La Tienda In The Press

In Jabugo, travelers can visit Ibérico pigs in the pasture and learn how to carve some of the world’s finest cured ham

By David Farley

ARACENA, Spain — “How do you like the ham?” asked Manolo Romero de la Ossa, the owner of Casas, a popular restaurant here in Andalusia.

All week long around the village of Jabugo, my wife and I had been eating

This Spanish ham is some of the best that money can buy.
Jackie Bryant

To the untrained eye and palate, a ham is just a ham—usually, one entire pig leg or shoulder, sliced into short, rectangular, paper-thin sheets. But with so many types of ham on the market, it can be difficult to know which is the best and why. When it comes to Spanish ham, knowledge is...

Melissa Kravitz

“Hey, how much do you think this bone-in leg of jamón iberico costs?” I ask my girlfriend, as I sit in our living room casually paging through the newest catalogue of … a Spanish specialty foods store that imports the premium ham from the Spanish regions of the Iberian Peninsula. This is a new game we play — jamón pricing — similar to the way couples may guess which...

By Gregory Mottola

If you've been underwhelmed after trying Spain's much-hyped Jamon Iberico, there's a reason: you probably weren't tasting the best. Banned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture until a decade ago, the luxury, free-range Iberian ham with the rich, nutty splendor...

Megy Karydes

It’s a beloved taste throughout Spain, yet one of the world’s finest and most expensive delicacies is not easily accessible in the United States: Iberico ham. Once prohibited from being imported into the country, 100% Iberico jamon now can be found only in select gourmet retailers and a handful of fine restaurants.

FERMIN Iberico ham first brought it to the U.S....

Erica Marcus

What was the best thing you ate in Spain?
I'm just back from a vacation that took me to Tarragona, Valencia and Barcelona in Spain and I ate very, very well -- sea bass that had been swimming in the Mediterranean hours before being grilled, true paella Valenciana cooked over a wood fire. But I think the culinary highlight was the parade of terrific ham...

Kerry Acker

Not all pork products are created equal. Just imagine for a moment that money was no object, that no supernal slice of lavishly marbled ham or haute hunk of succulent pork was too high-end or high-falutin' for your budget. Here, our mini guide to some of the finest, most exclusive, pork, ham, and bacon in the world.

Jamon Iberico de...

Caroline J. Beck

“Just let it melt on your tongue,” Jose Martinez-Valero instructed. “It will dissolve into pure flavor.” I placed the tiniest sliver of jamón Ibérico de bellota in my mouth and waited. The finely marbled fat melted like silk, but the finish was remarkably pure, strangely akin to a classic palate cleanser.

As I positioned myself to snare another sample in the...

Now we can get Spain's most swooned-over pork stateside—and know it's the real thing
Katy McLaughlin

WHEN SPAIN'S MYTHICAL Iberian ham—aka jamón ibérico—was first imported to the U.S., in 2007, it was heralded as the best in the world. Turns out, in spite of the fanfare and sky-high prices, much of what was then labeled ibérico wasn't…entirely. Now, more and better...

The BA Gift Guide (#3 of 9)

Start with a world-class cured ham, add a sharp knife for easy slicing, and pretty soon your party will rival the most popular tapas bar in Spain.
1. Get a Leg Up 
Serving a whole bone-in ham may seem ambitious, but trust us: You'll be a hero to your meat-eating friends--at least 30 of them! American country ham...

Owen Dugan

Jamón Ibérico is a magical name among ham lovers. It is uniquely Spanish, based primarily on the Ibérico breed of pig (also known as pata negra) used to make it, as well as on feeding and curing techniques. It's a must-have for food lovers, and there was fanfare when it became available in the United States five years ago.

Now there is reason to rejoice once more. The...

Jamón Ibérico de Bellota
Adam Baer

Bacon-of-the month clubs; pork belly at corner bistros. It's never been a finer time for pig-loving gourmands, even if some say the "bacon revolution" is over. Luckily, a few years ago, stateside devotees of Spanish delicacies finally received a gift that they have desired for centuries: jamón ibérico de bellota. The rarest form of...

Cured meats are not really a big part of our culinary history in the U.S., but they're quickly making their way into our high-end restaurants and supermarkets. And we should be thankful for this meat migration. These meats, Europe's answer to the cold cut, are rich and savory, complex and refined in flavor. European cured meats have been processed the same way for hundreds of years -- which...

