How Hongkongers crave Jamon Iberico, and the Spanish oak forest from which ham gets its distinctive flavour
Jamon Iberico de bellota is loved by gastronomes in Hong Kong and around the world. We visit the unique Mediterranean environment where the pigs that are the source of the dry-cured delicacy roam
As the afternoon sun breaks through the branches, the dusty track in front of us is bathed in countless spots of light. A stream bubbles away to one side, while huge hedges groan under the weight of blackberries on the other. Underfoot, the constant crunch of acorns shows that we’re in oak and cork tree country.
We’re a 90-minute drive north of Seville in the southwestern Spanish region of Huelva, not far from the Portuguese border. It’s a pretty landscape: whitewashed homes cling to the hilly cactus-lined roadsides. This is truly a unique environment – the Unesco biosphere reserve of Sierra Morena, home to the rare Mediterranean forest.
The forest includes more than 180,000 hectares of dehesa or oak glades, home to abundant flora and fauna, most famous of which are pata negra Iberico pigs, from which one of the world’s most sought-after and exclusive meats derives: jamon Iberico de bellota. What makes this ham so special is its texture and flavour, thanks to the pigs’ diet of oak and cork acorns that makes the meat naturally sweet and high in oleic acid.
These are, by almost every barometer, happy animals, inhabiting a space almost unimaginable to most agricultural projects. All the dehesas which supply Cinco Jotas, Spain’s oldest jamon Iberico de bellota brand, demand a minimum of two hectares per animal. That’s 20,000 square metres of space to roam, happily snuffling and digging for their favourite food: acorns.
