September 17, 2025 • 46 mins
This cured pork product is especially celebrated when the pigs it comes from feed free-range on acorns. Anney and Lauren dig into the science and history of Iberian ham.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hell though, and welcome to save your prediction of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm Anny Rees and I'm Lauren Vogel Bam, and today
we have an episode for you about Harmon Iberiko yes
or Iberian Ham. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Oh I love it. Oh yeah, I love it.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
It's really good.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I had a chance at having it the other day
and I made the wrong choice. I supposed to be
able to get it, and I'm still haunting me because
you can't. I mean, there are places you can get
in Atlanta, but they're in my experience, few and far between.
And I had a chance and I blew it.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Lauren, Oh, I'm sorry. I also failed to get some recently,
but it was because a specific plan fell through.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
So yeah, but this just means that we have to go.
We have to go do it?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Oh? I lit up like a Christmas tree that Yes.
Was there any particular reason this was on your mind? Lauren?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Well, speaking of that plan that fell through. So it
was recently friend of the show Miranda Hawkins' birthday, and
she wanted to go to this restaurant in Atlanta called
the Iberian Pig, which serves amon A Birico. If you
couldn't tell from the name of the restaurant, it's kind
(01:34):
of their stick and.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Uh and we did not wind up doing that.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
But a happy birthday, Miranda and b Yeah, I was
just thinking about it, so I was like, yeah, we
haven't talked about that yet. I bet there's a lot
of bylaws for us to discuss.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
There certainly is a lot for us to discuss. I
have to say, that's funny you say that because my
failed plan was super producer Dylan.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
I had a birthday ish thing that happened near that
same restaurant, and I was planning on getting there early
so I could go and just get oh so and
then go to his party, and then it just completely
fell through.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Oh no, yeah, yeah, I was out sick over the
weekend y'all. If my voice sounds rough, that's why. But yes,
happy birthday to Dylan as well.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
So many birthdays August and September.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Oh my god, it's just essentially our entire office.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
So yeah, so happy birthday to all we were celebrating.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Yes, yeah, and his super producer Andrew's passed recently as well. Anyway,
heym it's delicious. Yeah yeah, and you can see our episodes,
I mean, not like extremely related, but other pork products
like Christmas ham tailor ham preshudo fraud. We haven't done
(03:09):
an episode on preshudo, but fraud surrounding pershudo.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Yes, oh yes, you know we're always looking into the frauds.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Oh yeah, we're gonna touch a little bit on that
in this one.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Yes we are, which I guess brings usteric question is
sure harmone ebitiko?
Speaker 3 (03:32):
What is it? Well?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Hammon Eberico or Iberian ham is a type of pork
product made from the hind leg of specific types of
pigs that is then cured for a good while. The
pigs are mostly this type called Iberian pigs that are
just real good at developing fat throughout their muscles, and
traditionally they're allowed to graze on stuff like acorns that
(03:56):
wind up giving their meat and fat these really qualities.
The meat can be carved and packaged for sale, or
the hams can be sold whole like bone in to
restaurants or other food services that will carve them into order.
Iberian ham is served in these translucently thin slices. The
(04:18):
meat will be deep pink or red or purplish in color,
marbled with this creamy white to yellowed fat. The flavor
is sweet, a little floral, a little funky, savory, earthy,
nutty and salty, and that fat should just melt in
your mouth, leaving you with this kind of like chewy
(04:40):
to candy floss little nibble of meat. It's typically eaten
by itself as part of like a meat or a
meat and cheese kind of plate, maybe with other small
snacks like olives and crackers, you know, maybe with a
glass of wine.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
And it's just so nice.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
It's like it's like eating this like slippy little gem
of meat.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Yeah, that's good. It's a real explosion of flavors, not
necessarily what I want to say, but kind of it's
very concentrated.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Oh yeah, yeah, there's a lot going on for like
a small bite of food.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Yes, and it's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
M m yep. Yeah. The first time I had it,
it was really expensive and I was like, well that
was worth it? And I hate knowing this.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
How am I going to move on from this knowledge?
Speaker 2 (05:34):
It's like heckh okay. So Iberian pigs are descendants of
Mediterranean wild boar. Their skin and their usually sparse coat
tend to be dark in color, and they have dark
hooves as well, usually leading to their nickname pata negra
or blackfoot. Colors ranged from brownish black to kind of
(05:56):
reddish brown to spotted. They've got a sort of long
stout and legs. I mean, you know, like for a pig.
It's not like they're a giraffe or something like that,
but uh yeah, they and they do tend to have
a lot of intramuscular fat, which means that they are
a absolute units and be very tasty. They do tend
(06:17):
to have fewer and smaller litters than other breeds of pigs,
which just means that there are fewer of them out
there for Harmon Iberico, Iberian pigs are either purebread or
mixed breed I believe up to fifty percent with Dirac pigs,
which tend towards a similar fat growth pattern. DrAk are
(06:38):
a breed of white pigs and are one of the
types used to make Serrano ham, which is the other
major ham category in Spain. This is a mostly Spanish product.
It's it's Iberian like Iberian Peninsula, like span and Portugal.
If you couldn't tell from the name, that is in
fact where they are from, Yes, I guess I guess
you know, it's important to say that sometimes they.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Like to trickia.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
That's true, that is true, but.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Okay, So in like west central and southern Spain and
parts of Portugal, there are these human influenced, partially forested
grassy farmlands called the hasis, and these areas were created
over time by human interaction with the land, including three elements,
(07:30):
growing crops, grazing low densities of animals, and maintaining like
orchards and forests of cork oaks and home oaks. Homes
being oaks that are used for their wood for building
all kinds of things, and also for like firewood and
charcoal and also for truffle growing. So fun times there.
So yeah, so you've got this like temperate, human maintained
(07:53):
savannah system essentially, and due to the different kinds of
oaks that have been growing in these for like hundreds
of years, like per tree in some cases, you've got
a low key carpet of acorns in these ecosystems. From
around mid autumn through early spring, like October through March
(08:17):
is generally the acorn season, and acorns, like the aforementioned olives,
are really high in olaic fatty acids, which is a
type of monounsaturated fat which is like good for you fat,
all right, And the content from those acorns, the fat
content from those acorns seems to be a really big
(08:39):
deal in how the pig's bodies wind up producing fat.
Like before slaughter, the pigs fat is sometimes analyzed for
olaic acid amounts, like because of how much alayic acid
the pigs get through acorns. The ham from the pigs
has higher levels of unsaturated fats than most other hams.
This will create a melt here fat in the finished
(09:01):
ham like it melts at a lower temperature. It also
requires that the ham be cured for longer than other
meteor types of ham. The other materials that the pigs
traditionally graze on in these microclimates, you know, grasses, wild herbs, mushrooms, roots, berries, bugs,
(09:22):
will also contribute to the flavor of the meat. And
the animals will graze on some ten plus kilos of
stuff every day during their fattening season. Ten kilos is
like a little over twenty pounds, all right, Yeah, yeah,
they're doing stuff. Also allowing the pigs to run around
(09:44):
free range in this like sort of hilly type of
environment lets them develop their musculature, which leads to higher
quality hams. At the end of the winter, when the
pigs are usually one and a half to two years
old and weigh about three hundred and sixty that's one
hundred and sixty kilos, they will be us slaughtered and butchered.
(10:04):
The word used in the industry is not slaughter.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
It's sacrifice.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
I love this.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Most of their meat does go to normal cuts that
are eaten fresh or you know, turned into other aged
products like sausages or something. But those hind legs are
separated and given a special curing treatment. The smaller front
shoulders can also be given the same treatment, though adjusted
for time at all steps because they're smaller. Yeah, so okay.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Curing.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Curing is a process applied to meat in order to
preserve them, you know, to make sure that like microorganisms
don't eat them now so that you can eat them later.
