The famous meat is jamon. What it is?

Often, Spanish products are very traditional and have a lot of national characteristics. And some of them can be safely called true culinary masterpieces, which have no analogues in the whole world. A vivid example is the jamon. What is it and how is it used to eat? This should be written in more detail.

It should be noted that in Italy almost any ham is called a ham. So there it is accepted. But not every meat product of this variety has the right to claim the title of national treasure. Meat jamon under the specific name Pata negra is unique in its kind. If you translate literally, you get a "black leg". The fact is that such a jamon is made from the meat of pigs of a particular breed. Iberian pigs differ greatly in their external qualities from their less valuable counterparts. In addition, they are grown in truly royal conditions. That is why the hamlet of the brand "Iberico" by right takes the leading position. All the rest is just an attempt at least a little closer to such a high meat art.

So, Iberiko is a hamon. What it is? Why not only the Spaniards pay homage to this sort of jamon, but also gourmets all over the world? And this delicacy at home is valued even in the royal family. There is an opinion that not a single morning of Juan Carlos begins with a plate of fresh fragrant sliced "Iberico". In addition, the cost of such a product at times different from the second no less popular variety called "Serrano". It should be noted that the quality of this jamon is also very high. After all, the Spaniards carefully follow all the stages of production of meat products. Therefore, you simply can not get a poor-quality traditional jamon. What is this - the brand "Serrano"? In fact, it is this kind of meat that the inhabitants of the Iberian peninsula are sent for export. In our shops it is almost impossible to come across the hamlet "Iberico". The Spaniards firmly believe that there are very few true connoisseurs of this product. Therefore, they will not go much into the nuances of taste. Thus, the hamon of the variety "Iberico" remains within the homeland, pleasing the Spaniards during the holidays with its unique taste and aroma.

Pigs, which are grown with such tenderness, care and even honors, feed on a special balanced food. Therefore, the cutting of the Ibero jamon differs from "Serrano", first of all, due to the taste characteristics of the source material - meat. However, to appreciate such subtleties can only connoisseur of this culture.

So, we learned about the jamon, what it is and what the varieties differ from each other. But how is it cooked? In this case it is not a banal ham, but a salted and carefully dried meat. Dried jamon is a fairly solid and hard product. And the meat is stored exclusively in a solid form on the bone (pork leg). To cut it into small portions is very problematic. Therefore, the Spaniards even came up with a special device that allows you to cut a pig's leg. Hamon is gently freed from the upper layer of fat, and then scrupulously cut into the thinnest slices, each of which is more like a petal of a flower. Only this product is used for food.