Understanding Jamón

from FFD August 2023

by Guild of Fine Food

SEGGIANO

From whole leg to individual slice, Brindisa’s master carver, Iago Castineiras Lopez, o ers his advice for handling, serving and selling Iberian ham

Interview and photos by Tanwen

Dawn-Hiscox

IS CARVING RIGHT FOR YOU?

Becoming a master carver takes a lot of ractice ve been at it for a decade, five hours or more a day, every day.

It’s worth deciding whether you think stocking a whole leg of pork is for you, and there’s no shame in deciding that the demands outweigh the benefits to our business.

Cutting it yourself may not be right for you, but there’s a lot you can learn from doing it.

When you’re dealing with hams of the highest quality - which you should - you want to be doing it right t ta es five ears from the birth of the ig to the finished ham, so there’s an element of respect to be had for the animal, and the skilled people all through the rocess

I wouldn’t encourage people to take it on unless they’ve got good staff retention. If you’ve got a big turnover, you’re constantly having to relearn it and you won’t make money.

If you do go ahead and learn to carve your own, whether you choose to undertake a professional course or simply make use of the many online resources available to you, it will take a year or two of daily practice to get it right.

Know Your Tags

The colour of the tag attached to the ham’s hoof, created to prevent food fraud, tells you of its provenance, quality and grade. In the Ibérico region, there are four grades, which will depend on how pure the animal is in terms of genetics, the environment it is raised in, if it lived indoors or outdoors, its diet, whether it ate cereals or natural feed (acorns). Their diet dictates whether they can be called Jamón Ibérico de Bellota, Jamón de Cebo de Campo Ibérico, or Jamón Ibérico de Cebo.

The black tag or Pata Negra is the highest grade ou ll find he re ure bred Ibérico, reared outdoors in the dehesa, a natural Mediterranean forest, and they only eat acorns, which is why they’re called am n b rico de ellota

A red tag pig still e clusivel eats acorns and lives in the forest. This diet is what allows it to be called Jamón Ibérico de ellota t must be either , or Black Iberian, but can be cross bred with another more common ig breed

Good Tools Will Make Light Work

Tools are 90% of the job. You can be highly skilled at carving, but if your knives are not sharp enough, not the right size or the right type, you will struggle.

You need at least one slicing knife, a long, fle ible blade, which will allow ou to access all parts of the leg, as well as at least one boning knife. Sharpness of knives is crucial, as without it you won’t be able to get the thickness you need.

The frequency with which you sharpen your knives will depend on use and personal preference, but it’s worth getting them professionally sharpened every year.

Because we’re working with very sharp knives, we need to use them in a very different way.

Apart from harder to access cuts on the leg, for which you will alter the angle of your knife, you will always be cutting towards yourself. It gives ou more control

Use your strength - position yourself so as to use your whole body - and cut towards yourself.

Use a ham stand. The stands help a lot because their system allows you to adapt the height, to improve your posture while you carve.

To qualify for a green label, a pig must also be at least 50% black Iberian. These animals are free-range, meaning they are able to roam freel and thus eat a mi of acorns supplemented with cereal feed. They are known as Cebo de Campo Ibérico.

A white label pig is an industrial Jamón. The animals live on a farm and they’re raised on cereals he lowest tier of b rico ham, igs must only be 50% black Iberian, and are generally kept indoors. They’re known as Ibérico Cebo.

The Carving Process From Start To Finish

When carving, your top priority should be to get as much meat off the leg as ossible

A master carver gets 48% of the total weight of the leg. If you have an 8kg weight, you’ll get a bit less than a 4kg yield.

To break into the leg, locate the bone. This will be your reference to cut it because the meat reaches the limit of the bone. The first thing ou do is a diagonal cut a few centimetres from the bone

Once your knife hits the bone, it’s not going any deeper. and you can use the cut as a reference to start eeling

The Value Of Samples

Nowadays, people have more knowledge of cured meat and Ibérico grades than they used to, but some people still don’t know what they are. Knowledge gives you the ower to u sell

You can explain how it’s made, the history behind it, but until they taste it, they’re not going to understand what the re dealing with

FRESH OR VACUUM PACKED?

We give people the option of buying our ham fresh or vacuum packed, depending on whether they want to eat it straight away or ee it for a few da s he first goal is to ta e off all the yellowish fat on the side because it’s been oxidised - it’s only there to protect the meat, and in terms of flavour, it s rancid Remove it gradually, in thin layers, as where the meat starts will depend on the leg. Work your way around the muscle, gradually removing tiny layers of fat – the same amount everywhere, don’t go too deep - until you start finding small flec s of meat, and that s going to be our starting point.

That’s when you start slicing it up. Start by slicing the highest part until it reaches the lowest one Once it is flat, ee carving from there

For the second cut, turn the hoof so it is facing down. You don’t need a reference here, ust eel the s in and fat until ou find meat. Once you’ve carved that side, you’ll reach the same bone again, and that’s when ou finish with a long, s uare iece nown as the third cut

This cut is carved perpendicular from the bone to extract the maximum amount of meat

When you turn the ham, use the stand and ma e sure to tighten it around the hoof ocate it straight over ou, so it is flat over the base. This is what will give you the thickness of the third cut.

Iow finel ou slice the ham is what gives customers the best experience. A larger slice will affect the texture and mouthfeel, like tasting a really nice wine in a 1L cup, or eating caviar on a big spoon.

There is no exact science on the size of a slice to follow, but we try and cut it into mouthful sizes - the same as sushi rolls or amuse-bouche - which have been made to be eaten in one, with a small slice of bread want to have to wait 10-15 minutes for you to cut to order. So, make sure that you have several options already pre-sliced and packed to cope with demand during those busier periods.

Serving Temperature

Serving temperature is very important. You can buy the best ham in the world, but if you have it cold, you’re going to miss out on the flavour

Carving to order is one of those things that is idealised, but it can be impractical, particularly on Saturday morning when you have customers queuing. People don’t

We recommend that people remove it from the fridge 30-45 minutes before eating it, to give them more or less the e act same flavour as it was when it was first carved

For enquiries please email: sales@frenchflint.co.uk | tel: 020 7237 1750 www.hsfrenchflint.co.uk

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