And in this case, you're accomplishing this mostly with just salt, temperature,
and humidity. Essentially, producers will raise the temperature while reducing
(10:58):
the humidity over at least two years. So okay, you
sacrifice a pig, you butcher out the ham. The hams
are skinned but left with the hoof on. They are
sorted by size and then mounded in salt for a
few days, about one day per kilo. They are then
(11:21):
rinsed off and hung under cold temperature control for a
few months. They're then often hung in open air storage
for a year or so, or sometimes dried to a
stable stage in kilns, depending on the exact practice. Finally,
they'll be allowed to mature in basement type environments for
another few years. During the process, the hams are periodically
(11:44):
rubbed down with pork fat or other oils to help
prevent insect activity. And yeah, cuuring takes a minimum of
six hundred days, and as the hams dry out, they'll
reduce in size by about a third to half.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yep, need to get the water out because water like
us is how microbes thrive. Gott to remind myself about
that second part. Indeed, speaking of microbes, not my own
water intake, There is a whole bunch of science about
how different flavors in the hams develop during curing as
(12:26):
a result of enzyme action and proteins breaking down and
wild microbes, bacteria, and yeast food. Some of the farms
where these are produced are like super low tech, Like
you might control the humidity and the temperature by opening
more windows or spreading a clean wash of water over
(12:50):
the floors. Inspections to see how the curing is going
can be conducted by sniff tests. I mean, I mean
highly trained and individualized product sniff tests. But but yeah,
like like workers will take a sort of core sample
of the meat down to the bone to see what's
going on and smell what's going on inside of the hams.
(13:14):
Some workers are like, oh yeah, no, I mean like, like, yes,
I'm an expert in this, but in the room next door,
that's not me. That's a whole other guy. That's not
that's not my hand, this is my ham. I don't
know what's going to understand this.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Yeah, at him, out of my jurisdiction, not my expertise.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
No, no, though, uh.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Scientific research has in fact shown that curing time does
affect the final flavor of the hams, and over one
hundred and seventy volatile compounds, volatile compounds being like smelly smells,
have been identified. And I'm on iberiko, wow, yeah, so
(13:59):
when you said yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Oh yeah, we've got to go get some and now
that I have this knowledge, I really want to take
my time.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Ooh yeah, yeah, this might take a lot of sampling.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Okay, yes, all right.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
There are a couple different systems of regulations for harmono burrico.
Relatively recently, Spain introduced to this color coded system that
ostensibly makes it easier for consumers to understand, like at
a glance, what type of product they're looking at. And okay,
the best Hamonoberico is considered to be from purebred Iberian
(14:39):
pigs that have free range access to a high acorn diet,
as I was kind of talking about above. So at
the top you have black label, which indicates one hundred
percent Iberian ham debota beiota, meaning acorns. Next you've got
red label, which indicates the ham is from Iberian pigs
that are mixed with derok but still raised free range
(15:03):
on acorns. And on the red label the percentage of
Iberian heritage will be listed. Then you've got green label,
which indicates disabled de Campo hams. These come from pigs
that are fed through a combination of natural grazing and
grain based fodder. And finally you've got white label, which
(15:23):
indicates disabled hams which are kept in enclosures and given
only fodder. Both white and green label hams will come
from pigs with at least fifty percent Iberian heritage. There
are all kinds of qualifiers about what a farm needs
to do to achieve these labels, from the amount of
(15:45):
land that you need per pig to how many days
per year minimum the pigs have to be allowed free range,
to how much weight they have to gain before they're
ready for sacrifice. There's a minimum leg weight and a
minimum length.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Of curing time.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
It's a whole thing.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
It's a whole thing.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Then there are also five European Union Protected designations of
origin for Hammoniberico. There are four from different regions of
Spain and one from Portugal, all of which have their
own regulations. For example, I think it's certainly the four
from Spain and I think the one from Portugal all
(16:31):
require the pigs to be at least seventy five percent
Iberian heritage if they're going to get the PDO, And
apparently the PDO for one of them from Extravadora is
the most rigorous pedio certification program in all of Spain.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Yep, yep.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
This product is such a big deal that like whole
hands are often purchased in advance while they are still curing,
like a couple years before, or they're even going to
be ready. And the carving itself is a whole thing,
as perhaps you can imagine getting those like paper thin
(17:13):
slices like to the correct bite sized and off the
bone in a way that will facilitate the carving of
the remainder of the leg. It's both the science and
an art. And like connoisseurs say that they appreciate different
cuts from different parts of the leg, like the buttery,
more melting cuts near the fatty hip versus the sweet, nutty,
(17:35):
chewy cuts from the more lean hoof.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
I don't know, I don't know. I have such a
craving right now. We have to rectify this, Lauren, we
do have to. Ah, oh my goodness. Well what about
the nutrition.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Okay, this this product has a lot of proto and fats,
more of which again are healthy fats than is usual
for meat, plus a lot of micronutrients. I mean, you know,
watch your portion sizes. It's kind of expensive, so you're
probably watching your portion sizes anyway. Also, like if salts
(18:15):
and fats are treats for you, treats are nice. Also,
I mean, like, y'all, it's salt cured fatty pork. I
if a website, and I ran into this, if a
website is telling you that that Harmona Berrico is a
health food, it's selling you something. In this case, it's
(18:35):
selling you salt cured fatty pork. Yes, indeed, which is again,
treats are nice, it's tasty.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
Yeah, but all this I don't know.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Like I apparently, ways to get me riled include like
really waxing on about how healthy this particular salt cured
fatty pork is.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Yeah, yeah, wow, we do have some numbers for you.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Oh my heck, we do.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Okay, all right, So there are currently less than two
million Iberian pigs in the world. That's the approximate size
of the population right now. And ham in general is
a big deal in Spain. It is the biggest segment
(19:28):
of their meat processing market. It's worth some one point
nine billion euros a year. About a fifth of the
ham produced there is Iberian, but it's so expensive that
it makes up about a third of that value. Only
around five percent of Iberian ham produced is that black
(19:50):
label purebread, free range stuff. Around eighty percent is white label,
which is the grain fed raised in enclosure stuff. We've
got a lot of world records for you.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
I'm so excited, all right.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
The Guinness record for the most expensive leg of ham
commercially available right now as far as I know, is
for legs of Hamona Birco wi Yota from this Japanese
company that as of twenty twenty, we're going for over
thirteen thousand dollars a ham. Oh lord, I I'm not
(20:34):
sure if I've ever bought a car.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
That was more expensive. Act whoa rich people with their taste,
you know.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Also, like, I'm pretty sure that this this record category
is an absolute arms race of Amona Berco de biota producers.
Oh dear, Oh okay. There's also a Guinness record for
the longest meat carving marathon.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
The current record was achieved in twenty fifteen by this
younger Spanish dude who worked carving Carmona Berrico for seventy
two hours, thirteen minutes and eight seconds. His nickname is
Artista del Hamon.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
I mean, wow, I'm taken aback. That's impressive.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Yeah, yeah, seventy two hours.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
The record for fastest carver was achieved in twenty twenty
three by a whole different guy who carved off two thousand,
four hundred and ninety seven slice of common in an hour.
That is forty one slices a minute, or one slice
every zero point seven seconds. The slices had to each
(22:12):
be four to six centimeters long and like half a
millimeter to one millimeter thick. Also impressive, you know, yeah,
very impressive. I I would injure myself mightily.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Oh I would give up very quickly.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
Oh yeah, no.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
There's also a record for the largest number of carvers
simultaneously working on Hamona Berrico under one roof. The roof
in question seems to have been a tent in Spain.
In twenty fourteen, one hundred and sixty one carvers showed up.
Two hundred had registered, but apparently the weather was bad
that day. The resulting plate of ham was these like
(22:58):
tables situated around a waterfowl. It was forty seven square
meters and that's just about five hundred square feet, which
is just about like the size of most apartments I've rented.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
This all happened down.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
In like southern Spain, in a place called Banaraba, which
I hope I'm saying that right. I'm sorry. Which the
article that I was reading about the whole thing described
as a hamlet.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Oh, yes, that's off. That's off, all right, I see you.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
However, that was not the largest plate of Hamona Birco
on record. That was achieved in twenty twenty four in
the city of Wilva, Spain, with a display of six
hundred kilos of ham on a two hundred square meter plate.
