It is one of the delicacies of the Spanish table, one of our great gastronomic treasures. He Iberian ham is a delight and, furthermore, its consumption is healthy. The truth is that in no Spanish menu may be missing ham.
Even the family with the smallest budget tries to include ham in the gargantuan meals and that it is a little better than the usual one; ideally Iberian. It is in fact one of the most consumed foods all year round, along with lamb and seafood.
As Christmas approaches, those who usually cannot eat pata negra ham take their revenge. But in order not to fail in the attempt you have to know how to buy it and not screw up. It’s about overcoming that “the ham turned out good”, as if it were a matter of luck.
Then, at home, you have to Have good utensils. Ideally, we will need a ham knife to cut the slices, and a paring knife to cut the bone part and its surroundings, as well as to clean the ham.
Clean the ham
With the leg already placed correctly and the utensils ready, we clean the ham. With the knife we ​​must make a deep cut from the hoof of the ham to the tip or bone of the ham. From that line we begin to clean the crust and the yellowish bacon.
We start cutting slices. Size matters. They should be no larger than a credit card. It is essential to always put the hand with which you do not cut behind where you cut with the knife, to avoid any scare or unforeseen event.
How to keep it well
Looks like that’s it… now eat it and enjoy. But no, it is also important how to preserve the ham. It’s about not drying out, avoiding dehydration and oxidation.
To start, where. As we want to guarantee a good temperature, it is best to leave the leg of ham at room temperature, but in a place where there are no sudden changes. It must be a cool and dry place where it does not receive direct light of any kind.
Then, you have to cover, rather cover, the area in contact with the air. From the outset, depends on the time of the next cut. If we are going to continue cutting that ham in the next 24/48 hours (no more), it is recommended to cover it with tightly stretched transparent film.
A film of white grease
But before that film, the definitive trick: we create a film of grease that will act as glue. Where does that fat come from? When we first clean the ham, we will save part of the covering fat, that fat that is not eaten. But not the first layer of fat, more yellowish and rancid, but the one below, whiter in color.
We will take that fat from the ham from the whitest part and we will pass it little by little over the cutting surface and in the area that we have cleaned, they point at Jamonlovers. In that way we will create a movie with your own fat which will help preserve the leg of ham. This fat is not thrown away, it is reserved for the next time.
If once the ham is opened we are not going to cut it again in the next 24/48 hours, experts recommend covering the ham first with the film of white fat and then with a black, opaque cotton cloth (no plastic).
That said, there are “hamologists” who do not recommend hydrating the leg with fat because, they say, it alters its flavor and there are those who do not wrap it with transparent film even for a few hours.
Properties of good ham
Iberian ham apart from being a gastronomic delicacy It is a healthy food. Although it is considered processed meat due to the salting and curing it is subjected to, there are many experts who clearly differentiate it from other processed meats.
It has a high content of iron, zinc and vitamins. Specifically, it is a source of vitamins B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B6 ​​(pyridoxine) and B1 (thiamine). The consumption of Iberian ham provides up to 45% of the recommended iron intake for the Spanish population of men and 23% for women (with higher metabolic needs).