Jamón#Jamón serrano

File:A pile of jamon in Spain, a cured meat. 32 euros each.jpg

Jamón is typically consumed in slices, either manually carved from a pig's hind leg held on a jamonero stand using a sharp thin slicing knife, or cut from the deboned meat with a meat slicer. It is also regularly consumed in any shape in small portions.

As a product, jamón is similar to Portuguese presunto and to Italian prosciutto, but the production differs by a longer curing phase (up to 18 months), giving a dryer texture, deeper color and stronger flavour.

A whole jamón leg is considerably cheaper by weight than its sliced counterpart because it includes the bone and non-edible fat. Once the external fat layers are removed and the meat is exposed, the product must be consumed as soon as possible since a progressive drying and deteriorating process starts. This is not an issue for restaurateurs and retailers, since they go through product much faster than an individual.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ocu.org/alimentacion/alimentos/informe/jamon-guia-de-compra|title=Cómo elegir el mejor jamón o paleta {{!}} OCU|website=www.ocu.org|language=es-ES|access-date=2019-10-30}} Home users will typically choose sliced product, be it freshly cut from a deli stand, commercially pre-packaged or vacuum preserved. Jamón is safe to consume as long as the leg is kept in a dry and cool environment and out of direct sunlight, but it must be kept refrigerated once cut away from the leg.{{Cite web|url=https://www.guia-jamon.com/conservacion-del-jamon|title=Conservación del jamón|website=Guía Jamón|language=es|access-date=2019-10-30}}{{Cite news|url=https://elcomidista.elpais.com/elcomidista/2016/07/04/articulo/1467616164_661924.html|title=¿Cuánto dura la comida en la nevera?|date=2016-07-12|newspaper=El País|language=es|access-date=2019-10-30 |last1=Vega 'Biscayenne' |first1=Ana }}

Jamón may also be smoked in some regions, where it is used mostly for personal consumption. This form of ham is common in the southern areas of Castile and León as well as in parts of Extremadura. Such a jamón has a harder texture and a smoky-salty flavour.

Though widely available in Spain (even if on the expensive side) and accessible in some countries of the European Union, import duties and trade or food safety restrictions applied to foreign meat products{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/la-trb-u-s-customs-ham-spain-20150616-story.html|title=US Customs tosses out $100 worth of gourmet ham couple brought back from Spain|date=2015-06-17|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-31}} in international markets may raise prices substantially while creating scarcity, often making jamón a prohibitively expensive product for other countries to import.

There are two main commercial labels for jamón, based on the pig breed and protected designations:

• Jamón ibérico is made from the black Iberian pig, and may be consumed internationally as a delicacy.
• Jamón serrano (meaning {{literally|sierra ham}}) includes most other varieties.

File:Pa amb oli con jamón y queso.jpg|Jamón ibérico

File:Jamón en jamonera - Zaragoza.jpg|alt=A jamón leg in a cutting stand.|A jamón serrano leg from Teruel in a cutting stand

The term jamón serrano ({{literally|serrano ham}}, meaning ham from the sierra, or mountain range) is regularly applied as an umbrella culinary term for all dry-cured jamón produced in Spain,{{Cite web|url=https://dle.rae.es/ |title=jamón |last=ASALE |first=RAE- |website=«Diccionario de la lengua española» - Edición del Tricentenario|language=es|access-date=2019-10-30}} as opposed to jamón de York, which is cooked whole on the bone.{{cite book |last1=Dubroca Galin |first1=Danielle |last2=Flores Garcia |first2=Ángela |last3=Meunier |first3=Valérie Collin |last4=Delbarge |first4=Marc |editor1-last=Thelen |editor1-first=Marcel |editor2-last=Steurs |editor2-first=Frieda |title=Terminology in Everyday Life |date=2010 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |isbn=978-90-272-2337-1 |page=163 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R69506cvQHQC&pg=PT163 |chapter=In praise of effective export terminology}}

It is most precisely applied, though, to jamón produced from white and/or non-Ibérico breeds of pig. This is the most commonly produced and consumed range of jamón in Spain.{{Cite journal|title=INFORME DEL CONSUMO ALIMENTARIO EN ESPAÑA 2018|url=https://www.mapa.gob.es/images/es/20190807_informedeconsumo2018pdf_tcm30-512256.pdf|journal=Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación|pages=185}} The majority of jamones serranos are produced from a landrace breed of white pigs or from commercial breeds such as Duroc. Jamón serrano, described variously as jamón reserva, jamón curado, and jamón extra or any generic jamón nomenclature, is produced from compound-fed white pigs.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Jamón serrano has traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG) status in the EU and the UK.[http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/foodqual/quali1_en.htm EC PDO/PGI/TSG List] The TSG certification attests that a particular food product objectively possesses specific characteristics that differentiate it from all others in its category and that its raw materials, composition, or method of production have been consistent for a minimum of 30 years.{{cite journal|last=Tosato|first=Andrea|year=2013|title=The Protection of Traditional Foods in the EU: Traditional Specialities Guaranteed|journal=European Law Journal|volume=19|issue=4|pages=545–576|doi=10.1111/eulj.12040}}

