Jamon at home: recipes available

Savory delicacies are loved by all who do not shun meat. And, contrary to the opinion of the literary professor Preobrazhensky, they can still be useful. However, the most delicious (and least harmful) foods like the Spanish jamon are so expensive that it only remains to convince themselves that they are thoroughly cholesteric. Or learn how to cook the same jamon at home. Here the probability of successful implementation of this "hopeless enterprise" we will consider.

What it is

If we only mention the origin of meat and the general features of the process, then the so-called raw pork is called. For the whole world only the ham is suitable as a definition, although the Spaniards make jamon from the whole carcass. The second word specifies which part of it. It is unlikely to prepare a ham at home, especially in the realities of a city apartment. The first problem is the lack of suitable raw materials. For the jamon, only the meat of Iberian animals is suitable, which are bred on the peninsula of the same name. Worse: pigs should be fattened on a strict diet, and almost entirely it consists of acorns. Moreover, acorns are required from cork oak. Of the remaining animals, this delicacy will not be - not the taste of meat. Proceeding from this, the hamon at home becomes accessible only to the pastoralist, who brought the right breed of pigs, who grew "right" oaks and equipped the basement with special settings necessary for drying.

Technology of delicatessen production

It is noteworthy that the Spaniards do not make a secret of the process of preparing this dish. They have been making jamon at home for centuries, not counting this as a national treasure. Industrial production of this delicacy was recently. And it consists of the following stages.

1. From the ham cut fat and just "ugly" places; The foot itself is covered with a very large amount of sea salt and left for two weeks at a temperature of not less than zero and not more than five.
2. Meat is washed, dried and hung. It is dried at different plants from six months to a year. The initial temperature is +7; Gradually it gradually, according to a certain schedule, rises.
3. Maturation: occurs with strictly observed temperature and humidity, in the course of several months (up to one and a half years).
4. Sample removal. Specialist, especially trained and versed in the hints of the aroma of the jamon, pierces the ham with a needle and sniffs.

As you can see, in order to prepare the hamlet at home, not only special pigs will be required, but also devices that can maintain the physical characteristics of the air in the room at the desired level.

Almost hamon

However, do not give up. If you are so fond of jamon, a recipe at home will help achieve the closest possible result to the original. However, without a basement and an empty ventilated room (pantry or shed) still can not do. Absolutely authentic jamon will not work anyway, unless you go to Iberia and buy the right pig, but the taste differences will be noticed only by that same expert-taster. So...

Take a 4-kilogram ham from a young pig, cleaned of all unnecessary, placed in loose, large capacity and covered with a dozen kilograms of sea salt. At least four days (one day per kilo), the pelvis should stand in the dark and cool; Occasionally it should be turned over to evenly salted out. Then the future jamon at home is cleaned of the salt, washed and hung there. If possible, once a week the temperature rises by a degree. Delicacy must last at least six months. Then for ripening it is outweighed in a cooler place; Try after this move can only be in three months.

Quick hamon

Its advantage is that not a lot of townspeople will get a whole leg dry, and even not cut, with bones. However, the inhabitants of megacities like jamon! The recipe at home for them will be as follows: a loin is bought, rubbed with a mixture of salt and sugar (proportion 2 to 1), put in a flat bowl (large bowl, for example), pressed down by weight and placed in the refrigerator for three days. In the morning and in the evening, the preparation for jamon at home conditions is turned over, and the liquid from it is filtered. Meat is dried with napkins and rubbed with spices (at least in the composition must include ground laurel with pepper, garlic and coriander). Then the pork wrapped in cheesecloth, tightly dragged and hung in the shade on the balcony. If the summer is hot - a day to remove and hide at the bottom of the refrigerator, and in the evening to return back. Edible such a jamon at home is already on the fourth day. However, the duration of drying has a positive effect on taste, so it is better to wait at least 2-3 weeks.

Culture of use

During cooking, pork loses weight and moisture very much, so that cutting it will require some effort. In Spain, and at all there is a post of cotadore - a delicacy cutter (and this is always a strong man). However, the hamon at home is not so hard, so that a woman can cope with it. The main thing is to master as thin a thread as possible, this delicacy is not used as a slice. And in order for the incised edge not to become worn, it is advised to grease with melted butter or fat.