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Best Portuguese Jamón Types
This variety of Iberian ham is produced with meat coming from acorn-fed Iberian pigs that are either 75% or 50% pure Iberian breed, meaning they have been crossbred with other pigs such as the Duroc breed. As in the case of jamón 100% ibérico de bellota, the pigs used in the production of this ham are allowed to roam freely across the oak pasturelands in their final rearing stage, known as the montanera, eating an acorn-based diet until they reach the desired weight for the sacrifice, or the matanza as the Spanish call it. Jamón ibérico de bellota makes for about 13% of the total Iberian ham production and is distinguished by a red label.
The designated areas of Iberian bellota ham production include the Dehesa de Extremadura, Salamanca, Huelva, and Valle de Los Pedroches in Spain, along with Barrancos in Portugal.
THE BEST Jamón ibérico de bellota Jamones
Regarded as the most exquisite variety of Iberian ham, or jamón ibérico, this ham is made with the meat of 100% purebred black Iberian pigs that have been roaming freely across oak pastures (Dehesa) and feeding on an acorn-based (bellota) diet.
Apart from these specifications, the pigs also have to be reared in one of the designated places of origin as well as fulfill the specified standards of bellota ham production to receive the most renowned black label or pata negra status - denoting the highest-quality Iberian ham.
THE BEST Jamón 100% ibérico de bellota Jamones
Jamones Juan Manuel
Jamón de Bellota 100% Ibérico
Premios Alimentos de España - Mejor Jamón Ibérico de España 2024, 2020
Jamones Aljomar
Jamón de Bellota 100% Ibérico
Premios Alimentos de España - Mejor Jamón Ibérico de España 2022
Jamón Ibérico is a unique ham produced both in Spain and in Portugal. It is made from black ibérico pigs who eat a diet of corn, acorns, and other feed, most of them roaming freely across the pastures. As a result, the cured ham is dark red, marbled with veins of fat.
Its flavor is sweet, nutty, and just slightly salty. There are four types of jamón ibérico, depending on the diet of the pigs, namely de bellota (acorns, three years minimum), 100% de bellota, cebo de campo (cereals, free-range pigs), and de cebo (cereals, commercially reared pigs).
VARIATIONS OF Jamón Ibérico
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