The Insider's Guide to Ibérico Ham

Red Tag Ibérico

The second grade is described as “Jamon de bellota, 50/75% Ibérico”, which means that the animal has undergone the montanera, but that either one parent, or one grandparent was of non-Ibérico origin. When cross-breeding does occur the mother will always be 100% Iberico and the boar must be of the Duroc breed. This cross-breeding has two functions, firstly to prevent continual inbreeding, never a good idea, and also, to breed animals which will have more progeny and, frequently, larger back legs. Hams and paletas from these animals will have a red tag around the ankle.

These are the only grades of Ibérico ham made from animals that have fattened up on acorns and they account for about 20% of all Ibérico hams.

Green Tag Iberico 

The third grade is called “Jamon de cebo de campo, 50/75/100% Ibérico” which indicates that the animal lived outdoors but fattened up on cereals and natural feed before slaughter. This means that the quality of the meat will excellent, but lacking the deep, sweet intensity of the acorn-fed hams. This accounts for a further 20% of Ibérico hams.

White Tag Iberico

The fourth grade is the one that tends to cause confusion; “Jamon de cebo, 50/75/100% Ibérico” indicates, in essence that the ham will almost certainly have been intensively reared. Where the minimum space required per animal for the top three grades during the fattening period is 1 hectare (100m²), the minimum required for this grade is 2m²! Simply put, this is the grade that can be made from intensively reared animals, and thus significantly more cheaply than the other grades of Ibérico ham. This grade accounts for 60% of all Ibérico ham production.

Why the Ibérico grades are so important 

This information can help you understand the welfare standards of the pig rearing and the pricing of Ibérico hams. However, it also shows something more fundamental; it offers you the opportunity to make a choice about being part of a continuum that extends back 3,000 years. The dehesa is a unique environment that has been shaped by the indigenous animals of the region, and has shaped them too. This huge area has more endangered species of bird and animal life than anywhere else in Western Europe due to this slow evolution. By choosing a ham made from an animal that has followed innumerable generations of its ancestors living and feeding on the dehesa, you are helping to maintain an ecosystem whose environmental value is immense. 

The bellota and cebo de campo animals have a symbolic relationship with their environment, and one which does wonders for the quality of meat. The jamon de cebo is essentially a commercial construct and it is a means by which the larger, more industrial ham producers can produce and sell a premium priced product under the cloak of respectability created by the origins of the higher grades of ham. This is not to say that there may not be some good jamon de cebo Ibérico hams, but that those produced to the minimum requirements are unlikely to be among them. 

Making an ethical choice

When buying Ibérico ham, you can certainly make an ethical choice. You can choose to buy a product made from a free ranging animal that forages on the foods that they have evolved to consume over many thousands of years, and is arguably the most magnificent ham in the world, or whether you want a very decent ham at a cheaper price whose provenance does not concern you. 

Caveat emptor!

Brindisa Ibérico Ham 

by Monika Linton | Founder of Brindisa

When we first started bringing in de bellota Ibérico ham, before there was any real acceptance or understanding of it in Britain, I gave a wonderful ham to chef Simon Hopkinson, then at Bibendum, who was very excited by the arrival of this delicacy. His instincts were right; he simply sliced it and sent it out to diners, but the plates came back with the fat trimmed off and customers wanting to know why it was there. I was duly called over to the restaurant to confirm that the ratio of fat to lean was perfectly normal and exactly as it should be. 

It was an absurd misunderstanding of a fine product that seemed so characteristic of modern meat production and consumption, which has all fat marked out by many people as almost criminal. Simon did, however, have one customer who genuinely appreciated and understood fine fat; the late great artist Francis Bacon. Simon saved up all of the trimmings that the other customers had eschewed and offered them to him to top-up his own slices of the ham, and they were enjoyed with great gusto.