Fresh hams are trimmed and cleaned, then stacked and covered with salt for about two weeks to draw off excess moisture and preserve the meat from spoiling. The salt is then washed off, and the hams are hung to dry for about six months. Finally, the hams are hung in a cool, dry place for six to 18 months, depending on the climate, as well as the size and type of ham being cured. The drying sheds (secaderos) are usually built at higher elevations, which is why the ham is called "mountain ham".{{cite book |last1=Bernstein |first1=Michelle |last2=Friedman |first2=Andrew |title=Cuisine À Latina: Fresh Tastes and a World of Flavors from Michy's Miami Kitchen |year=2008 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=978-0-618-86750-9 |page=4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CYubBiCDBg4C&pg=PA4 |language=en}}

{{Main|Jamón ibérico}}

File:Barcelona Mercat Boqueria 9 (8271967087).jpg in Barcelona, Spain]]

Pork products made from Iberian-breed pigs receive the ibérico/a denomination. As such, jamón ibérico is the dry-cured jamón produced from livestock of these breeds. Ibérico encompasses some of the most expensive ham produced in the world,{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/jan/18/worlds-most-expesive-ham-jamon|title=World's most expensive ham?|last=Smillie|first=Susan|date=2010-01-18|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-10-31|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite news|url=https://elpais.com/elpais/2016/03/07/inenglish/1457342056_191303.html|title=The world's most expensive ham is from Huelva and costs €4,100 a leg|last=Limón|first=Raúl|date=2016-03-07|work=El País|access-date=2019-10-31|language=en|issn=1134-6582}} and its fatty marbled texture has made it very popular as a delicacy, with a hard-to-fulfill global demand{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/26/spaniards-face-ham-shortage-as-chinese-market-gets-taste-for-jamon-iberico|title=Spaniards face ham shortage as Chinese market gets taste for jamón ibérico|last=Burgen|first=Stephen|date=2017-11-26|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-10-31|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} comparable to that of kobe beef.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Since jamón ibérico production and export is limited, buyer should beware and not fall victim of bait-and-switch or quality fraud similar to that of olive oil, since it has been estimated that a sizable portion of both local market and exports are not actually ibérico. Spain regulation defines trade labeling for all ibérico products.{{Cite web|url=https://www.vozpopuli.com/actualidad/sociedad/Jamon_iberico-Miguel_Arias_Canete-Fraudes-Jamon-Etiquetado-Guijuelo-Ministerio_de_Agricultura-Los_Pedroches_0_666533395.html|title=Que no te engañen con el jamón: la nueva ley que regula el ibérico se queda 'coja'|last=Núñez|first=Leticia|date=2014-02-02|website=Vozpópuli|language=es-ES|access-date=2019-10-31}}

{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2021}}

File:Jamon barcelona.jpg

Under the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union (EU), certain well-established meat products, including some local jamón and jamón producers, are covered by a protected designation of origin (PDO) or protected geographical indication (PGI):

• Jamón de Teruel has PDO status.
• Jamón de Los Pedroches has PDO status.
• {{ill|Jamón Dehesa de Extremadura|es|Dehesa de Extremadura}} has PDO status.
• {{ill|Jamón de Guijuelo|es}} has PDO status.
• {{ill|Jamón de Jabugo|es|Denominación de origen protegida Jabugo}} from Alájar, Almonaster la Real, Aracena, Aroche, Arroyomolinos de León, Cala, Campofrío, Castaño del Robledo, Cañaveral de León, Corteconcepción, Cortegana, Cortelazor, Cumbres de Enmedio, Cumbres de San Bartolomé, Cumbres Mayores, Encinasola, Fuenteheridos, Galaroza, Higuera de la Sierra, Hinojales, Jabugo, La Granada de Río-Tinto, La Nava, Linares de la Sierra, Los Marines, Puerto Moral, Rosal de la Frontera, Santa Ana la Real, Santa Olalla del Cala, Valdelarco, Zufre has PDO status.{{Cite web|website=Huelva24|date=27 September 2023|title=Por qué el jamón de Jabugo es considerado como uno de los mejores del mundo|publisher=Grupo Vocento|url=https://www.huelva24.com/gastronomia/jamon-jabugo-considerado-mejores-mundo-20230927121039-nth.html}}
• {{ill|Jamón de Trevélez|es}} from Trevélez, Juviles, Busquístar, Pórtugos, La Tahá, Bubión, Capileira, and Bérchules has PGI status.{{Cite web|website=Agrónoma|date=22 April 2022|title=La IGP Jamón de Trevélez aumenta un 33% la certificación de piezas en 2021|via=ABC|url=https://sevilla.abc.es/agronoma/noticias/ganaderia/porcina/igp-jamon-trevelez-certificacion-2021/}}

File:Jamon Jabugo paleta 2.jpg, Huelva]]

The paleta de cerdo or paletilla{{Cite web|url=https://dle.rae.es/|title=paleta|last=ASALE|first=RAE-|website=«Diccionario de la lengua española» - Edición del Tricentenario|language=es|access-date=2019-10-30}}{{Cite web|url=https://dle.rae.es/ |title=paletilla |last=ASALE |first=RAE- |website=«Diccionario de la lengua española» - Edición del Tricentenario|language=es|access-date=2019-10-30}} is a product similar to jamón; it is made from the front leg of a pig, instead of the hind leg used for jamón, cured using the same process and consumed in the same way. Since whole legs are sold by weight and paletillas are lighter, they are often marketed towards home consumption.

A paletilla may be described or marketed as Ibérica when produced from the same livestock as jamón ibérico.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

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{{Portal|Spain|Food}}

• Spanish cuisine
• List of hams
• List of dried foods
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Category:Ham

Category:Spanish cuisine