JAMOPEDIA: our blog to learn all about jamon!

I find kind of egocentric to start writing this post in “first person”, but since I am the one writing…I hope you don’t mind! :)  I moved from Spain to the US in 2010, so it’s been 11 years already trying to promote and sell the jewel of the Spanish gastronomy: Iberico ham (jamon, in Spanish).   As you can image, along these years I have been asked about different aspects of the product so let me gather some of the Most Frequent Questions.   1.- How long does my jamon it last? If your ham is properly cured (and...

For years, we have been told that fat makes us gain weight, increases our cholesterol and blocks our arteries. A more modern trend of medicine starts to contradict this principle and blames modern sicknesses...from modern food! As my very good friend and brilliant Doctor in Human Nutrition Guillermo Navarrete (@nutrillermo) says, "all those food products created by Nature, produce health and taste; all those products created/processed by humans, produce money". This is key.  As a kid I remember my grandparents enjoying large pieces of acorn fed, 100% iberico pig back fat slowly cooked for hours by the skilled culinary techniques of my grandma. And...

Pata Negra There are very few products with as many nicknames as the Acorn Fed 100% Iberico ham, something that, often, leads to confusion and misunderstanding. It all started in Spain, where the market became so chaotic and misinformed that the Government was forced to pass a bill (back in 2014) to control production and labeling of the Bellota (acorn fed) 100% Iberico ham. According to that bill (known as "Norma de Calidad del Iberico", in Spanish), for a producer or retailer to label a ham as "Pata Negra", the ham must come from a 100% Iberico breed of pig fed on acorns...

I HAVE GOT MY AMAZING HAM…! COOL BUT…NOW, WHAT? Tips to properly carve your ham, and things to do and avoid to preserve it.  There is no product that better represents Spain than the beautiful piece of ham (rear leg) or shoulder (front leg) that becomes omnipresent when you visit any of the Spanish cities. In addition, that iconic product is one of the most precious food items in the world, so you decide to get one: congratulations!   So you placed your order on www.lajamoteca.com and, just a few days later, UPS delivers a spectacular styrofoam case that contains the gastronomy jewel:...