Jamón

Jamón is Spanish dry-cured ham from the hind leg of a pig; the foreleg, cured separately, is called paleta. The law knows two families: jamón serrano, a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed cured at least 210 days, and jamón ibérico, from pigs of at least 50% Iberian breed under Royal Decree 4/2014, cured 600 to 730 days. ¹²

Breed and feeding. Iberian ham is sorted twice. «100% ibérico» means pure Iberian parents registered in the herd book; «ibérico» means at least 50% Iberian blood, the rest from Duroc boars, giving 75% or 50% Iberian pigs. By feeding, de bellota means acorns, grass and other resources of the dehesa, de cebo de campo means feed of cereals and legumes on extensive or open-air farms, and de cebo the same feed on intensive farms. ¹

The montanera. Acorn-fed pigs graze the dehesa, an oak pasture with at least 10 productive trees per hectare, entering between 1 October and 15 December and going to slaughter between 15 December and 31 March. A lot enters at 92 to 115 kg on average and must gain at least 46 kg over more than 60 days, the pigs must be at least 14 months old, and the number of animals is capped from 0.25 to 1.25 per hectare according to tree cover. ¹

Other Iberian classes. De cebo de campo pigs spend at least 60 days before slaughter on extensive or open-air farms with at least 100 m² per animal over 110 kg, and are slaughtered from 12 months; de cebo pigs need only 2 m² each and may be slaughtered from 10 months. Every carcass must weigh at least 115 kg, or 108 kg for 100% Iberian pigs, and lighter ones lose the name. ¹

Serrano. Jamón serrano is salted for 0.65 to 2 days per kilogram, rests at least 40 days, dries at least 110 days and ages until 210 days from salting, losing at least 33% of its weight. The fresh leg weighs at least 9.5 kg with the foot and has at least 0.8 cm of fat, and the finished ham may hold no more than 57% water in the defatted meat and 15% salt in the defatted dry matter. Spain was salting pork in Roman times, and the name has been registered in the EU since 13 November 1999. It all comes down to salt and time; the method is on the page Curing of meat. ²³

Iberian times and weights. From the day of salting, an Iberian ham under 7 kg cures at least 600 days and one of 7 kg or more 730 days, a paleta 365 days, and each piece shows the week and year it went into salt. A finished ham must weigh at least 5.75 kg if 100% Iberian and 7 kg if Iberian, a paleta 3.7 and 4 kg. Sliced ham must come from lots of the same breed and feeding and carry a label of the same colour as the seal of its piece. ¹

Seals and words. The name has three parts, product, feeding and breed, for example «Jamón de bellota 100% ibérico», and a numbered seal put on at the slaughterhouse confirms the class: black for de bellota 100% ibérico, red for de bellota ibérico, green for de cebo de campo ibérico and white for de cebo ibérico. «Pata negra» is reserved for the black seal, «dehesa» and «montanera» for de bellota, and the words «recebo» and «ibérico puro» are banned. ¹

Market and neighbours. In 2024 Spain had 7 ham names with a PDO or PGI, 4 Iberian and 3 from white pigs, plus the TSG Jamón Serrano; together they made 23.3 million pieces worth 1,476 million euros, with serrano giving almost 95% of the pieces and 90% of the value, and 76% of the value sold in Spain. Jabugo is a PDO only for 100% Iberian pigs finished on acorns in the montanera and cured in 31 communes of the Sierra de Huelva; from Prosciutto crudo, jamón differs in breed, feed, salting and ageing, as the comparison Jamón or prosciutto: 7 differences shows. ⁴⁶

Why it matters to you. The word «ibérico» on a label does not mean acorns: only the black seal guarantees «pata negra», while white and green mean pigs fed on cereals and legumes. The whole group is on the page Dry-cured hams and shoulders in the theme Cured meats & charcuterie, and the Italian counterpart is Prosciutto di Parma. ¹ WHO classes processed meat, ham included, as carcinogenic to humans, and the risk grows with the amount eaten. ⁵