That's like one three hundred pounds and over two thousand
(24:04):
square feet. There were eighty carvers working at that one. Yep, yep,
moving on, we have ham crime.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
The largest Iberian ham heist in history was carried out
in twenty eighteen. This organized crime ring made off with
some five thousand legs of ham valued at over five
hundred thousand euros. An investigation did result in several arrests
and a partial recovery of the loot. Oh my, there
(24:52):
is a Harmona Barrico Museum in Monasterio and several monuments
tow on around Spain, including this like large steel sort
of polyhedral like kind of PS one graphics ham that's
in this town.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
Roundabout somewhere.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
And then there's also this big steel globe made of
hams that's lit from the inside.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Oh, I'm gonna have to look that up.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
It's beautiful. It's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Like the surface of the globe is made of these
like flat hams.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Okay, it's lovely. I'm very excited too. Yeah, compared to
what my imagination is co to what the reality is,
I'm very excited.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
H The thing that I'm excited about is that there
are several festivals for ham in in places around Spain.
One in out of sea outside of Seville that's held
every October has a carving contest where competitors have two
hours and fifteen minutes to create slices of an appropriate size,
(26:13):
you know, length and thinness and display them as prettily
as possible on a plate, and without the carvers weighing them.
They have to have the total ham on the plate
come out to as close to one hundred grams as possible.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Oh my, okay, so you've got to have like a
knowledge of this is so much as hamdways, Yeah exactly,
I know what I'm doing.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Yeah, exactly exactly. And I was reading one account from
twenty eighteen about this event, and one dude hit one
hundred grams precisely.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Oh wow, I know that one dude isn't listening, but
if you were, that was a true gasp of being impressed.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Oh yeah, I mean generally these events have, you know,
like a lot of ham and like music and dance
and the whole festival thing. But yeah, that that particular
carving contest I could not resist talking about.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Well, as always, listeners, if you have been to participated, yes, please.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Do we have any ham carvers out there?
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Please? We need you.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Oh we do, we do. Huh.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
But but there is a wild history about how we
got to hear, Yes, there is, and we are going
to get into that history as soon as we get
back from a quick break for a word from our sponsors,
(27:52):
and we're back.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you. Okay, So this is
another one that was a bit complicated. But let's start
by doing a very brief overview of the history of
some of the key elements of Hemone Aberko in Spain.
All right, So pig bones were found in Europe seven
hundred thousand years ago. Iberian pigs are descended from wild
(28:16):
boars that were bred with domesticated pigs sometime during the
ninth century BCE. They were transported by the ancient Phoenicians
to the Mediterranean and are believed to be the result
of centuries of selection and domestication. These pigs could be
quite large and often developed healthy fat deposits between their muscles.
(28:38):
The acorns that they ate also imparted a desired flavor. Meanwhile,
evidence suggests that acorns have existed in Iberia for thousands
of years. And we need to come back and do
an episode on acorns because that almost I almost got
lost into that rabbit hole.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Yeah, there's a lot of different types and it's complicated,
but absolutely yes, sure, yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
The dijesas that you mentioned earlier Lauren, which were human
made pastures typically sporting three types of acorn dropping oak trees,
have existed in the Mediterranean four centuries, perhaps even longer
than that. Historians speculate that humans in the area specifically
created these environments to raise livestock like pigs. They produced
(29:27):
abundant numbers of acorns, which the pigs loved. Are pal
plenty of the elder still, we haven't talked about him
so long, And like it said, plenty or Pliny, you
know who I'm talking about. Yeah, Yeah, He wrote about
pigs from the Iberian Peninsula in the seventies CE. He
(29:48):
was very like, they're really good. This is a good
breed of pigs, and just a reminder, people have been
salting and curing meat for quite a long time, so
that's not you. When North African Muslims conquered the Iberian
Peninsula and the seven hundred CE, they forbade the consumption
of pork and eating it was viewed as a rebellious act.
(30:11):
When they were forced out of power in the fourteen hundreds,
ham briefly came back as a symbol of pride. Spanish
colonizers introduced Iberian pigs to the Americas and also used
them as a food source on the journey. However, in
the late fourteen hundreds and early fifteen hundreds, Spanish authorities
issued decrees, first to Jewish people and then to Muslims
(30:34):
that they either had to leave Spain, convert to Catholicism,
or be tortured and may be killed. Since both religions
had some stipulations around not eating pork, selling pork became
somewhat of a symbol of Catholicism, or at the very
least not being Jewish or Muslim, so the ban on
(30:55):
Judaism was annulled in Spain by the eighteen sixty nine institution.
We've discussed before on this show how the slaughter of
pigs was often something of cultural significance, especially when it
came to hard winter months on the horizon. Pigs would
be slaughtered and preserved as sustenance through the harsh times
(31:15):
and eaten in spring celebrations. In Spain, slaughtering the pig
was sometimes a family affair, and with all the pig
being used, including preserving the legs by curing with a
lot of salt and hanging and aging them. Skipping way ahead,
in the nineteen sixties, disease significantly reduced the Iberian pig population.
(31:38):
Over time, producers were able to reduce CIS trend, but
it was a real concern for a minute.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
Yeah. Starting in the nineteen eighties, those pdos four different
regions of Hamana Bariko started getting established.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
The first was for Guijuelo.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
In nineteen eighty four, followed by Extramadora in nineteen ninety,
Hululgo in ninety eight and Los Pedrotes in two thousand
and six.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Harmone Eberico was first approved for import into the US
in two thousand and five.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Yeah, basically, Spain didn't have a USDA certified slaughterhouse until then.
Even for a couple of years after that, there was
some red tape and like misfiled paperwork apparently, so it
took a while for the product to really get here.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Yes, and then during the two thousand and eight recession,
Amon Aberco took a huge hit and some suppliers sent
Iberian pigs outside of Spain for the first time. They
were depending on the farmers they shipped the pigs to
in the United States to maintain the level of quality
in a different environment with different humidity, different elevation, and
(32:48):
with peanuts as opposed to acorns. At the time, they
were hopeful about Americans getting a taste for this ham
because the US largely hadn't tried Harmone Aberico due to
those slaughterhouse regulations. So far, from what I've read, it's
largely worked out. Oh yeah, yep. In order to maintain
(33:12):
a transparent level of quality, the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture
and Fishing came up with some new rules around Himone
Aberko in twenty fourteen. They largely revolved around the type
of pigs and their diet and grazing habits.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
Yeah, that's that whole color coding system. That's when that debuted. Yes,
ooof and then hmmm.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Oh no. And at twenty nineteen, then Prime Minister of
Spain Pedro Sanchez created quite the scandal after bespeaking at
a livestock fair where he mixed up harmon Aberco with
harmone Serrano. It was made worse by the fact that
he said this at a century's old fair that is
(33:52):
considered the heart of harmone Aberico. Some pork producers allegedly
sent people to edge kate Sanchez on various types of
pork and their origins after this misstep. You know, I
get it, you get tired as politician. I understand.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
Sure, it's probably just misspeaking, but yeah, it's the.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
People or like nope, nope, no, nope, speaking of no, nope.
Farming development and climate change have impacted the dejesas and
thus production of harmone Americo. Hotter and drier summers mean
that the trees are producing less acorns.