Florence Fabricant

The top Spanish ham comes from purebred black-footed Ibérico pigs that feed on wild acorns. Now, for the first time, it is available in the United States. The brand with the most cachet is 5 Jotas, in business for more than 100 years. It took four years to get final approval from federal agencies. At present, the front-leg ham, called the paleta, above, is available....

Jabugo ham coming to the U.S.
Janet Mendel, Special to the Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Jabugo, Andalusia, Spain —
Walking into the central plaza of the small town of Jabugo, you breathe in the aroma of ibérico ham, a sweet-nutty smell so intense it's as if it emanates from the very walls of the houses. This is the source — where ibérico pigs roam through...

Gregory Mottola

Tell a proud Italian, or even a Virginian for that matter, that the most noble dry-cured hams in the world actually come from Spain, and heated disputes are sure to follow. It won't matter that each Spanish Iberico pig is allotted four acres to leisurely forage on acorns in a protected Andalusian oak tree forest. Nor would it make any difference to discuss the ancient...

Andreas Viestad

When it comes to the prized bellota ham from Spain, it is easy to understand why everyone talks about the nuts. As you approach Huelva, the Andalusian province most famous for those air-cured hams, the citrus groves of the semi-arid flatlands around Seville give way to oak-covered hills and mountains. Acorns, a staple in the menu of the local pigs, are said to be the...

On the Trail of Spain's Acorn-Fed Hams
Paola Singer

As we sauntered up the steep, narrow cobblestone streets of Cáceres in western Spain, it wasn’t hard to imagine life there in the Middle Ages. Night was falling, and before us were Gothic churches, Roman arches and Moorish towers, glowing in the soft light of lanterns. It was an arresting sight, but our thoughts...

Associated Press

There's trouble afoot in the world of high-priced Spanish hams. A black foot to be precise.

Less than a year after the U.S. government finally allowed the import of Spain's succulent and exceedingly expensive jamón Ibérico de bellota, the cured meat long sought by American gourmets has become caught in a quagmire of regulations and trade wars.

The trouble...

Michael Hill

There's trouble afoot in the world of high-priced Spanish hams. A black foot to be precise.

Less than a year after the U.S. government finally allowed the import of Spain's succulent and exceedingly expensive jamon Iberico de bellota, the cured meat long sought by American gourmets has become caught in a quagmire of regulations and trade wars.

The trouble...

Perhaps you've had the opportunity to try the exquisite jamon iberico de bellota, which began arriving legally in this country for the first time in August. The prized Spanish ham is an expensive treat, retailing for around $100 a pound, or $1,400 for a whole ham.

Victor Grillo (right, with Matthew Torti) was on a waiting list for jamon iberico de bellota for two years. When it arrived...

A Spanish delicacy finally makes its way Stateside.
Bill Citara

Standing at the very pinnacle of pork, jamón ibérico- the salt- and air-cured, mahogany-colored, immensely flavored ham from Spain- has until last December only been available to Americans lucky (and wise) enough to sample it on its own turf.

What makes jamón ibérico special begins with the pata negra...

From swine raised like royalty, cured ham called jamon iberico is finally here
By Devra First - Globe Staff / August 13, 2008

WAYLAND - This party has been two years in the making. At the home of Frank Cutitta, friends are beginning to gather. Cutitta, a media executive, is in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on pasta alla carbonara and veal saltimbocca....

Savoring the elusive bellota ham, soon to be legal in the U.S.
Raymond Sokolov

Next month, restaurants across the U.S. will at last be able to serve the world's best and costliest cold cut -- legally, that is -- for an expected $50 or so a plate.

Anyone with the time and the euros has been able to fly to Spain and taste jamon iberico de bellota, the aged,...

Owen Dugan

Learn these words: jamon lberico de bellota. They literally mean "ham from Iberico-breed pig that was fed mostly acorns." In terms of gastronomy, these Spanish hams represent one of the world's most coveted foods, and one that has not met federal import standards ... until now.

Iberico is prized for its depth and complexity of flavor. It's nuttier and gamier than...

TRAVEL Q & A
Scott Vogel

Q. In Spain, tourists get to savor delicious Serrano ham practically anywhere but are cautioned that our Department of Agriculture minions will seize the product if we attempt to bring it into this country. Is this true? Why?

A. Your passion for this long-cured Spanish delicacy is to be commended, but is that any reason to dis an entire federal...

Marlene Parrish & R.L. Wolke

Iberico pigs enjoy a free-range diet of acorns under holm oak trees near the town of Badajoz in the Spainish region called Extremadura.

Iberico ham is the pride of Spain. Like Beluga caviar or Kobe beef, Jamon Iberico is the ultimate ham. Many believe it to be the very best in the world.

