Presunto de Santana da Serra

Appearance & taste

The ham comes from the hind leg and is cut round; the shoulder ham comes from the shoulder and is oval to round. The rind and the foot are always kept, 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 dark red, oily, glossy and streaked with fat, soft and not very fibrous. The fat is greasy, almost liquid, and has a pearly white sheen. The taste is only slightly salty and slightly spicy, lasting and intense, with an aroma of acorn feeding. According to the specification, the hams from Santana da Serra are cut rounder and are darker than those from the Alentejo plain; their texture is less tender and juicy and their aroma less sweet.

They are sold whole, in pieces or in slices, on or off the bone. Each piece bears a numbered certification mark through which it can be traced back to the animal’s ear tag. An emblem of the Order of Santiago, to which the parishes of the area belonged long ago, is 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 oaks 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 if the land does not provide enough may feed from outside be given, at most 30 % of their diet. This is always followed by acorn fattening of 60 to 90 days in the oak wood, 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 and the shoulder ham at least 5 kg. It is then salted, washed, drained, dried, matured and aged, using local methods adapted to the conditions in the mountains. Nothing is added except salt, and no smoke is used. Cutting up, boning and slicing are only allowed in facilities in the area. Beforehand, experts determine the right point of maturity and check the piece with their senses; it is cut into very thin slices, which are packed immediately because the fat easily suffers in air and heat.

Origin & history

The pigs may be reared in large parts of the Alentejo and in neighbouring municipalities, wherever oak woods allow acorn fattening. The hams are processed only in the parishes of Santana da Serra, Garvão, Ourique, Panóias, Santa Luzia and Conceição in the municipality of Ourique. Santana da Serra lies in the foothills of the Serra do Caldeirão, which protects the area from harmful winds and gives it a climate of its own: the mean minimum temperatures are between 4.6 °C in the coldest and 14.7 °C in the hottest month, the mean maximum temperatures between 13.8 and 32.2 °C. The landscape is shaped by fields in the north of the municipality and dense cork oak and holm oak woods.

As early as 1310 and 1320, written records mention King Dinis’s concern for the oak woods of Ourique. A law of 1699 regulated their use and the dues paid to the king according to the number of pigs in the royal oak woods, and even at the beginning of the 20th century guards protected the woods against acorn thieves. Older people tell of the market in Garvão, where people bought sausage and bacon; ham was for fuller purses. In January 1928 it cost 16 escudos, a considerable price for the time. According to the specification, the ham is so highly regarded that it appears in the coat of arms of Santana da Serra and other parishes of the area. It is never cooked and used to be reserved for festive occasions or was a valued gift.