We had heard quite a bit about how good the Iberian ham was before travelling to the Iberian peninsula. To be honest, we enjoy cured meat, but it isn’t necessarily something we gravitate towards. One of the interesting things that we learned about ham is that the reason it is supposed to be so good is due to the food that the pigs are fed, which are acorns. In fact, the ham is rated by how many months out of the year the pigs are fed acorns, the more months the better the rating. The ham doesn’t receive a star rating, but instead is rated in acorns with a five acorn rating being the highest rating possible.
So, what did we think of the ham? Quite frankly it was absolutely delicious. We have never had a dried meat that literally almost evaporated in your mouth. Obviously there is a very high fat content for that to occur, but you almost didn’t chew the ham, it seemed to dissolve the moment it hit the warmth of your tongue. It isn’t something that we’re able to find here, so if we ever get the chance to eat some again, we definitely will. This was one of the times when the food lived up to the pre-trip hype and if you get the chance, you should certainly give it a try.