Until recently, Iberico had been unavailable in the...

Some of the most celebrated pork in the world comes from free-roaming pigs that feast on acorns in Spain.
Tom Perry

Prized for its sweet, nutty and delicate taste and succulence, cured ham from these rock-star pigs became available this month for the first time in the United States.

The price for this ham, known as Jamón Ibérico, starts at about $50 per pound....

Walter Nicholls

PORK PROJECT: Attention, vacationers to Spain: There is no longer a need to hide a leg of celebrated Ibérico ham in your suitcase on the trip home.

In a ceremony Thursday at Jaléo restaurant downtown, chef and co-owner José Andrés and importer Santiago Martin of Fermin USA were joined by Spain's ambassador to the United States, Carlos Westendorp,...

Florence Fabricant

THE first Ibérico hams from Spain are ready to be sold in the United States, having passed government inspections. They will make their American debut tomorrow afternoon at Jaleo, in Washington, where the chef José Andrés plans to slice and serve jamón Ibérico to the Spanish ambassador, among others. 

In the next few weeks, some restaurants and shops will...

Adam Goldman

The bellhop in Madrid had a confused look on his face when I handed him a bag with a black hoof sticking out it.

"What?" I asked. "It's a jamón ibérico de bellota."

The young man understood. As everyone knows in Spain, this was no mere pig. The marbled meat of the jamón de bellota is a delicacy, the granddaddy of all hams. My friends and I had been carrying...

Leslie Cole

For lovers of all things piggy, the expected arrival early this year of iberico ham (jamon iberico), the Perigord truffle of the pork world, was cause for celebration. Despite plenty of promises, the wait isn't over yet.

Streaked with creamy, nutty-tasting fat and so red it's nearly purple, the salt- and air-cured Spanish mountain ham, known also as pata negra...

Russ Parsons

What's the hottest news in the world of cured meats? Jamón Iberico is coming to the United States. One of the treasures of Spanish gastronomy, jamón Iberico is made from black-footed pigs (hence the alternate name pata negra) that have been raised on acorns and wild plants.

Though it has been made in Spain for centuries, only in July was a producer certified by the...

Florence Fabricant

In a few weeks, New York shops are expected to start selling the special, costly meat from the black-footed Ibérico pigs of Spain, including the Ibérico de bellota, the ones that are fattened on acorns.

Despaña, Fairway and Formaggio Essex, among other food shops, are expecting shipments of the lomo, or meat from the pigs’ loins, and sausages. Formaggio Kitchen...

The cure for ho-hum ham: salt, air, time and care
Amy Culbertson

At Easter, a cook's thoughts often turn to ham. But if your mental picture involves a giant pink football, sugar-glazed or covered with pineapple rings, oozing juice and cut into thick, soft slices, you have a whole world of ham yet to explore.

For many who are passionate about pork, those...

*is not available in the U.S. Yet
Arthur Lubow

The oak-stippled hills of western Spain resemble the world's most scenic wine regions—Napa Valley, Chianti, Burgundy—with just one element missing: the vineyards. The landscape is so picturesque that it might be mistaken for a gigantic park. However, should you drive from Huelva in western Andalusia north to Salamanca in the late fall or...

Leslie Crawford

Christopher Columbus carried it on his second voyage to the Americas. Hernando de Soto, discoverer of Florida, would not have left home without it. George Washington made it on his farm in Mount Vernon.

Today, sadly, Americans are denied a Spanish delicacy enjoyed by their forebears. It is against US law to import jamón ibérico - the hind leg of an Iberian pig,...

Peter Kaminsky

This is a tale of obsession that began nearly two years ago in a smoked-filled bar in the mountains of Andalusia. On a cold January night I had what I have since come to recognize as a major ham epiphany: my first taste of a long-cured, translucently pink, Ibérico ham glistening with droplets of amber fat. The flavor - salty, sweet, nutty, slightly funky - was as complex...

Iberian hams and sausages are finally becoming available in the United States.
Sam Guigino

Chances are you've never tasted the ham that many consider the best in the world. Called Ibérico, after its region of origin in Spain, it has a firmer texture and a more intense, gamier, flavor than other well-known cured hams. It's also illegal in the United Stated -- until...

David Rosengarten

Until recently, Spanish hams have been unavailable in the United States because of the government's ban on importation of foreign meat products. But recently two large companies—Navidul (with connections to Hormel!), and Redondo Iglesias—received approval to bring this delicacy into the country.

So far, I have been more impressed by the jamón from Navidul. And...