Elizabeth left Sunday morning for a week-long field trip to Granadilla. Its purpose is to use child labor to clean up and restore a very old Spanish city in the region of Extremadura. That would be roughly translated as "Really Hard". I will write about her adventures, as soon as I get some news.
Extremadura is the home of the best jamon serrano, according to every Spaniard I have asked, including three different butchers. This is significant, as you can't get Spaniards to agree on anything. Put 10 Spaniards in a room, and you get 20 opinions.
Jamon Serrano comes in three classes:
- Iberico Bellota
- Iberico Recebo
- Iberico Cebo
The best is Bellota Puro, which means the pigs are free range and have papers showing both father and mother are registered breeds. They cure these hams for 48 months, before shipping them off. Spain is very serious about its ham. Jamon Serrano is to Spain what Bonsai is to Japan. It's all about the art. Spain's just happens to be edible.
The first time Susan came to Spain, she lived in Granada for three months. Susan is not what you might call an adventurous eater, but she fell in love with Spanish foods from Andalucia, and the surrounding regions. One particular thing she kept raving about was the jamon serrano. When we visited Granada together, I couldn't wait to try this new variant on my favorite animal. I told her we called it salt-cured country ham, back in South Carolina. She was not happy with my description.
It really is delicious. They slice it impossibly thin, making it a translucent red color.
You will find the carving stations, called jamoneros,
in every restaurant, bar, café, street corner and prison cell in Spain. We have one in our apartment, but we have not tried it out yet. You have to buy a whole leg to use it, and I don't think we could eat that much jamon serrano. You can easily spend €500-800 on a quality jamon. Maybe closer to Christmas, we will have a few parties and break it out. Or if we have some guests from the USA...
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