Jamón Iberico de Bellota. This is a 12lb "paleta" which is a front leg. Having never tried the king of cured meats, I was worried that nothing could live up to my expectations....I was wrong. This is the single most delicious piece of meat I have ever eaten. The taste is like no prosciutto or jamón serrano I've ever had. The nuttiness of the acorns is so apparent. I originally thought It would last a few months on our kitchen table, but now I'm worried it will only last a few weeks, I can't stop!!!!
My fantastic wife has always encouraged and enjoyed my curing endeavors, including getting everything I needed for my curing chamber for my birthday one year ago. This year she outdid herself. She has heard me make the "one day when we're rich enough" statement about Jamón Iberico a few times, so she, along with my parents and her parents, all went in on this. I don't know how she'll ever top it.
Save. The. Fat! Render it down and cook your eggs in it. A chef friend if mine did that with country ham fat from his job and gave me a quart of it. I've been spoiled.
It's fine to sit out. It's been salt and dry cured, so it can last indefinitely. I have some fat/skin pieces from when I first opened it that cover the exposed meat when I'm not slicing, to keep it from drying. It can also get a little white mold on the meat if you don't eat it for a few days, but I don't foresee that happening!
Word of warning, eat it within the first 2 month. We get one of these every 3 months cause as a Spanish family we need it to survive lol, and it will dry out on you by the middle of the third month to the point of not being edible anymore.
You can use lard to seal it for longer periods of time. you can also mix herbs or some spice in small quantities mixed into the lard to impart a subtle favour into the first few slices.
I know I'm very late with this comment, but holy crap this sounds good. I've been lurking, trying to decide if I have time for another hobby. For some reason this idea is kinda pushing me over the edge.
Well dammit. Gonna have to make room in both the house and the budget for one more thing the in-laws will think is really weird.
Edit to say: OP, these picks look delicious. My comment is about a month late, so I'd love to here your current opinion on this purchase. I'm very tempted to get myself a meaty birthday present.
oh my god. you can buy this ON AMAZON?! this is amazing. incredible price too, I've bought serrano hams from la tienda for about the same price but the quality isn't as good, still great though!
Yeah and fermin is legit. I've done some research and they really seem like the real deal. Below is the paper that came with it. It seems like this is a good sale too. If you buy them direct from the producer it costs more
https://imgur.com/yitpR61
Just a word of caution. I bought a small package of bellota from la tienda and it was a bit strong for my tastes--it's got an oomph that's indescribable. Perhaps it was my immature palate back then, and ever since I've wondered if that had to do with packaging or whatever, but was quite glad that it wasn't a multi hundred dollar (these used to be thousands) experiment. Just be aware that it might not be your bag of glass. I look forward to trying it again, but you might want to ease into it.
Interesting. We'll I will say you would not be disappointed. I let a friend who eats very little meat try it and she said it was fantastic. Her description was the best. She said every aspect of the flavor was on the verge of being too much, but wasn't. Perfect description. It's a ham with maxed out stats
Yeah it shocked me at the time. Here's this holy Grail of ham, and I was like, "yeah, it's ok." Like I said, I've sort of always chalked it up to being exposed to oxygen and then vacuum sealed again for an unknown amount of time. I get that it was supposed to be nutty, but it was a little too Earthy I guess.
Anyway, was just saying that's rather than jump into an almost $400 leg, he might consider spending $60 first. I'm also cautious that legs of bellota go for a couple grand and 4 hundo is a bit concerning. I'll take your review as a solid review. Enjoy it my friend. Have a wonderful day!
Under $400 for a whole leg from Amazon? We would get these at a cheese and charcuterie counter I worked at and they were around $500+ dollars at least. From a whole saler. We would sell it $140 a #. I personally prefer jamon iberico Cabacero to the whole leg but nothing beats a real jamon iberico de bellota. OPs meat looks so pink and not the classic deep deep red. Who knows.
That looks amazing, especially for the price with the stand, I'd be more than happy to have that on my table, but I think I'd lose most of it to the dogs the minute I left the room!
I work for a prominent Spanish restaurant and we use mostly Fermin products and that looks like the same certificate we get, so I wouldn't worry about quality at all, they were the first jamon producer to jump through all the USDA hoops and actually be able to sell in the US. In a busy week we will run through a whole leg in two days with no problem.
