Many times we have asked ourselves where the ham comes from, how the pig is fed and in which areas usually grows. The Iberian pig is grown in the Iberian Peninsula.

When we talk about areas where ham is produced in Spain immediately we can think in Caceres, Badajoz, Huelva, Cordoba, Sevilla, Salamanca, Ciudad Real and Toledo.Many products sells in www.jamonibericoonline.com come from the region of Extremadura, renowned worldwide for the quality of its hams ( thatdoesn’t mean that in other areas of Spain hams are bad )

When pigs are born, have a weight of 1 or 1.5 kilos. Then, once pastits weaning begins what will be his breeding process; in this process the pig will be feed in a way or another depending on what the breeders want a kind of ham or another. This process will last around 10 months and the pig reaches 50 kilos of weight the foraging instinct so just reaching 75 or even 100 kilos develops.

But what is the final stage? Justhereitis going to determine their final ranking. What is known as the stage of stocks always will occur between the months of October through January to February and this is where the amount of fat of the Iberian pigtheincreases by more than 50%. Depending on this quality then we can find different types, they are:

1) Acorn; based on acorn and natural pastures feeding

2) “Recebo” (the farmer collects food and gives it to the pig that doesn’t move); that mixed feed which is comprised of feed and acorns

3) Feed only.

This whole process is summarized in what is the process of birth, aging and after the slaughter. Wehaveallheardhow people sacrificed  pigs in their houses with the only purpose of serving the family consumption. Later, this process was already more “industrialized” so that a more hygienic, faster process is achieved and also a process where the animal suffers less.

After slaughter, goes the process by which they get what we know as “jamón ibérico”. After this, comes the phase of cutting, salting, washing and maturing (this will be discussed later in another article). Allphases are important because they contribute to the quality of the ham in order to be the best.

For example , for a summary of the life of these pigs before reaching our plates as tasty ham, we leave here this video:  How Acorn Iberian pigs are raised? From TVE.

So, surely, after having read and seen the video, you know something more about what is done to get the ham that is sure you love it :).