Jamon - what is it? From what do and with what they eat?
What is a jamon
Jamon is a pork ham cooked according to a special technology of salting and drying. Often it is called ham, although at first glance nothing common with jerky meat is not with it. The fact is that to call ham what is sold under this name on Russian counters is not entirely true. For example, on sale you can easily meet chicken ham, ham from turkey, beef, etc. But initially this term was understood only as a salted salted pork ham. What, in general, is the Spanish hamon( the name is translated from Spanish as "ham").
This dish is made strictly from the back of the pig leg - from the front it is prepared by its analog, which is called a pallet. For objective reasons, the pallet contains less meat, so it costs a little less. Hamon is of two varieties - Iberico and Serano. For the first pigs of the eponymous rare and unique breed, differing very soft and gentle texture of meat are used. For a hamron, serrano-pig-half-breeds or even mongrel ones.
Accordingly, the first species is much more expensive.
The technology of producing the jamon
The preparation of the hamon occurs in six stages:
- Salting. After cutting the carcass from the ham cut off excess fat and thickly covered with sea salt. In this form, the ham is left in a cool place for two weeks, during which time excess moisture is removed from the meat.
- Flushing. The ham is washed with clean running water from excess salt, and then hung vertically.
- Uniform greasing. So that some parts of the jamon do not remain too salty, while others, on the contrary, are not salty enough, the meat is placed in special chambers with certain exposed temperatures. There, the salt is evenly distributed throughout the ham. This process takes a lot of time, about two months.
- Drying. In the suspended state, the ham is left for a while, so that the subcutaneous fat is absorbed into the muscle mass. Drying takes from 6 to 9 months.
- Maturing. Jamon goes to the cellar with a specially created microclimate, where it will be until full maturation. Surprisingly, to prepare the best jamon, the whole process of its production has to be spent up to three years.
- Sample removal. The last step is to tell the manufacturer if meat is ready. For this, it is pierced with a thin bone needle. Readiness is determined by smell.
When you learn how to make jamon, how painstaking, complex and lengthy this process, you cease to be surprised by the unique taste of the dish.
Video on how to make a jamon
How much is the jamon and where to buy it
Of course, it is best to buy the jamon in Spain, because the producers in this country are responsible for the excellent quality of their products before the law. The cost can be very diverse, but on average the price of a good-sized pork ham ranges from 150 to 200 €, the leg usually weighs about 8 kg. The jamon of the Belotta variety can cost up to 300 € per 1 kg. In its homeland, the ham is sold almost everywhere - from small meat shops to huge supermarkets, and also served in almost any restaurant.
In Russia, jamon can be purchased in some delicatessen stores. It will cost from 6 to 15 thousand rubles. Basically, it is grades with aging of 9-12 months.
Experts say that it's only worth trying the jamon in Spain. In addition, only there you can try a really fresh dish, and in the restaurant you can order not an eight kilogram carcass, but a couple of delicate slices, which will be much more profitable.
By the way, according to gourmets, if you eat jamon for the first time, it does not matter at all, you buy the cheapest or the most expensive piece - it will in any case seem incredibly tasty to you.
Jamon and Piston
In Italy, an analogue of the Spanish hamon is produced under the name Porschutto, otherwise - Parma ham. The main difference between the hamon and the pistachto is in the time of aging - the pistols are rarely dried for 10-14 months. The structure of this ham is much softer and wet - it depends on the breed of pigs, on the type of their feeding and even, oddly enough, on climatic conditions. There are only two kinds of Porschuto - krugo and cotto. The first is made as well as the jamon, but the second one before salting and drying is also boiled. This is how the ham we habitually make.
For the production of this porciutto pig, instead of the usual feeds, they are fattened with acorns and whey, remaining from the Parmesan cheese. Unlike the jamon, when cooking porschuto the meat is dried after drying and covered with a layer of fat with salt and pepper - this prevents the product from drying out.
How to properly eat jamon and pistachio
The only difficulty in using these products is that they should be cut into thin, translucent slices. A true Spaniard or an Italian will never think of eating these dishes with bread, that is, in the understanding of tourists, "making a sandwich."These are self-sufficient dishes, whose taste is very easy to kill. In restaurants in Spain and Italy, such meat is eaten with slices of ripe melon or figs - it is the combination of salted jerky with sweet gives an incredible flavor effect.