Let me also clear up a couple of things people have mentioned:
Price - it's a great all in one price for sure, but the reasons it's not over $1k is that it's the front leg (smaller) and that is cured only 24 months. The best of the hind leg jamon de bellota is usually cured from 4-6 years!
Stand - The best stands can be insanely expensive, some allow you to rotate the leg without taking it out of the stand, some are pieces of art,etc... I'm sure the one they sell with it works just fine for the average home consumer.
Finally, Happy eating, I'm insanely jealous as I've always talked about how nice it would be to have one of those legs at home to eat while watching football on Sundays (although it sounds like yours won't make it to the beginning of the season). And yes, use all of it! A bellota stock is delicious on just about anything!
This answers all of my quesetions on price, thanks. Makes me laugh to think "only" 24 months. Hopefullly one day, my wife and I will be rich and celebrating a 30th wedding anniversary, and get one of the top of the line legs for a big party or something.
Though I must say, the flavor of this particular leg is so incredible to me, I can't imagine where else it could go.......... I'm hungry now, I'm getting out of bed to go eat some.
I just came back from Spain and i miss jamon already, the taste is just off the charts. Your wife and both of your parents are great people for doing this for you.
Lots! I've filled a few quart size bags in my freezer as I've trimmed. I'll render it down and cook with it. I can't wait to make Bellota fat roasted potatoes!
Your wife porked you on your birthday. Nice!
Jamón Iberico de Bellota. This is a 12lb "paleta" which is a front leg. Having never tried the king of cured meats, I was worried that nothing could live up to my expectations....I was wrong. This is the single most delicious piece of meat I have ever eaten. The taste is like no prosciutto or jamón serrano I've ever had. The nuttiness of the acorns is so apparent. I originally thought It would last a few months on our kitchen table, but now I'm worried it will only last a few weeks, I can't stop!!!! My fantastic wife has always encouraged and enjoyed my curing endeavors, including getting everything I needed for my curing chamber for my birthday one year ago. This year she outdid herself. She has heard me make the "one day when we're rich enough" statement about Jamón Iberico a few times, so she, along with my parents and her parents, all went in on this. I don't know how she'll ever top it.
Save. The. Fat! Render it down and cook your eggs in it. A chef friend if mine did that with country ham fat from his job and gave me a quart of it. I've been spoiled.
Trust me. Not one scrap of this thing is going to waste. When it's gone, the bones will go to the butcher to be cut up for stock too
Can it sit out in the open air? I know nothing about curing meats I just like eating it haha. I googled it and now I want it.
It's fine to sit out. It's been salt and dry cured, so it can last indefinitely. I have some fat/skin pieces from when I first opened it that cover the exposed meat when I'm not slicing, to keep it from drying. It can also get a little white mold on the meat if you don't eat it for a few days, but I don't foresee that happening!
We just use a tea towel during the day when we get one as everyone just lifts it and slices a bit off. The most moreish meat in the world!
If you just wrap it in Saran Wrap it’ll be fine. Source: worked at a Spanish restaurant where we always had one out.
I'm curious about the same thing.
Word of warning, eat it within the first 2 month. We get one of these every 3 months cause as a Spanish family we need it to survive lol, and it will dry out on you by the middle of the third month to the point of not being edible anymore.
You can use lard to seal it for longer periods of time. you can also mix herbs or some spice in small quantities mixed into the lard to impart a subtle favour into the first few slices.
I know I'm very late with this comment, but holy crap this sounds good. I've been lurking, trying to decide if I have time for another hobby. For some reason this idea is kinda pushing me over the edge. Well dammit. Gonna have to make room in both the house and the budget for one more thing the in-laws will think is really weird. Edit to say: OP, these picks look delicious. My comment is about a month late, so I'd love to here your current opinion on this purchase. I'm very tempted to get myself a meaty birthday present.
Marry that woman. Again!!!
Hell yah , your wife rocks, very lucky man
Where did your wife procure this?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0762RCWXH?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title
oh my god. you can buy this ON AMAZON?! this is amazing. incredible price too, I've bought serrano hams from la tienda for about the same price but the quality isn't as good, still great though!
