Jamón, Queso y Chorizo – a history of Andalucia´s most famous delicacies.

There is no better place to enjoy this beautiful dish than at one of Andalucia´s many restaurants or tapas bars, with a glass of red wine and a plate of olives

Italy is famous for Parma Ham, but Spaniards eat double the amount of ham per year than the Italians, and it is normal to see a leg of jamón in the kitchen of most Spanish households.

Supermarkets, butchers and grocery stores sell ham ranging in price from reasonable to very expensive. The more expensive hams pass a strict quality control test, and are awarded a Denomination of Origin stamp – to certify the high standard of the ham. Less expensive hams may not have this stamp, but it is no means obligatory, and the cheaper versions can still be very tasty.

Ham has been dried and cured in Spain for centuries, and pork and ham was a large part the diet, even during the Roman era. When the Moors conquered the Iberian peninsula, the eating of pork was prohibited, due to their religious beliefs, and only regained its popularity when the Christians regained control.

Jamón Serrano, mountain ham, is eaten widely throughout Spain, and is made from the meat of different breeds of white pigs such as duroc, landrace, or large white. The animals are fed mainly cereals and the ham is cured for between 7 and 16 months. There are almost 2,000 producers of Serrano ham in Spain, and the name jamón Serrano is now controlled by the European Union, which protects the processing of the product.

Jamón Ibérico, Iberian ham, is only made from the Iberian pig, the breeding of which is unique to south western Spain and south eastern Portugal. This king amongst hams is produced from pigs who roam the countryside and feed on acorns. The ham is cured for between 14 and 36 months.

So revered is the jamón in Spanish culture, that there are even a chain of Museos de Jamón, ham museums, around Spain. Some regions which are famous for their jamón are Trevelez, in the Sierra Nevada, Girona province in the region of Cataluña and the Soria province in the region of Castilla-Leon.

Manchego Cheese is made in the La Mancha region of Spain, with milk from manchega ewes, and aged for at least 60 days. The cheese is made from pasteurized or unpasteurized milk, depending on whether it is hand-made, from ewes raised on registered ´Denomination of Origin´ farms.

The harsh, dry climate of La Mancha encourages tough plants to grow, which are then eaten by the manchega ewes, and the resulting cheese is both unique and delicious.

Tradition states that manchego cheese was first eaten many centuries before Christ, and the cheese-making methods were probably very similar to those of today. A similar cheese used to be made with the milk of a race of sheep said to be the ancestors of the modern manchega breed. This race of sheep would roam the land for centuries, accustomed to the rocky region of La Mancha.

This delicious, milky cheese is enjoyed widely in Spain, and nowhere more so than in the restaurants and bodegas of Andalucia.

Chorizo is the popular Spanish sausage, made with fatty pork, chilli, peppers, paprika and garlic. Eaten all over Spain, there are many different types of chorizo. Most varieties you would buy in the supermarket is cured, but the softer fresh chorizo is also available. The pork is chopped or grinded and mixed with spices, and Spanish paprika is the main ingredient to give chorizo its unique flavour and colour.
Often eaten cold with bread or fried, chorizo is also added to soups and stews for a hearty winter meal. Although chorizo is also produced in Mexico and the Caribbean, the original version hails from Spain.

The Matanza is an annual event held in many rural and inland areas of Spain, where pigs are slaughtered, and the whole weekend is spent butchering, stuffing and cooking sausages. Most parts of the animal are used, and the weekend culminates in an eating and drinking extravaganza enjoyed by the whole village!