Speaker 3 (34:39):
Yep, yep, it's true.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Recently, there has been work into using technologies like fatty
acid profiling to authenticate true acorn fed hams and thus
help prevent some of the aforementioned ham fraud. Also recently,
researchers are getting into mapping the microbiome of comone eberco
(35:07):
produced in different places by slightly different methods, with a
special interest in well a in like how successfully pathogens
are being prevented from growing by these keering methods, but
b like how the microbes influenced the the terroir of
the hams. And then just this year twenty twenty five,
(35:31):
I believe I was reading things in translation and my
Spanish is a little shoddy, but a bunch of Spanish
governmental and professional organizations came together to found the International
Ham Institute or inter HAM.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
It's excellent. I love it already. Tell me what it is.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Inter HAM is meant to support like knowledge and economic
stability throughout the Spanish ham industry and the wider global
ham industry. They're taking over the organization of an event
that I haven't mentioned yet, the World Ham Congress, which
(36:16):
happens every other year. It's a professional congress open to
ham producers and distributors and et cetera. From around the world.
They had their twelfth conference just last year in twenty
twenty four. Right now, inter Ham is taking applications from
Ham industry, producers and scientists for the first inter Ham Awards,
(36:41):
which they have said will be the Oscars of Ham.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
Well, this is all the life.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
It's so good. I'm like, oh, maybe there's good in
this world.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
This is wonderful and I'm very excited to learn more
about it, just to have an Oscars of Hand to have.
I love when people are passionate about things I truly do.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
Right, Yeah, I believe applications are open until mid October
of twenty twenty five. So if you're listening to this
as it comes out like there's if you know someone
who's doing really amazing work in the Ham industry, send
them to interim.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
Interham is also objectively a great Oh like the Avengers
of Hand.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
I'm not I it's so cool.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
It's excellent. I'm so happy you discovered this.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
Yeah, wow, yep.
Speaker 2 (37:50):
And the World Ham Congress, y'all, if anyone has been
to the World Damn Congress.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
You must let us know. Absolutely, please, so so good.
It's fantastic, fantastic, Okay, well please write it. Please let
us know. But in the meantime, I think that's what
we have to say about harmone Emberiko for now.
Speaker 3 (38:19):
I think it is.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
We do already have some listener mail for you, though,
and we are going to get into that as soon
as we get back from one more quick break for
a word from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
And we're back. Thank you, sponsors, yes, thank you, And
we're back with oh listener acorns, no acorns falling down.
Before we get into listener mail, I have a favor
(38:58):
for you listeners. Friend of the show, friend in real life, Samantha,
who's my co host over on stuff on Never Told You,
is going to New York. She's going to Albany and
she's going to the Adirondacks. So if you have any
food recommendations or anything she should do, just let me
(39:18):
know because she's going next week. Time is moving so quickly, yes,
next week?
Speaker 3 (39:24):
Okay, all right?
Speaker 1 (39:25):
Cool? Yeah yeah yeah, So please let me know if
you've got anything for that. But we have some great
listirmail for you today, all right, Samantha wrote, Not that, Samtha.
Samantha wrote, I listened to the SpongeBob episode and I
was surprised nay shocked that you didn't mention some of
(39:48):
the most quotable food related quotes from the show I
will present to you with no context that I'm sure
Annie will understand. Is may an instrument. It took us
three days to make that potato salad. Three days. I
(40:09):
literally quote these all day long. I remember SpongeBob coming
out and it got super popular in my area around
two thousand and two, two thousand and three ish when
I was in seventh grade, and pretty much everyone was
wearing SpongeBob shirts and hoodies and it was just so
palpable in all the things. At the time, I found
it funny that a kid's show was so popular in
(40:30):
middle school, but of course now I realized that we
were just kids ourselves. Fun fact. Roger Bumpus, who voices Squidward,
also voiced Professor Membrane an Invader Zim side note, guys,
guysz gaz for fictional female and stuff one ever told.
Speaker 2 (40:49):
You oooh oh if you need help on Invader Zim,
I can come in and talk about gas and everybody
else and I will not quote girl at you, uh, unnecessarily.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
Okay, Yeah, I feel like that was a I could
hear the disclaimer on that phrase. But yeah, all right,
oh no, it would be appreciated. I washed Invader Zim,
I just did. It's been a long.
Speaker 3 (41:19):
Time, share it's been sure fair.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Yes, well, indeed, these are things that I know. I
know exactly what episode each one is from. Mayonnaise. An
instrument is from one of my favorites, the Marching Band episode.
Speaker 2 (41:35):
Oh right, mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (41:37):
And then it took us three days to make the
potato salad is from one of my other favorites, Weenie
Hutt Juniors. That one is excellent. Uh And Binging with
Babbage did a whole episode on how do you make
What would it take to make potato salad that takes
three days?
Speaker 2 (41:55):
Well?
Speaker 1 (41:56):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I loved it. We are at
least I am compiling all of the things we haven't
discussed from Great Great into an episode. But those are
those are excellent ones. Those are very quotable things. Yeah.
Oh and I also just went to a SpongeBob event
(42:17):
and I was shocked that I didn't own a SpongeBob shirt.
My friend was like, what kind of millennial are you?
And it really took me aback, Lauren, Wow, wow kind
of millennial am.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
I huh, You've clearly got some thinking to do about
a number of things.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
I really do.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
I mean, I feel like we can remedy this for you.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
I think so, I think easily. I was just kind
of surprised, right.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Right, Taylor wrote, I had a lot of catching up
to do with recent episodes, but there were some topics
that definitely hit close to home in the best ways.
First off, the SpongeBob episode was delightful. I'm a big
SpongeBob fan, as are my husband and three year old daughter.
(43:06):
On July twelfth this year, one of our local breweries
had a SpongeBob's birthday party, Bikini Bottom Rave. My family
and I went, and it was so fun. It was
a hot day and they had the air blasting SpongeBob episodes, playing,
SpongeBob themed candy and other items, and SpongeBob songs playing
the entire time. They had hard pineapple silter slushies available
(43:27):
as well as pineapple juice. There were also bubbles blowing,
and they gave discounts for themed attire. I'm a woodburning artist,
so I dressed up as Patrick with the wood plank
stuck to his head. And the people there loved it.
In response to hot sauces and coffee, I'm a big
fan of a spicy mocha when my sinuses are acting up.
(43:49):
A local bookstore cafe had a hot honeymocha available, and
it was the perfect way to clear my sinuses on
a cold day. The spice, honey, and chocolate all went
so well together. I didn't think I'd like the combination,
but now I might need to make my own at home.
For an easy mocha, I add some hot chocolate powder
to drip coffee. It's a quick, budget friendly way to
(44:09):
fancy up your drink. Lastly, I was so excited about
the Hostess cupcakes episode because the classic chocolate Hostess cupcakes
are one of my dad's top vices. My family has
a megasweet tooth and we would always have these on hand.
I'm more of a snowballs person myself, and one of
my absolute favorite Hostess products are the vanilla zingers. They're
(44:30):
basically a twinkie with icing on top, and they're so
good in my family. If you opt for a flavor
other than chocolate, it's like committing a sin. But I
stand by my preferences as you should as you should.
Speaker 1 (44:45):
Yes, yes, I continue to adore these preferences you all
are sending us. I've never heard of vanilla zingers. That's great.
Speaker 3 (44:56):
Oh yeah, oh beautiful.
Speaker 2 (44:59):
Yeah, oh my, and that no, that uh, that mocha,
that hot honey mocha sounds amazing. Yeah, spice and chocolate
do go really well. I mean, I think that spice
goes well with pretty much anything, but spice and chocolate
go really well together.
Speaker 1 (45:12):
I agree, I agree. And yes, this SpongeBob event sounds
so wondrous. That sounds so fun fun.
Speaker 4 (45:20):
Oh, I'm so glad it was kid friendly too. That's delightful.
And you're your costume. I know exactly what you're talking about.
That's fantastic. I'm sure it.
Speaker 1 (45:30):
Was a hit. That's I loved this so much, wonderful. Yes,
oh my goodness. Well, thank you so much to both
of these listeners for writing in. If you would like
to write to us, you can our emails hello at
savorpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
We're also on social media. You can find us on
Instagram and blue Sky at savor pod, and we do
hope to hear from you. Savor is production of iHeartRadio
four more podcasts my Heart Radio. You can visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or where every listen to your
favorite shows. Thanks as always to our super producers Dylan
Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening, and
(46:06):
we hope that lots more good things are coming your way.
