A Weekend with Friends (and Ham!)

Over the weekend we had some friends from Arizona come for a quick visit.  Tony and Michelle had already planned to come to Spain (San Sebastian) but when they heard we would be in Barcelona, they made a detour in their plans to come hang out with us.

Sangria on the balcony

We had a great time over the weekend!  Since they had already been to Barcelona we skipped the museums and mostly just soaked up the atmosphere.  We enjoyed hitting some of the bars and cafes in the old town and down by the beach.  We even made a daytrip to Sitges which is about an hour train ride from Barcelona.  Thanks to Tony, we were also able to get the rare photo of us together without having to resort to using the GoPro pole...

Kevin and me in Sitges

We did do one very touristy/museum-y thing while they were with us -- the Jamon Experience.  We've seen many huge Iberico hams hanging in shops and restaurants, and the prices can reach upwards of $75 a pound.  But we were confused because to our untrained eye, we couldn't tell why one 3 oz package was 12 euro ($15 USD) and others were only 4 or 5 euro.  Well the Jamon Experience explained it all to us.

It all starts with the pigs...

Some of the exhibits were admittedly cheesy (or "hammy", as Tony suggested), but the museum did a good job of explaining that the Iberian pigs are a special breed found only here in Spain.  Similar to racehorses, the pigs are bred with pedigrees and very well cared for during the two years they are raised.  For the last months of fattening, they are herded up to the mountains and eat by foraging acorns ("bellota" is the Spanish word for acorn) in oak forests.  They double their weight to something like 400 pounds, and the all-acorn diet gives the meat a nutty taste.  The hams are then cured for up to 36 months and over the course of the curing, the fats are broken down and the ham ends up higher in monounsaturated fat than grain-fed pigs.  The very best ham is called Gran Reserva Jamón Ibérico de Bellota (Grand Reserve Acorn-Fed Ham), and is usually sliced paper-thin by hand right off the leg.  They leave the hoof on the ham because Iberico pigs are known by the distinctive black hoof; all other pig's hooves are white (in case you were wondering and don't have a pig handy nearby for reference).

Thin slices of ham for us to eat.

As part of the tour, we tasted six different hams - one plain "reserva" (which comes from any old pig), one "iberico" (which is from an iberian pig that is fed regular grain), and four "bellotas" (acorn-fed from one of the four main regions - Huelva, Pedroches, Extremadura, and Guijuelo).  You could definitely tell the difference between the bellotas and the others.

We were all eagerly awaiting the tasting...and the cava that came with it!

We definitely preferred the taste of the bellota ham, but I can't see us going home with a leg packed into our suitcase.  It probably wouldn't get through customs, anyway.  Sure is delicious, though!

Kevin hamming it up.