Dry-cured hams and shoulders

Dry-cured hams and shoulders are the hind leg (ham) or foreleg (shoulder) of a pig, preserved with salt and then air-dried and matured for months or years. Nothing is cooked: they are eaten raw, in thin slices. Spain's Royal Decree 4/2014 treats jamón and paleta as two separate products with different minimum curing times. ²

A long history. The Jabugo single document cites the «Fuero de Montánchez» of 1236, which already mentions oak pastures kept for acorns to feed pigs. The Jamón Serrano specification dates the first written records of salting pork in Spain to the late 2nd century BC and finds ham in 14th-century Castilian literature. In Italy the San Daniele specification traces local hams to Celtic and pre-Roman salting, and the Parma consortium was founded in 1963. ³⁴⁵⁶

One route, many rules. A leg, salt, air and time: the specifications chill and trim the leg, salt it, let the salt even out, wash and dry it, hang it to mature and brand it after inspection. Serrano is salted 0.65 to 2 days per kilogram and rests at least 40 days, San Daniele at most one day per kilogram, and Parma keeps salting and rest at no less than 90 days in all. The method itself is on the page Curing of meat; unlike Dry-cured sausages and Salami, this is always a whole muscle. ¹⁴⁵

Spain. Jamón serrano is an EU TSG cured at least 210 days; jamón ibérico follows Royal Decree 4/2014 for pigs at least 50% Iberian, cured 600 days below 7 kg, 730 days from 7 kg and 365 days for a paleta. Jabugo is a PDO for 100% Iberian pigs finished on acorns and cured in 31 communes of the Sierra de Huelva. In 2024 Spain's 7 ham PDOs and PGIs and the serrano TSG gave 23.3 million pieces worth 1,476 million euros; how to read the seals is explained on the page Jamón. ²³⁴¹¹

Italy. Prosciutto crudo has several protected names. Parma is aged at least 14 months, weighs 8.2 to 12.5 kg and carries the ducal crown, while San Daniele keeps its foot, ages at least 400 days and weighs 8.3 to 12.8 kg; both are salted only with sea salt and have no preservatives. All of them are surveyed on the page Prosciutto crudo, and the best-known name has its own page, Prosciutto di Parma. ¹⁵⁶

France. Jambon de Bayonne is a PGI: a leg salted with rock salt from the Adour basin, from Salies-de-Béarn and Bayonne-Mouguerre, and dried in that area for at least 7 months, with no smoking or brining. Unlike Parma, saltpetre up to 0.2%, sugar up to 2% of the salt and spices such as Piment d'Espelette PDO are allowed. ⁸

Istria and Alto Adige. Istrian pršut, a PDO of Croatia and Slovenia, is a leg without the foot, skin and fat cover, salted with sea salt and spices and air-dried without smoke for at least 12 months, or 15 months for legs over 16 kg. Speck Alto Adige goes the other way: a boned leg, moderately salted and spiced, cold-smoked over non-resinous wood at no more than 20 °C and aged at least 20 weeks, longer for heavier pieces, with at most 5% salt. ⁹¹⁰

How to choose. First decide whether you want smoke: Speck is smoked, while pršut, Bayonne and Parma are not. Then check the status: PDO and PGI tie a name to a place, TSG protects a traditional method, and ibérico follows Spanish law. Finally, the curing time tells you a lot: from 7 months for Bayonne and 210 days for serrano to 730 days for a large Iberian or Jabugo ham. ²³⁴⁸¹⁰

Why it matters to you. A name on a label is a set of rules: breed, salt, smoke and months in the air. Serve paper-thin slices at room temperature with the fat on and keep an opened boneless ham up to a month in the fridge with the cut wrapped in film, as the Parma consortium advises. The whole family belongs to the theme Cured meats & charcuterie. ⁶ WHO classes processed meat, ham included, as carcinogenic to humans, so a few thin slices are plenty. ⁷