Hell though, and welcome to save your prediction of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm Anny Rees and I'm Lauren Vogel Bam, and today
we have an episode for you about Harmon Iberiko yes
or Iberian Ham. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Oh I love it. Oh yeah, I love it.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
It's really good.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I had a chance at having it the other day
and I made the wrong choice. I supposed to be
able to get it, and I'm still haunting me because
you can't. I mean, there are places you can get
in Atlanta, but they're in my experience, few and far between.
And I had a chance and I blew it.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Lauren, Oh, I'm sorry. I also failed to get some recently,
but it was because a specific plan fell through.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
So yeah, but this just means that we have to go.
We have to go do it?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Oh? I lit up like a Christmas tree that Yes.
Was there any particular reason this was on your mind? Lauren?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Well, speaking of that plan that fell through. So it
was recently friend of the show Miranda Hawkins' birthday, and
she wanted to go to this restaurant in Atlanta called
the Iberian Pig, which serves amon A Birico. If you
couldn't tell from the name of the restaurant, it's kind
(01:34):
of their stick and.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Uh and we did not wind up doing that.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
But a happy birthday, Miranda and b Yeah, I was
just thinking about it, so I was like, yeah, we
haven't talked about that yet. I bet there's a lot
of bylaws for us to discuss.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
There certainly is a lot for us to discuss. I
have to say, that's funny you say that because my
failed plan was super producer Dylan.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
I had a birthday ish thing that happened near that
same restaurant, and I was planning on getting there early
so I could go and just get oh so and
then go to his party, and then it just completely
fell through.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Oh no, yeah, yeah, I was out sick over the
weekend y'all. If my voice sounds rough, that's why. But yes,
happy birthday to Dylan as well.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
So many birthdays August and September.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Oh my god, it's just essentially our entire office.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
So yeah, so happy birthday to all we were celebrating.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Yes, yeah, and his super producer Andrew's passed recently as well. Anyway,
heym it's delicious. Yeah yeah, and you can see our episodes,
I mean, not like extremely related, but other pork products
like Christmas ham tailor ham preshudo fraud. We haven't done
(03:09):
an episode on preshudo, but fraud surrounding pershudo.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Yes, oh yes, you know we're always looking into the frauds.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Oh yeah, we're gonna touch a little bit on that
in this one.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Yes we are, which I guess brings usteric question is
sure harmone ebitiko?
Speaker 3 (03:32):
What is it? Well?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Hammon Eberico or Iberian ham is a type of pork
product made from the hind leg of specific types of
pigs that is then cured for a good while. The
pigs are mostly this type called Iberian pigs that are
just real good at developing fat throughout their muscles, and
traditionally they're allowed to graze on stuff like acorns that
(03:56):
wind up giving their meat and fat these really qualities.
The meat can be carved and packaged for sale, or
the hams can be sold whole like bone in to
restaurants or other food services that will carve them into order.
Iberian ham is served in these translucently thin slices. The
(04:18):
meat will be deep pink or red or purplish in color,
marbled with this creamy white to yellowed fat. The flavor
is sweet, a little floral, a little funky, savory, earthy,
nutty and salty, and that fat should just melt in
your mouth, leaving you with this kind of like chewy
(04:40):
to candy floss little nibble of meat. It's typically eaten
by itself as part of like a meat or a
meat and cheese kind of plate, maybe with other small
snacks like olives and crackers, you know, maybe with a
glass of wine.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
And it's just so nice.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
It's like it's like eating this like slippy little gem
of meat.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Yeah, that's good. It's a real explosion of flavors, not
necessarily what I want to say, but kind of it's
very concentrated.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Oh yeah, yeah, there's a lot going on for like
a small bite of food.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Yes, and it's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
M m yep. Yeah. The first time I had it,
it was really expensive and I was like, well that
was worth it? And I hate knowing this.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
How am I going to move on from this knowledge?
Speaker 2 (05:34):
It's like heckh okay. So Iberian pigs are descendants of
Mediterranean wild boar. Their skin and their usually sparse coat
tend to be dark in color, and they have dark
hooves as well, usually leading to their nickname pata negra
or blackfoot. Colors ranged from brownish black to kind of
(05:56):
reddish brown to spotted. They've got a sort of long
stout and legs. I mean, you know, like for a pig.
It's not like they're a giraffe or something like that,
but uh yeah, they and they do tend to have
a lot of intramuscular fat, which means that they are
a absolute units and be very tasty. They do tend
(06:17):
to have fewer and smaller litters than other breeds of pigs,
which just means that there are fewer of them out
there for Harmon Iberico, Iberian pigs are either purebread or
mixed breed I believe up to fifty percent with Dirac pigs,
which tend towards a similar fat growth pattern. DrAk are
(06:38):
a breed of white pigs and are one of the
types used to make Serrano ham, which is the other
major ham category in Spain. This is a mostly Spanish product.
It's it's Iberian like Iberian Peninsula, like span and Portugal.
If you couldn't tell from the name, that is in
fact where they are from, Yes, I guess I guess
you know, it's important to say that sometimes they.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Like to trickia.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
That's true, that is true, but.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Okay, So in like west central and southern Spain and
parts of Portugal, there are these human influenced, partially forested
grassy farmlands called the hasis, and these areas were created
over time by human interaction with the land, including three elements,
(07:30):
growing crops, grazing low densities of animals, and maintaining like
orchards and forests of cork oaks and home oaks. Homes
being oaks that are used for their wood for building
all kinds of things, and also for like firewood and
charcoal and also for truffle growing. So fun times there.
So yeah, so you've got this like temperate, human maintained
(07:53):
savannah system essentially, and due to the different kinds of
oaks that have been growing in these for like hundreds
of years, like per tree in some cases, you've got
a low key carpet of acorns in these ecosystems. From
around mid autumn through early spring, like October through March
(08:17):
is generally the acorn season, and acorns, like the aforementioned olives,
are really high in olaic fatty acids, which is a
type of monounsaturated fat which is like good for you fat,
all right, And the content from those acorns, the fat
content from those acorns seems to be a really big
(08:39):
deal in how the pig's bodies wind up producing fat.
Like before slaughter, the pigs fat is sometimes analyzed for
olaic acid amounts, like because of how much alayic acid
the pigs get through acorns. The ham from the pigs
has higher levels of unsaturated fats than most other hams.
This will create a melt here fat in the finished
(09:01):
ham like it melts at a lower temperature. It also
requires that the ham be cured for longer than other
meteor types of ham. The other materials that the pigs
traditionally graze on in these microclimates, you know, grasses, wild herbs, mushrooms, roots, berries, bugs,
(09:22):
will also contribute to the flavor of the meat. And
the animals will graze on some ten plus kilos of
stuff every day during their fattening season. Ten kilos is
like a little over twenty pounds, all right, Yeah, yeah,
they're doing stuff. Also allowing the pigs to run around
(09:44):
free range in this like sort of hilly type of
environment lets them develop their musculature, which leads to higher
quality hams. At the end of the winter, when the
pigs are usually one and a half to two years
old and weigh about three hundred and sixty that's one
hundred and sixty kilos, they will be us slaughtered and butchered.
(10:04):
The word used in the industry is not slaughter.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
It's sacrifice.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
I love this.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Most of their meat does go to normal cuts that
are eaten fresh or you know, turned into other aged
products like sausages or something. But those hind legs are
separated and given a special curing treatment. The smaller front
shoulders can also be given the same treatment, though adjusted
for time at all steps because they're smaller. Yeah, so okay.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Curing.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Curing is a process applied to meat in order to
preserve them, you know, to make sure that like microorganisms
don't eat them now so that you can eat them later.
