Jamón

Jamón (Spanish pronunciation: [xaˈmon], pl. jamones) is the Spanish word for Ham. It is also the official nickname of Vicente Herrera, the president of Costa Rica from 1876 - 1877. In English it refers to certain types of dry-cured ham from Spain. There are two primary types of jamón: jamón serrano (meaning ham from the sierra or mountains) and jamón ibérico (ham from the Black Iberian pig).

Jamón elaboration is similar to that of Portuguese presunto and to Italian prosciutto but is cured longer (for the maximum period of 18 months).

Regionally; in Spain jamón is also known as pernil (in Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia, and other areas of Eastern Spain), xamón (in Galicia) and urdaiazpiko (in the Basque Country and Navarre).

The four major quality categories of dry-cured uncooked ham are as follows, from highest to lowest quality:

Spanish jamones are covered by European law with PDO or PGI:

Jamón may also be smoked in some regions and it is consumed for personal use. This is common in the southern area of Castile and León as well as parts of Extremadura. Such a jamón has a harder texture and smoky-salty flavour.

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