Fury in Spain at US Plans to Produce ‘Iberian’ Ham in Texas and Georgia
4th October 2020
For the purist – and there are many purists – top-class jamón ibérico de bellota (acorn-fed Iberian ham) must come from Iberian blackfoot pigs that spend the last months of their lives eating acorns on the dehesa, a traditional Spanish or Portuguese pasture shaded by mature oak trees.
After being hung and dry cured for at least 36 months, the meat produced is silky with fat, and, say experts, has a flavour that can only come from the acorns. Spaniards consider jamón ibérico their greatest gift to international gastronomy – the caviar of the Iberian peninsula.
But now two American companies have had the incredible temerity to begin importing blackfoots to the US in order to make their own jamón.