And in this case, you're accomplishing this mostly with just salt, temperature,
and humidity. Essentially, producers will raise the temperature while reducing
(10:58):
the humidity over at least two years. So okay, you
sacrifice a pig, you butcher out the ham. The hams
are skinned but left with the hoof on. They are
sorted by size and then mounded in salt for a
few days, about one day per kilo. They are then
(11:21):
rinsed off and hung under cold temperature control for a
few months. They're then often hung in open air storage
for a year or so, or sometimes dried to a
stable stage in kilns, depending on the exact practice. Finally,
they'll be allowed to mature in basement type environments for
another few years. During the process, the hams are periodically
(11:44):
rubbed down with pork fat or other oils to help
prevent insect activity. And yeah, cuuring takes a minimum of
six hundred days, and as the hams dry out, they'll
reduce in size by about a third to half.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yep, need to get the water out because water like
us is how microbes thrive. Gott to remind myself about
that second part. Indeed, speaking of microbes, not my own
water intake, There is a whole bunch of science about
how different flavors in the hams develop during curing as
(12:26):
a result of enzyme action and proteins breaking down and
wild microbes, bacteria, and yeast food. Some of the farms
where these are produced are like super low tech, Like
you might control the humidity and the temperature by opening
more windows or spreading a clean wash of water over
(12:50):
the floors. Inspections to see how the curing is going
can be conducted by sniff tests. I mean, I mean
highly trained and individualized product sniff tests. But but yeah,
like like workers will take a sort of core sample
of the meat down to the bone to see what's
going on and smell what's going on inside of the hams.
(13:14):
Some workers are like, oh yeah, no, I mean like, like, yes,
I'm an expert in this, but in the room next door,
that's not me. That's a whole other guy. That's not
that's not my hand, this is my ham. I don't
know what's going to understand this.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Yeah, at him, out of my jurisdiction, not my expertise.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
No, no, though, uh.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Scientific research has in fact shown that curing time does
affect the final flavor of the hams, and over one
hundred and seventy volatile compounds, volatile compounds being like smelly smells,
have been identified. And I'm on iberiko, wow, yeah, so
(13:59):
when you said yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Oh yeah, we've got to go get some and now
that I have this knowledge, I really want to take
my time.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Ooh yeah, yeah, this might take a lot of sampling.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Okay, yes, all right.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
There are a couple different systems of regulations for harmono burrico.
Relatively recently, Spain introduced to this color coded system that
ostensibly makes it easier for consumers to understand, like at
a glance, what type of product they're looking at. And okay,
the best Hamonoberico is considered to be from purebred Iberian
(14:39):
pigs that have free range access to a high acorn diet,
as I was kind of talking about above. So at
the top you have black label, which indicates one hundred
percent Iberian ham debota beiota, meaning acorns. Next you've got
red label, which indicates the ham is from Iberian pigs
that are mixed with derok but still raised free range
(15:03):
on acorns. And on the red label the percentage of
Iberian heritage will be listed. Then you've got green label,
which indicates disabled de Campo hams. These come from pigs
that are fed through a combination of natural grazing and
grain based fodder. And finally you've got white label, which
(15:23):
indicates disabled hams which are kept in enclosures and given
only fodder. Both white and green label hams will come
from pigs with at least fifty percent Iberian heritage. There
are all kinds of qualifiers about what a farm needs
to do to achieve these labels, from the amount of
(15:45):
land that you need per pig to how many days
per year minimum the pigs have to be allowed free range,
to how much weight they have to gain before they're
ready for sacrifice. There's a minimum leg weight and a
minimum length.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Of curing time.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
It's a whole thing.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
It's a whole thing.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Then there are also five European Union Protected designations of
origin for Hammoniberico. There are four from different regions of
Spain and one from Portugal, all of which have their
own regulations. For example, I think it's certainly the four
from Spain and I think the one from Portugal all
(16:31):
require the pigs to be at least seventy five percent
Iberian heritage if they're going to get the PDO, And
apparently the PDO for one of them from Extravadora is
the most rigorous pedio certification program in all of Spain.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Yep, yep.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
This product is such a big deal that like whole
hands are often purchased in advance while they are still curing,
like a couple years before, or they're even going to
be ready. And the carving itself is a whole thing,
as perhaps you can imagine getting those like paper thin
(17:13):
slices like to the correct bite sized and off the
bone in a way that will facilitate the carving of
the remainder of the leg. It's both the science and
an art. And like connoisseurs say that they appreciate different
cuts from different parts of the leg, like the buttery,
more melting cuts near the fatty hip versus the sweet, nutty,
(17:35):
chewy cuts from the more lean hoof.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
I don't know, I don't know. I have such a
craving right now. We have to rectify this, Lauren, we
do have to. Ah, oh my goodness. Well what about
the nutrition.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Okay, this this product has a lot of proto and fats,
more of which again are healthy fats than is usual
for meat, plus a lot of micronutrients. I mean, you know,
watch your portion sizes. It's kind of expensive, so you're
probably watching your portion sizes anyway. Also, like if salts
(18:15):
and fats are treats for you, treats are nice. Also,
I mean, like, y'all, it's salt cured fatty pork. I
if a website, and I ran into this, if a
website is telling you that that Harmona Berrico is a
health food, it's selling you something. In this case, it's
(18:35):
selling you salt cured fatty pork. Yes, indeed, which is again,
treats are nice, it's tasty.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
Yeah, but all this I don't know.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Like I apparently, ways to get me riled include like
really waxing on about how healthy this particular salt cured
fatty pork is.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Yeah, yeah, wow, we do have some numbers for you.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Oh my heck, we do.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Okay, all right, So there are currently less than two
million Iberian pigs in the world. That's the approximate size
of the population right now. And ham in general is
a big deal in Spain. It is the biggest segment
(19:28):
of their meat processing market. It's worth some one point
nine billion euros a year. About a fifth of the
ham produced there is Iberian, but it's so expensive that
it makes up about a third of that value. Only
around five percent of Iberian ham produced is that black
(19:50):
label purebread, free range stuff. Around eighty percent is white label,
which is the grain fed raised in enclosure stuff. We've
got a lot of world records for you.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
I'm so excited, all right.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
The Guinness record for the most expensive leg of ham
commercially available right now as far as I know, is
for legs of Hamona Birco wi Yota from this Japanese
company that as of twenty twenty, we're going for over
thirteen thousand dollars a ham. Oh lord, I I'm not
(20:34):
sure if I've ever bought a car.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
That was more expensive. Act whoa rich people with their taste,
you know.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Also, like, I'm pretty sure that this this record category
is an absolute arms race of Amona Berco de biota producers.
Oh dear, Oh okay. There's also a Guinness record for
the longest meat carving marathon.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
The current record was achieved in twenty fifteen by this
younger Spanish dude who worked carving Carmona Berrico for seventy
two hours, thirteen minutes and eight seconds. His nickname is
Artista del Hamon.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
I mean, wow, I'm taken aback. That's impressive.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Yeah, yeah, seventy two hours.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
The record for fastest carver was achieved in twenty twenty
three by a whole different guy who carved off two thousand,
four hundred and ninety seven slice of common in an hour.
That is forty one slices a minute, or one slice
every zero point seven seconds. The slices had to each
(22:12):
be four to six centimeters long and like half a
millimeter to one millimeter thick. Also impressive, you know, yeah,
very impressive. I I would injure myself mightily.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Oh I would give up very quickly.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
Oh yeah, no.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
There's also a record for the largest number of carvers
simultaneously working on Hamona Berrico under one roof. The roof
in question seems to have been a tent in Spain.
In twenty fourteen, one hundred and sixty one carvers showed up.
Two hundred had registered, but apparently the weather was bad
that day. The resulting plate of ham was these like
(22:58):
tables situated around a waterfowl. It was forty seven square
meters and that's just about five hundred square feet, which
is just about like the size of most apartments I've rented.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
This all happened down.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
In like southern Spain, in a place called Banaraba, which
I hope I'm saying that right. I'm sorry. Which the
article that I was reading about the whole thing described
as a hamlet.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Oh, yes, that's off. That's off, all right, I see you.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
However, that was not the largest plate of Hamona Birco
on record. That was achieved in twenty twenty four in
the city of Wilva, Spain, with a display of six
hundred kilos of ham on a two hundred square meter plate.
