Many housewives are willing to do much to surprise the guests with a new dish, so unusual and tasty, that the guests will remember it until the next celebration.
Jamon is a dry-cured pork (pre-salted) thinly sliced. This dish is considered a Spanish delicacy. It is made from the back leg (ham). Even in ancient times, in Spain, pork carcasses, which were fed with acorns, were prepared in this way. It is feed that plays a key role, because it is from it that the taste of cooked meat depends. In case you are not ready to raise a pig and feed it like the ancient Spaniards fed, you can use recipes for making jamon at home.
Jamon in the original: in Spain at home
In order to prepare this product in the original, you should divide this process into three stages:
1. Salt pork ham in sea salt for 14 days. The fat from which it is previously cut off, and the room is well ventilated. The air temperature in the room should not be lower than 0 degrees and not higher than + 5C.
2. After washing and drying a piece of meat (you can hang it in the room), the humidity level and air temperature increase, but so slowly that the meat preparation takes at least 12 months.
3. The cooking expert checks the preparedness of the pork by piercing it with a knitting needle.
Of course, such a recipe is unlikely to be suitable for urban hostesses, so connoisseurs of this dish have come up with several faster cooking methods.
Step-by-step preparation of jamon in Russia, at home
In our Russian climatic conditions it is rather difficult to make a delicacy in the original. But if, during cooking, you adhere to the following rules, it will turn out no worse.
· The main ingredient after pork is salt, which acts not only as a preservative, but also gives a special taste to this dish.
· Ideally, salted meat should be transferred to the cellar, in the absence of such an opportunity, a refrigerator is also suitable. The amount of time for aging the meat is calculated based on its weight: 1kg = 1 day. The best taste is achieved after a week of aging, as the salt will have time to spread throughout the ham, absorb and displace excess moisture.
· Get the pork, rinse, and leave it open for a couple of days, while the room should be warm enough, at least 30C.
· Next, the meat is placed for a long time in a dark, warm place, where it is aged from 6 months to several years.
· Having achieved complete drying of the ham, it is placed in a cool place - a cellar or balcony for a period of at least 36 months
This recipe is as close as possible to the original, it’s really long to wait, but the result is really worth it, because jamon is like expensive cognac, which only gets better from time to time.
The bone remaining from the ham can be used to make pea soup or borsch.
A faster way to make jamon at home
The connoisseurs of this delicacy will like the recipe below, in which there is no tedious expectation, and everything is quite simple - cook and enjoy!
We will need:
- loin (1kg.)
- sugar (1kg.)
- sea salt (2kg.)
1. Thoroughly mix sugar with sea salt and grate pork.
2. Dip the meat in a container or basin and press down. Leave for at least three days.
3. Twice a day, you should turn the pork, as well as drain the oozing liquid.
4. After the due date, get the meat and wrap it in a towel to dry.
5. Roll dried pork in spices.
6. Wrap a piece in a thin cloth (you can take gauze) and rewind it tight enough with a rope, hang it on the balcony. The exposure time is from 5 to 15 days.
The delicacy obtained in this way has a great advantage - it does not spoil for a very long time (up to 12 months). In order for the meat to not ventilate at the cutting site, it is advisable to grease it with melted butter.
There are several secrets to slicing jamon. For example, in Spain there is a certain profession for this - the cortador. Perfectly thin slices are cut using a long and sharpened knife and a meat stand called a hamoner. This exotic delicacy will melt in your mouth, especially if the proportion of thickness is observed - the slices should be practically transparent.
This product is used as one of the ingredients in a salad or soup, snack or main course.
Storing jamon at home
Particular attention should be paid to the fact that this delicacy should not be stored in the refrigerator. The optimum temperature at which it does not deteriorate and retains its taste properties is 15 - 20C heat.
