Presunto de Campo Maior e Elvas

Appearance & taste

The ham comes from the hind leg, the shoulder ham from the shoulder. The ham is cut long, the shoulder ham round and pointed; both keep the trotter and the rind, and a layer of fat surrounds the muscle. A ham weighs over 5 kg, a shoulder ham over 3.5 kg.

When cut, the meat is red, oily, glossy and streaked with fat. It is soft, not very fibrous and tender. The fat has a pearly white sheen. The taste is slightly salty and lingering, with an aroma of acorn fattening. According to the specification, the hams from Campo Maior and Elvas are cut longer and more pointed and are darker than those from the rest of the Alentejo plain; their texture is less tender and juicy, their aroma rather tart and strong.

They are sold whole, in pieces or in slices, with or without the bone. Each piece carries a numbered certification mark through which it can be traced back to the ear tag of the animal; a mark is also branded into the rind.

Production

The pigs of the Alentejana breed are entered in the breed’s herd book and are born and reared on registered farms. They live mainly outdoors, in oak woods of cork and holm oaks with at least 40 trees per hectare and one pig per hectare. They eat stubble and cereal residues, grasses, legumes and small animals; only when the land does not provide enough may feed from outside be added, at most 30 % of their diet. This is always followed by 60 to 90 days of acorn fattening in the oak woods, during which the animals must gain at least 45 kg. They are slaughtered at 12 to 24 months; the carcass weighs at least 90 kg.

After trimming, the ham weighs at least 7.5 kg, the shoulder ham at least 5 kg. Then comes salting, washing, draining, drying, ripening and ageing. Nothing is added apart from salt, not even smoke: the climate dries the meat. Cutting, boning and slicing are only permitted in businesses in the area. Before that, experts determine the right point of ripeness and check the piece with their senses; it is cut by hand into very thin slices, which are packed immediately, because the fat is easily spoilt by air and warmth.

Origin & history

The pigs may be reared in large parts of the Alentejo and in neighbouring municipalities such as Castelo Branco, Abrantes, Coruche and parishes of Loulé, Silves and Tavira, wherever oak woods allow acorn fattening. The hams are processed only in the municipalities of Campo Maior and Elvas. There only 617 mm of rain falls a year, the sun shines for 2,979 hours, and temperatures rise to 33 to 34 °C in summer and fall to 4 to 5 °C in winter. According to the specification, on the poor soils only the oak woods with their undergrowth are worthwhile, and the Alentejo pig makes the best use of them.

Pigs have been important for food here for centuries. In Elvas and Arronches so many once ran through the streets that the king banished them from the town; after numerous counter-petitions from the families who lived from them, he ordered that everything be kept as before. Campo Maior became Portuguese after the Treaty of Alcanises in the 13th century, Elvas finally in 1229. Both places lie on the border, and according to the specification Spanish influence shapes their somewhat different production. The hams are never cooked; in the past they were reserved for festive occasions or were a valued gift.