That's like one three hundred pounds and over two thousand
(24:04):
square feet. There were eighty carvers working at that one. Yep, yep,
moving on, we have ham crime.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
The largest Iberian ham heist in history was carried out
in twenty eighteen. This organized crime ring made off with
some five thousand legs of ham valued at over five
hundred thousand euros. An investigation did result in several arrests
and a partial recovery of the loot. Oh my, there
(24:52):
is a Harmona Barrico Museum in Monasterio and several monuments
tow on around Spain, including this like large steel sort
of polyhedral like kind of PS one graphics ham that's
in this town.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
Roundabout somewhere.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
And then there's also this big steel globe made of
hams that's lit from the inside.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Oh, I'm gonna have to look that up.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
It's beautiful. It's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Like the surface of the globe is made of these
like flat hams.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Okay, it's lovely. I'm very excited too. Yeah, compared to
what my imagination is co to what the reality is,
I'm very excited.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
H The thing that I'm excited about is that there
are several festivals for ham in in places around Spain.
One in out of sea outside of Seville that's held
every October has a carving contest where competitors have two
hours and fifteen minutes to create slices of an appropriate size,
(26:13):
you know, length and thinness and display them as prettily
as possible on a plate, and without the carvers weighing them.
They have to have the total ham on the plate
come out to as close to one hundred grams as possible.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Oh my, okay, so you've got to have like a
knowledge of this is so much as hamdways, Yeah exactly,
I know what I'm doing.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Yeah, exactly exactly. And I was reading one account from
twenty eighteen about this event, and one dude hit one
hundred grams precisely.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Oh wow, I know that one dude isn't listening, but
if you were, that was a true gasp of being impressed.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Oh yeah, I mean generally these events have, you know,
like a lot of ham and like music and dance
and the whole festival thing. But yeah, that that particular
carving contest I could not resist talking about.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Well, as always, listeners, if you have been to participated, yes, please.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Do we have any ham carvers out there?
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Please? We need you.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Oh we do, we do. Huh.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
But but there is a wild history about how we
got to hear, Yes, there is, and we are going
to get into that history as soon as we get
back from a quick break for a word from our sponsors,
(27:52):
and we're back.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you. Okay, So this is
another one that was a bit complicated. But let's start
by doing a very brief overview of the history of
some of the key elements of Hemone Aberko in Spain.
All right, So pig bones were found in Europe seven
hundred thousand years ago. Iberian pigs are descended from wild
(28:16):
boars that were bred with domesticated pigs sometime during the
ninth century BCE. They were transported by the ancient Phoenicians
to the Mediterranean and are believed to be the result
of centuries of selection and domestication. These pigs could be
quite large and often developed healthy fat deposits between their muscles.
(28:38):
The acorns that they ate also imparted a desired flavor. Meanwhile,
evidence suggests that acorns have existed in Iberia for thousands
of years. And we need to come back and do
an episode on acorns because that almost I almost got
lost into that rabbit hole.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Yeah, there's a lot of different types and it's complicated,
but absolutely yes, sure, yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
The dijesas that you mentioned earlier Lauren, which were human
made pastures typically sporting three types of acorn dropping oak trees,
have existed in the Mediterranean four centuries, perhaps even longer
than that. Historians speculate that humans in the area specifically
created these environments to raise livestock like pigs. They produced
(29:27):
abundant numbers of acorns, which the pigs loved. Are pal
plenty of the elder still, we haven't talked about him
so long, And like it said, plenty or Pliny, you
know who I'm talking about. Yeah, Yeah, He wrote about
pigs from the Iberian Peninsula in the seventies CE. He
(29:48):
was very like, they're really good. This is a good
breed of pigs, and just a reminder, people have been
salting and curing meat for quite a long time, so
that's not you. When North African Muslims conquered the Iberian
Peninsula and the seven hundred CE, they forbade the consumption
of pork and eating it was viewed as a rebellious act.
(30:11):
When they were forced out of power in the fourteen hundreds,
ham briefly came back as a symbol of pride. Spanish
colonizers introduced Iberian pigs to the Americas and also used
them as a food source on the journey. However, in
the late fourteen hundreds and early fifteen hundreds, Spanish authorities
issued decrees, first to Jewish people and then to Muslims
(30:34):
that they either had to leave Spain, convert to Catholicism,
or be tortured and may be killed. Since both religions
had some stipulations around not eating pork, selling pork became
somewhat of a symbol of Catholicism, or at the very
least not being Jewish or Muslim, so the ban on
(30:55):
Judaism was annulled in Spain by the eighteen sixty nine institution.
We've discussed before on this show how the slaughter of
pigs was often something of cultural significance, especially when it
came to hard winter months on the horizon. Pigs would
be slaughtered and preserved as sustenance through the harsh times
(31:15):
and eaten in spring celebrations. In Spain, slaughtering the pig
was sometimes a family affair, and with all the pig
being used, including preserving the legs by curing with a
lot of salt and hanging and aging them. Skipping way ahead,
in the nineteen sixties, disease significantly reduced the Iberian pig population.
(31:38):
Over time, producers were able to reduce CIS trend, but
it was a real concern for a minute.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
Yeah. Starting in the nineteen eighties, those pdos four different
regions of Hamana Bariko started getting established.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
The first was for Guijuelo.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
In nineteen eighty four, followed by Extramadora in nineteen ninety,
Hululgo in ninety eight and Los Pedrotes in two thousand
and six.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Harmone Eberico was first approved for import into the US
in two thousand and five.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Yeah, basically, Spain didn't have a USDA certified slaughterhouse until then.
Even for a couple of years after that, there was
some red tape and like misfiled paperwork apparently, so it
took a while for the product to really get here.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Yes, and then during the two thousand and eight recession,
Amon Aberco took a huge hit and some suppliers sent
Iberian pigs outside of Spain for the first time. They
were depending on the farmers they shipped the pigs to
in the United States to maintain the level of quality
in a different environment with different humidity, different elevation, and
(32:48):
with peanuts as opposed to acorns. At the time, they
were hopeful about Americans getting a taste for this ham
because the US largely hadn't tried Harmone Aberico due to
those slaughterhouse regulations. So far, from what I've read, it's
largely worked out. Oh yeah, yep. In order to maintain
(33:12):
a transparent level of quality, the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture
and Fishing came up with some new rules around Himone
Aberko in twenty fourteen. They largely revolved around the type
of pigs and their diet and grazing habits.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
Yeah, that's that whole color coding system. That's when that debuted. Yes,
ooof and then hmmm.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Oh no. And at twenty nineteen, then Prime Minister of
Spain Pedro Sanchez created quite the scandal after bespeaking at
a livestock fair where he mixed up harmon Aberco with
harmone Serrano. It was made worse by the fact that
he said this at a century's old fair that is
(33:52):
considered the heart of harmone Aberico. Some pork producers allegedly
sent people to edge kate Sanchez on various types of
pork and their origins after this misstep. You know, I
get it, you get tired as politician. I understand.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
Sure, it's probably just misspeaking, but yeah, it's the.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
People or like nope, nope, no, nope, speaking of no, nope.
Farming development and climate change have impacted the dejesas and
thus production of harmone Americo. Hotter and drier summers mean
that the trees are producing less acorns.
Speaker 3 (34:39):
Yep, yep, it's true.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Recently, there has been work into using technologies like fatty
acid profiling to authenticate true acorn fed hams and thus
help prevent some of the aforementioned ham fraud. Also recently,
researchers are getting into mapping the microbiome of comone eberco
(35:07):
produced in different places by slightly different methods, with a
special interest in well a in like how successfully pathogens
are being prevented from growing by these keering methods, but
b like how the microbes influenced the the terroir of
the hams. And then just this year twenty twenty five,
(35:31):
I believe I was reading things in translation and my
Spanish is a little shoddy, but a bunch of Spanish
governmental and professional organizations came together to found the International
Ham Institute or inter HAM.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
It's excellent. I love it already. Tell me what it is.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Inter HAM is meant to support like knowledge and economic
stability throughout the Spanish ham industry and the wider global
ham industry. They're taking over the organization of an event
that I haven't mentioned yet, the World Ham Congress, which
(36:16):
happens every other year. It's a professional congress open to
ham producers and distributors and et cetera. From around the world.