If mold is found on the jamon during storage, you should not be scared, as this is absolutely natural. This mold is a product of natural origin, which only once again confirms that in the manufacture of dried ham all technical features were observed. Do not just cut off the mold - it is easily cleaned with gauze soaked in olive or melted butter.
How to serve jamon to the table at home
If the ham was cooked whole, then it should be cut into thin slices, on a special device - hamoner, or with a sharp long knife. This process should only be done manually, as the Spaniards believe that automated fixtures greatly reduce the quality of the product.
In order to achieve a harmony of taste, jamon should be served with products such as:
- fresh vegetables (cucumbers, tomatoes) + greens
- mushrooms + pickles
- cheeses, especially hard varieties
- salmon fish
- lemon, orange, mandarin
- melon, pieces of which are served wrapped in slices of jamon
Tip: If you purchased a finished product in a store - before you get to the table, it should be left unpacked at room temperature for at least half an hour, this will restore its taste, especially if the pork was in a vacuum package.
They eat jamon only with their hands, without bread, moreover - serving sandwiches with this delicacy is considered bad form.
As a snack, pork jerky is served with red wines, with nuts or olives.
Homemade jamon citrus salad
Ingredients:
- pear (2pcs)
- lemon (half)
- cauliflower (400g)
- parsley
- jamon (400g)
Cooking process:
· Boil a few heads of cauliflower and crush it to a pulp state.
· Cut the pear into small cubes
· Two - three slices of lemon peel and finely chopped add to salad
· Stir the resulting mixture
Garnish salad with jamon slices and parsley leaves
Mushroom Salad with Jamon
Ingredients:
- champignons (300gr)
- olives (200g)
- quail eggs (10 pieces)
- avocado (200g)
- bread (250g)
- jamon (350g)
Cooking process:
Fry mushrooms and diced bread in butter
Finely chop the avocado and crumble the eggs
· Add sliced jamon, and season the salad with olive oil
· Before serving, the salad should be infused for half an hour, at room temperature
Walnut salad with jamon
Ingredients:
- walnut (200g)
- almonds (200gr)
- sweet pepper (400gr)
- figs (300gr)
- asparagus (400g)
- jamon (500g)
Mix chopped nuts with other finely chopped salad items. Optionally, garnish with lemon slices, or drip a few drops of lemon juice.
Escalope "Charm"
Ingredients (in 2 servings):
- butter (1 tablespoon)
- olive oil (1 tablespoon)
- jamon (300g)
- pork broth (250ml)
- dry white wine (250ml)
- calf escalopes (400g)
Cooking process:
Put a sage leaf on each escalope. Cured meat roll rolls, wrapping them in every escalope. Fry in butter over low heat for 3 to 5 minutes. After turning off, leave to languish for 10 - 15 minutes. Pour dry wine and broth before serving.
Snack
- fat cream (100ml)
- hard cheese (50g)
- lettuce sheets (50g)
- jamon (250g)
- egg (10pcs)
Mix cream, eggs and cheese (grated) with a mixer, add finely chopped jerky and chopped lettuce. Mix everything again. Bake in the oven at a temperature of 180C for 15 minutes.
Gourmet advice: In order to fully reveal all the facets of the taste of this delicacy, gourmets recommend the following scheme:
- After taking a sip of dry red wine, put in your mouth the thinnest slice of jamon and after a few seconds, hook it with a couple of olives.
An important factor in the manufacturing process of jamon is its cutting, which should be discussed in more detail.
Hamonera is a wooden stand on which a dried ham is placed with a hoof and secured with clamps. Cutting slices of meat is carried out using a long knife with a narrow blade.
In conclusion, we can say that the recipe for making jamon is quite simple (to salt and hang a piece of meat), but it is quite difficult to make it at home, especially without a warm, well-ventilated room at hand. But still, at least once you should try to cook jamon yourself, because they can diversify many dishes.
For example, jamon is often used in soups and seafood dishes. Pasta, salads and even pizza take on a whole new flavor with the addition of a few slices of jamon.
