Spanish ham – Jamon Serrano or – is just one of many jewels of Spanish cuisine.
Healthy and tasty, with exquisite taste, is ideal as a tapas and as part of a main meal … especially when washed down with a glass of ruby red Rioja wine.
But what exactly is serrano ham, as it is done, what are its health benefits? And as the king of Spanish ham – Jamón Iberico? How it works differently from Iberian ham Serrano ham? And what is “pata negra”, and what it means?
Jamón Serrano
First of all, let’s clear pronunciation and meaning. E ‘pronounced “ham-ON,” with “ham” meaning “ham,” and “Serrano” or be the equivalent of the Sierra Mountains. In fact, traditionally, Spanish hams are cured in hilly or mountainous country.
Polymerization Procedure
Serrano ham is made from white pigs and, after being killed in the month of November, the hams are sandwiched between layers of salt and seasoning salt in a couple of days – usually 24-48 hours per kilo.
The salt is then removed, and the process of maturing and ripening takes place, normally lasting approximately 12-14 months.
During this time, a specialist regularly pierce the ham with a bone of cow and smelling it, to ensure the quality of the ham.
At the end of the process of curing, the hams will have lost as much as 40% of their original weight, meat hour dark red color, and yellow grease and moisture.
Jamón Iberico
Iberian pigs are distinct from their cousins in Serrano because they are almost always black, blacks with their hooves. This is where the term “pata negra” enters, because it means “black hoof”.
It ‘s the diet of free-range Iberian pigs that make their ham than that of ordinary Serrano pork, as well as a longer process of maturing 18 months to 3 years.
The king of the Iberian ham is ham “Bellota” for pigs are raised exclusively on acorns. And, yes, the Spanish acorn is “Acorn”!
Health Benefits of Spanish ham
Normally speaking, too much fat from ham routine is not very good for you, as clogs the arteries.
But Spanish ham is very unusual … Tests have shown that its fat is monounsaturated. In other words, do not clog arteries and, in fact, is high in healthy Omega-3. In Spain, ham is known as “the tree to 4 feet of oil” because it is so good for you!
So when you’re enjoying the thin slices of Spanish ham, rest assured that is not only delicious, but it does not play havoc with your cholesterol!
Incoming search terms:
- SPANISH FOOD
- spain food
- spanish foods
- spain foods
- испанская кухня
- serrano ham
- spanish dishes
- spanish healthy food
- spanish foods and drinks
- spain food pictures
- pictures of spanish food
- health spanish foods
- ham health
- food spain
- famous spanish foods
- a spanish meal in spanish























There are some foods, especially baked goods that contain high quantity of refined sugar, salt and flour. It is difficult to say which of these three ingredients considered the most damaging to our bodies or the most prevalent one. Several years ago, flour was stone-ground and lacked some of the original nutrients from the grain. A grain of wheat has a number of layers to it that contains necessary nutrients that are normally lost when being refined. This is the reason why several manufactures were mandated to add vitamins and nutrients after it was processed.