They had their twelfth conference just last year in twenty
twenty four. Right now, inter Ham is taking applications from
Ham industry, producers and scientists for the first inter Ham Awards,
(36:41):
which they have said will be the Oscars of Ham.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
Well, this is all the life.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
It's so good. I'm like, oh, maybe there's good in
this world.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
This is wonderful and I'm very excited to learn more
about it, just to have an Oscars of Hand to have.
I love when people are passionate about things I truly do.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
Right, Yeah, I believe applications are open until mid October
of twenty twenty five. So if you're listening to this
as it comes out like there's if you know someone
who's doing really amazing work in the Ham industry, send
them to interim.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
Interham is also objectively a great Oh like the Avengers
of Hand.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
I'm not I it's so cool.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
It's excellent. I'm so happy you discovered this.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
Yeah, wow, yep.
Speaker 2 (37:50):
And the World Ham Congress, y'all, if anyone has been
to the World Damn Congress.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
You must let us know. Absolutely, please, so so good.
It's fantastic, fantastic, Okay, well please write it. Please let
us know. But in the meantime, I think that's what
we have to say about harmone Emberiko for now.
Speaker 3 (38:19):
I think it is.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
We do already have some listener mail for you, though,
and we are going to get into that as soon
as we get back from one more quick break for
a word from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
And we're back. Thank you, sponsors, yes, thank you, And
we're back with oh listener acorns, no acorns falling down.
Before we get into listener mail, I have a favor
(38:58):
for you listeners. Friend of the show, friend in real life, Samantha,
who's my co host over on stuff on Never Told You,
is going to New York. She's going to Albany and
she's going to the Adirondacks. So if you have any
food recommendations or anything she should do, just let me
(39:18):
know because she's going next week. Time is moving so quickly, yes,
next week?
Speaker 3 (39:24):
Okay, all right?
Speaker 1 (39:25):
Cool? Yeah yeah yeah, So please let me know if
you've got anything for that. But we have some great
listirmail for you today, all right, Samantha wrote, Not that, Samtha.
Samantha wrote, I listened to the SpongeBob episode and I
was surprised nay shocked that you didn't mention some of
(39:48):
the most quotable food related quotes from the show I
will present to you with no context that I'm sure
Annie will understand. Is may an instrument. It took us
three days to make that potato salad. Three days. I
(40:09):
literally quote these all day long. I remember SpongeBob coming
out and it got super popular in my area around
two thousand and two, two thousand and three ish when
I was in seventh grade, and pretty much everyone was
wearing SpongeBob shirts and hoodies and it was just so
palpable in all the things. At the time, I found
it funny that a kid's show was so popular in
(40:30):
middle school, but of course now I realized that we
were just kids ourselves. Fun fact. Roger Bumpus, who voices Squidward,
also voiced Professor Membrane an Invader Zim side note, guys,
guysz gaz for fictional female and stuff one ever told.
Speaker 2 (40:49):
You oooh oh if you need help on Invader Zim,
I can come in and talk about gas and everybody
else and I will not quote girl at you, uh, unnecessarily.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
Okay, Yeah, I feel like that was a I could
hear the disclaimer on that phrase. But yeah, all right,
oh no, it would be appreciated. I washed Invader Zim,
I just did. It's been a long.
Speaker 3 (41:19):
Time, share it's been sure fair.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Yes, well, indeed, these are things that I know. I
know exactly what episode each one is from. Mayonnaise. An
instrument is from one of my favorites, the Marching Band episode.
Speaker 2 (41:35):
Oh right, mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (41:37):
And then it took us three days to make the
potato salad is from one of my other favorites, Weenie
Hutt Juniors. That one is excellent. Uh And Binging with
Babbage did a whole episode on how do you make
What would it take to make potato salad that takes
three days?
Speaker 2 (41:55):
Well?
Speaker 1 (41:56):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I loved it. We are at
least I am compiling all of the things we haven't
discussed from Great Great into an episode. But those are
those are excellent ones. Those are very quotable things. Yeah.
Oh and I also just went to a SpongeBob event
(42:17):
and I was shocked that I didn't own a SpongeBob shirt.
My friend was like, what kind of millennial are you?
And it really took me aback, Lauren, Wow, wow kind
of millennial am.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
I huh, You've clearly got some thinking to do about
a number of things.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
I really do.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
I mean, I feel like we can remedy this for you.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
I think so, I think easily. I was just kind
of surprised, right.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Right, Taylor wrote, I had a lot of catching up
to do with recent episodes, but there were some topics
that definitely hit close to home in the best ways.
First off, the SpongeBob episode was delightful. I'm a big
SpongeBob fan, as are my husband and three year old daughter.
(43:06):
On July twelfth this year, one of our local breweries
had a SpongeBob's birthday party, Bikini Bottom Rave. My family
and I went, and it was so fun. It was
a hot day and they had the air blasting SpongeBob episodes, playing,
SpongeBob themed candy and other items, and SpongeBob songs playing
the entire time. They had hard pineapple silter slushies available
(43:27):
as well as pineapple juice. There were also bubbles blowing,
and they gave discounts for themed attire. I'm a woodburning artist,
so I dressed up as Patrick with the wood plank
stuck to his head. And the people there loved it.
In response to hot sauces and coffee, I'm a big
fan of a spicy mocha when my sinuses are acting up.
(43:49):
A local bookstore cafe had a hot honeymocha available, and
it was the perfect way to clear my sinuses on
a cold day. The spice, honey, and chocolate all went
so well together. I didn't think I'd like the combination,
but now I might need to make my own at home.
For an easy mocha, I add some hot chocolate powder
to drip coffee. It's a quick, budget friendly way to
(44:09):
fancy up your drink. Lastly, I was so excited about
the Hostess cupcakes episode because the classic chocolate Hostess cupcakes
are one of my dad's top vices. My family has
a megasweet tooth and we would always have these on hand.
I'm more of a snowballs person myself, and one of
my absolute favorite Hostess products are the vanilla zingers. They're
(44:30):
basically a twinkie with icing on top, and they're so
good in my family. If you opt for a flavor
other than chocolate, it's like committing a sin. But I
stand by my preferences as you should as you should.
Speaker 1 (44:45):
Yes, yes, I continue to adore these preferences you all
are sending us. I've never heard of vanilla zingers. That's great.
Speaker 3 (44:56):
Oh yeah, oh beautiful.
Speaker 2 (44:59):
Yeah, oh my, and that no, that uh, that mocha,
that hot honey mocha sounds amazing. Yeah, spice and chocolate
do go really well. I mean, I think that spice
goes well with pretty much anything, but spice and chocolate
go really well together.
Speaker 1 (45:12):
I agree, I agree. And yes, this SpongeBob event sounds
so wondrous. That sounds so fun fun.
Speaker 4 (45:20):
Oh, I'm so glad it was kid friendly too. That's delightful.
And you're your costume. I know exactly what you're talking about.
That's fantastic. I'm sure it.
Speaker 1 (45:30):
Was a hit. That's I loved this so much, wonderful. Yes,
oh my goodness. Well, thank you so much to both
of these listeners for writing in. If you would like
to write to us, you can our emails hello at
savorpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
We're also on social media. You can find us on
Instagram and blue Sky at savor pod, and we do
hope to hear from you. Savor is production of iHeartRadio
four more podcasts my Heart Radio. You can visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or where every listen to your
favorite shows. Thanks as always to our super producers Dylan
Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening, and
(46:06):
we hope that lots more good things are coming your way.
Savor News
Hosts And Creators
Anney Reese
Lauren Vogelbaum
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