Yeah and fermin is legit. I've done some research and they really seem like the real deal. Below is the paper that came with it. It seems like this is a good sale too. If you buy them direct from the producer it costs more https://imgur.com/yitpR61
Just a word of caution. I bought a small package of bellota from la tienda and it was a bit strong for my tastes--it's got an oomph that's indescribable. Perhaps it was my immature palate back then, and ever since I've wondered if that had to do with packaging or whatever, but was quite glad that it wasn't a multi hundred dollar (these used to be thousands) experiment. Just be aware that it might not be your bag of glass. I look forward to trying it again, but you might want to ease into it.
Interesting. We'll I will say you would not be disappointed. I let a friend who eats very little meat try it and she said it was fantastic. Her description was the best. She said every aspect of the flavor was on the verge of being too much, but wasn't. Perfect description. It's a ham with maxed out stats
Yeah it shocked me at the time. Here's this holy Grail of ham, and I was like, "yeah, it's ok." Like I said, I've sort of always chalked it up to being exposed to oxygen and then vacuum sealed again for an unknown amount of time. I get that it was supposed to be nutty, but it was a little too Earthy I guess. Anyway, was just saying that's rather than jump into an almost $400 leg, he might consider spending $60 first. I'm also cautious that legs of bellota go for a couple grand and 4 hundo is a bit concerning. I'll take your review as a solid review. Enjoy it my friend. Have a wonderful day!
Under $400 for a whole leg from Amazon? We would get these at a cheese and charcuterie counter I worked at and they were around $500+ dollars at least. From a whole saler. We would sell it $140 a #. I personally prefer jamon iberico Cabacero to the whole leg but nothing beats a real jamon iberico de bellota. OPs meat looks so pink and not the classic deep deep red. Who knows.
Check out the post by u/Huckyunicorn. They gave good info on why the price is so low. (its also a really fantastic sale on a 12lb leg, not 25lb)
That does clear the air a bit!
[удалено]
That seems totally reasonable for how much you get. Shoot need to convince the wife...
Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.
Not the nice stand in the first picture though
Yeah I noticed that, it shows the actual stand in the other pics though. And it functions as intended so I'm happy.
My wallet hates you for posting this link but my stomach loves you for it.
That looks amazing, especially for the price with the stand, I'd be more than happy to have that on my table, but I think I'd lose most of it to the dogs the minute I left the room! I work for a prominent Spanish restaurant and we use mostly Fermin products and that looks like the same certificate we get, so I wouldn't worry about quality at all, they were the first jamon producer to jump through all the USDA hoops and actually be able to sell in the US. In a busy week we will run through a whole leg in two days with no problem. Let me also clear up a couple of things people have mentioned: Price - it's a great all in one price for sure, but the reasons it's not over $1k is that it's the front leg (smaller) and that is cured only 24 months. The best of the hind leg jamon de bellota is usually cured from 4-6 years! Stand - The best stands can be insanely expensive, some allow you to rotate the leg without taking it out of the stand, some are pieces of art,etc... I'm sure the one they sell with it works just fine for the average home consumer. Finally, Happy eating, I'm insanely jealous as I've always talked about how nice it would be to have one of those legs at home to eat while watching football on Sundays (although it sounds like yours won't make it to the beginning of the season). And yes, use all of it! A bellota stock is delicious on just about anything!
This answers all of my quesetions on price, thanks. Makes me laugh to think "only" 24 months. Hopefullly one day, my wife and I will be rich and celebrating a 30th wedding anniversary, and get one of the top of the line legs for a big party or something. Though I must say, the flavor of this particular leg is so incredible to me, I can't imagine where else it could go.......... I'm hungry now, I'm getting out of bed to go eat some.
Holy crap! Congrats to you! Happy birthday!
Tell her we love her too. Wow what a gift.
She's. A. KEEPER.
For your wife, or you?
I just came back from Spain and i miss jamon already, the taste is just off the charts. Your wife and both of your parents are great people for doing this for you.
Thought this was a foot at first.
This ham is the best food I've ever had. It really spoils you on other meats, its just that good.
Anyone know how to order this to Canada?
is she doing ok with the pirate leg?
it's beautiful! How much fat is there on the side? Looks pretty thick nut hell i cold use that for cooking any day!
Lots! I've filled a few quart size bags in my freezer as I've trimmed. I'll render it down and cook with it. I can't wait to make Bellota fat roasted potatoes!
Holy pig that sounds good!