Jamón Ibérico de Bellota (Iberico ham)

At Andreu, we cut out the bone, respecting these 3 parts and manage to separate the three different flavours found in a good shoulder ham:

Pala

This is the most cured section of the shoulder ham, it is extracted from the knuckle area, which has less fat, therefore it tends to be slightly saltier. At Andreu we tend to carve it in the round area, so the nerve is cut out, making it a much juicier piece. If we cut it length-wise, we can carve a larger slice.

What do we love about the "pala" section?

The fact that the cut of the ham comes out completely and is more cured than the central part.

Centre

This piece that comes out from the aitch bone area, this section is the main part of the shoulder ham, and the most coveted area. The Centre of the shoulder ham tends to be more tender, juicier and fattier. At the same time, it is the sweetest section, since the fat prevents the salt from infiltrating the meat during the salting period.

What do we love of the centre section?

We love the entire cut, its juiciness and its milder flavour.[Taste it]

The bone section

This comes from the shank section, it is the part nearest to the bone. It is very flavourful, but harder and more fibrous, since it surrounds the bone, and has an irregular shape. We extract Iberian acorn-fed ham cubes from this cut.

What do we love about the bone section?

If it’s cut into fine pieces, this section has the most flavour in the entire shoulder ham and it also tends to be the area of the Iberian Ham with less fat. [Taste it]

Bone: the bone is used to make broth or cocido soup.