Preparing Jamón

Preparing your jamón is an art form to say the least in Spain! While jamón is the general name given to the ham, it really only applies to the hind leg cut of meat, with the smaller shoulder known as the paleta. While the video in this article relates to the Paleta Iberica de Cebo, the process is pretty much the same for either a jamón or a paleta.

Video

What You Will Need

Well the jamón or paleta would be a good start of course.

A couple of really sharp knives: one to prepare and trim the ham, and one to carve it.

A ham holder. Basically you can get either a horizontal or vertical holder depending on preference. The important thing is to ensure that it is sturdy and will hold the ham in the right position securely.

You should also look into ensuring you have a sharpening steel for the knives, and a clean dishtowel to cover the ham once it has been cut.

Parts of the Jamón

On both the shoulder paleta and hind leg jamón there are four general areas that you will get the meat from:

• Knuckle – the part closest to the hoof
• Maza – the thickest part (easily found as you position the jamón with the hoof pointing upwards)
• Flank – the side part
• Babilla or Contramaza – the narrow part

Preparing

Conventional wisdom is that if the ham is to be consumed in a short period of time e.g. a week you should start with the maza part of the ham, as it normally dries out pretty quickly. If you are going to consume over a longer period then the best part to start with is the contramaza, although in reality the ham will last for months if you cut it properly and care for it correctly.

Trimming

The outside of the ham will have natural moulds and exudates which are a natural part of the curing and maturing process, and you need to avoid eating these. I tend to wipe the ham down with some kitchen paper to remove the worst of the moulds etc on a regular basis. This also makes it slightly less messy and easier to handle when cutting.

Trimming the ham refers to the process of removing the skin and outer fat, but only as much as is necessary to present enough of the meat as you want to consume.

Slicing

The slices should be thin, and made parallel and away from the hoof. I was taught to mix the cuts between the maza part of the ham and the flank.

As you get closer to the bone this meat is best cut into chunks and is perfect for habas con jamón

Once you have used the meat on one side, turn it over and start on the other side.

Storing

Watching the locals they tended to keep the first larger slice of fat and place this over the cut part of the ham to help prevent it drying out, and the whole ham should be covered when not in use.

Temperature wise between 10º and 15º in a cool and dry place is perfect.

The Bone

Typically of Spain nothing is wasted, so the bone gets sawed into medium sized chunks which can be frozen and then used as required to make stock and add flavour to soups, stews etc.

Consuming

The meat should be consumed at room temperature (about 21ºC) which means that the fat will appear lustrous rather than opaque which it does when too cold. Slices should be thin, and contain some of the fat on each slice.

Typically we will eat it with a plate of manchego cheese, some walnuts, raisins and and plate of RAF Tomatoes and of course a glass or two of red wine.

Or try it on pan y tomate for a great breakfast.

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