The spanish Iberian Pata Negra Ham » bellota

Acorn: the Spanish “bellota”, for the iberian pigs

admin — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:54:16 +0000

With the term acorn we refer to the nut of the oak tree, (genera Quercus in Europe, Lithocarpus in Asia and Northern America and Cyclobalanopsis in Asia, in the family Fagaceae). This fruit is enclosed in a tough, leathery shell and borne in a cup-shaped cupule. It has a cylindrical shape and it usually contains a single seed. The morphological features of this nut represent an important diagnostic element in order to determine the exact tree genus.

Acorns are the most important food in the diet of a great number of animals, such as: birds (ex. Jays, pigeons, some ducks and many species of woodpeckers) and little mammals (ex. Mice and squirrels). Other medium and large mammals as pigs, bears and deer also consume acorns. In autumn, for example, this nut can represent the 25% of their diet. All acorns (percentages vary from species to species) contain large amounts of proteins, carbohydrates and fats, as well as minerals and vitamins.

Long time ago they were used to feed pigs because of their high nutritive value.

Acorn (in Spanish bellota, which gives the name to the Iberian ham) is the principal food of Iberian pigs’ diet. These are the animals used to produce the worldwide famous Jamón Pata Negra de Bellota (Pata Negra Ham). This ham is regarded as the finest of all jamón ibérico because of the special acorn diet (from October to January) of the black foot pigs from which it is produced. It is just the acorn that confer a unique flavor and taste to this product.

Translated by

Angelo Nestore (dioniso@hotmail.es)

Different parts of a Spanish iberian ham

admin — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 03:21:41 +0000

To taste an Iberian ham is all a ritual process, where we must know some concepts and information to fully enjoy this gourmet product.

In this post you will see the different parts of a spanish iberian ham:

Maza : is the name that receives the part of the ham where you will find more meat. We usually start to cut the ham by the maza. It’s where there is more infiltration of fat in meat.

Contramaza : The opposite part of the maza is more closely and cured than maza and more consistently. It has less fat than maza. After having cut the Maza, we continue cutting the contramaza.

Babilla : is located below the maza and is delimited by the femur bones and coxal. It is the least juicy zone. If the ham will not consumed in a long time, we recommend starting by the badilla, so the taste and flavour of the ham won’t be lost.

Punta: It’s the opposite of the ham leg . It is tasty and has much fat.

Jarrete & Caña : parts of the ham, located before the ham hoof. There, the meat is hard and fibrous,it’s usually used to extract ham tacos.

The spanish ham

admin — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:19:36 +0000

In this article we’ll try to explain the different kinds of Spanish hams that it exists and it’s description.

- You can find the dry or serrano ham, the most typical, from white pigs.
It can be from Trévelez, Teruel or another place. It’s normally dried for no more than a year.

- The Iberian ham, which comes from the Iberian pig breed.
It can come from Huelva (the most known is from Jabugo), Córdoba (Valle de los Pedroches), Extremadura and Salamanca (Guijuelo).

In the Iberian ham you can also find three qualities, Iberian ham cebo, recebo and bellota.

The cebo Iberian ham is a ham that comes from pigs that were fed with grain and grass.

After, you will find the recebo Iberian ham, a ham from pigs that where fed with grains, grasses, and acorns during the time of “Montanera”, (time from October to the end of February).

And finally, you will find bellota ham, the best. It comes from Iberian pigs that where fed only with grass and acorns in the mountains during the “Montanera”. This ham needs more drying months because more acorns (Bellotas) ate the pig and more time it needs to dry.
You can find Bellota hams in our shop

Difference between a Jabugo ham and an Iberian ham

admin — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 02:40:02 +0000

There is no difference between the Jabugo ham and the Iberian ham because Jabugo’s ham is an iberian ham. They come from Iberian pigs with and without race mix.
What it happens is that the ham from Jabugo (Huelva) has obtained a lot of fame and there are people that think that it is a superior quality than Iberian ham.
This is wrong because Jabugo provides good Iberian hams and bad Iberian hams, so to talk about Jabugo’s ham does not means necessarily to talk about quality hams.

If we want to eat a good Jabugo’s ham, we first must to know if it’s a bellota ham (The highest iberian ham quality), which is the manufacturer and how it elaborates the hams.

Receive your iberian ham hand cut

admin — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:38:48 +0000

Get your ham hand cut by a professional .
At Spanishtaste, you can buy a real Spanish pata negra ham and receive it already hand cut by a professional cutter.
You receive your ham cut into thin slices and vacuum bags 150gr-200gr.
This is the easiest way to enjoy one of the best hams in the world without complications.
To receive it already cut, you simply have to choose “receive the ham hand cut” when buying your ham. This service has a cost of 40 € but you can keep your ham for a long time without problem.

To appreciate his quality and flavor, you simply have to pass the packet under hot water for 10 seconds before opening. So ham will take the heat and get his real flavor.
You can also receive your ham boneless and prepared to pieces of one kilo selecting “receive your Iberian ham boneless.”

How to choose a good spanish Pata negra ham

admin — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 11:13:57 +0000

All you have to know to choose a good iberian Ham
1- The origin of the ham:

You will only find iberian hams from Huelva, Cordoba, Extremadura or Salamanca. If the ham isn’t from one of those places, it can’t be an iberian ham.

2 - How the pigs were fed:

-The best hams were fact with pigs that always ate acorns in Spanish: “Bellotas”.
-Then, you can find hams which were fact with pigs that ate grazing ground and acorns, which are called Recebo.
Finally, you can find hams simply Serranos who come from pigs which only ate the grazing ground.

3 – Time that hams are dried with salt:

It is necessary that they where dried at least 28 months.

If you have any question, please contact us. You can send us an email to info@spanishtaste.com or call us : +34 617330425

Buy Spanish Pata Negra ham, Bellota quality from Jabugo “jamon iberico”

spanishtaste — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:16:39 +0000

Spanishtaste is an online shop where you buy spanish Pata Negra ham with quality bellota directly from spain.
We have iberian hams from Huelva (Jabugo), Extremadura and Córdoba.
We only sell Bellota quality, only the best.
You can buy your ham in a full piece, boneless or hand cut by a professional.
Visit our shop of Iberian Pata Negra ham and buy your ham easily and with the warranty of spanishtaste.
You can also read and post your questions about the pata negra ham in our blog. Here we will try to help spanish ham lovers, to know more about it.