Guijuelo

Appearance & taste

The hams and shoulder hams are long and slender and are sold with the hoof, unless they are boned or cut into pieces. A ham from purebred animals weighs at least 6.5 kg, a shoulder ham at least 3.7 kg; with 75 % Iberian breed the figures are 7 and 4 kg.

The cut surface is intense pink to purplish red, glossy and marbled with fat. The taste is delicate, mild or slightly salty, and the aroma depends on how the animal was fed before slaughter. According to the specification, the mild taste, a result of the low salt content, distinguishes Guijuelo from other Spanish meat products; the delicate fat and the high intramuscular fat come from the breed, the feeding and the keeping on the pastures.

There are three classes: “Jamón de Bellota 100 % Ibérico” from purebred acorn-fed Iberian pigs, “Jamón de Bellota Ibérico” from acorn-fed animals with 75 % of the breed and “Jamón de Cebo de Campo Ibérico” from feed fattening, each also as a shoulder ham (“Paleta”). The colour of the seal shows the class: black, red or green. Acorn-fed hams produced for more than 800 days (shoulder hams more than 425 days) may bear the addition “Gran Selección”.

Production

The pigs are Iberian pigs or approved crosses with at least 75 % Iberian breed. They are born, raised and fattened in the production area. In the last fattening phase they live extensively on the dehesas, wood pastures with holm, cork and Portuguese oaks, and eat acorns, natural green fodder and crop residues. For each pasture the available quantity of acorns is determined and the maximum number of pigs is set; unannounced inspections check feeding and keeping.

Each leg and shoulder is given a numbered seal at the slaughterhouse. Then follow, in this order: salting on the surface, washing with drinking water and brushing, resting until the salt has penetrated evenly, drying and ripening, during which the moisture content gradually falls, and finally ageing, during which smell and taste develop. This takes place in natural drying rooms whose temperature, humidity and ventilation can be adjusted. The ham master judges the right times according to the weather, so that the product ripens slowly with as little salt as possible. At the end it is certified with a numbered band that names the class.

Origin & history

The production area is the traditional area for raising Iberian pigs in western and south-western Spain: all of Salamanca, Cáceres and Badajoz as well as districts in Zamora, Segovia, Ávila, Toledo, Ciudad Real, Seville, Córdoba and Huelva. Dehesas and grass pastures predominate there, on which livestock has always been kept.

The much smaller processing area comprises 78 municipalities in the south-east of the province of Salamanca, including Guijuelo and Béjar. They lie in the middle of the dehesas of Salamanca, where the Sierra de Béjar and the Sierra de Francia meet, at an average altitude of 975 m. The climate is continental, with long, cold winters, a long frost period and low humidity; the strong, dry winds between the mountains make drying easier. According to the specification, these conditions have made meat processing with a traditional method possible for at least 200 years, and the knowledge of the ham masters is passed on over generations.