Pata negra, Bellota, Cebo de Campo: le etichette

Ibérico, pata negra, Bellota, 100%. Su un Jamón si leggono parole che sembrano dire la stessa cosa, e intanto il prezzo può triplicare. In Spagna dal 2014 c'è una norma che mette ordine, il Real Decreto 4/2014: ogni Jamón Ibérico porta una fascetta colorata che dice due cose, come è stato alimentato l'animale e quanto è pura la sua razza. Una volta capito questo, il resto viene da sé.

First of all: serrano or ibérico?

The first difference is the breed. Jamón serrano comes from white-breed pigs and is the most common category in Spain. Jamón Ibérico comes from the Iberian pig, a dark animal with a black hoof and one rare trait: its fat runs into the muscle. That's where the white marbling in each slice comes from, along with the texture that melts in your mouth.

The four tags

  • Black: 100% Ibérico de Bellota Jamón. Pure Iberian breed, finished on acorns in the dehesa.
  • Red: Ibérico de Bellota Jamón. Cross-bred Iberian (50% or 75%), finished on acorns.
  • Green: Ibérico de Cebo de Campo Jamón. Pigs raised outdoors, on pasture and feed.
  • White: Ibérico de Cebo Jamón. Farm-raised pigs fed on cereals and legumes.

What 50%, 75% and 100% mean

The number tells you how pure the breed is. It has nothing to do with diet. 100% means both parents are pure-bred Iberian. 50% and 75% indicate a cross: the mother is always pure Iberian, the father a Duroc. So a Bellota 50% has eaten acorns just like a Bellota 100%, but comes from an animal with half the Iberian genetics.

Bellota and the montanera

Bellota is Spanish for acorn. In autumn and winter, when acorns fall from the holm oaks and cork oaks, the pigs spend months grazing freely in the dehesa. This period is called the montanera. They walk a lot, eat acorns and grass, and their fat changes: it becomes softer, more aromatic, and melts at room temperature.

Cebo de Campo

Cebo roughly means fattening. Cebo de Campo comes from pigs that live outdoors, free in the fields, eating what they find at pasture along with natural feed. The flavour is more direct and less persistent than a Bellota. It's the Jamón we use in our sandwiches.

And pata negra?

Pata negra means black hoof, after the Iberian pig's dark trotter. In Italy it's often used as another word for Jamón Ibérico, and we hear it at the counter every day. On the label, though, Spanish rules reserve it for one category only: 100% Ibérico de Bellota Jamón, with the black tag. The hoof alone isn't proof either: the tag is what counts.

At Ibericum

Of the four tags, we've chosen three, all from the same producer in Guijuelo.

  • Cebo de Campo, green label: the starting point, the same as in our sandwiches.
  • Bellota 50%, red label: to taste what the montanera changes.
  • Bellota 100%, black label: our pata negra, the most intense and persistent.

Is Bellota 100% always the best? It depends on what you're looking for. Some customers taste all three and keep coming back to the Bellota 50%. The easiest way to find out is to taste them side by side.