known, but there's also a specialty like
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we talked about the different areas um
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of the Hammon. There's a Cina Deleon,
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which is a specialty um within that
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area. Um and it's so it's just it's it's
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definitely worth a a try if anyone comes
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here and tries it. It's a it's it's the
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hind quarter of the cow that's cured and
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salted and dried for 7 months or longer.
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So, it's not cured actually as long as
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as the hammons, even the even the lesser
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hammons, which I think is interesting,
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but worth a try.
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I wonder if it's a fat issue. I'm going
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to throw that out. So, no, maybe cows
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have less the cows are leaner, so they
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don't need as much time to dry out some
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of that.
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Or maybe they don't need it for the
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flavor because I think the the curing
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creates more flavor and there is an
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insane amount of flavor already by the
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time that I've tried it. So, or maybe
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there are ones that do it for longer.
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This is just kind of what we our little
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research. So, we'll research some more
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and
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and if you know, let us know. Let us
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know what you know.
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Let us know what you know about these
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poco pocos, too. Absolutely.
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Because not so much do we we love
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sharing information. We also love
13:47
learning. So,
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absolutely.
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Well, until next time.
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Until next time.
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Till the next episode.
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Bye.
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