Iberico Ham (Shoulder) Acorn-fed 4 - 4.5 Kg - Spanish Jamon Pata Negra Bellota

It was such a treat to see the giant Iberico ham shoulder arrive at my home. This particular ham is very flavorsome and has a good depth of smoke undertones. At a generous 4.5KG, This is enough to please my entire family over a matter of several months. Some of my favorite things to do is slice and eat it in its delicious pure form, And also adding it to rice dishes can spice it up the family dinner with mouth watering flecks of hammy goodness.Overall this ham shoulder is excellent quality, With a fine balance of meat to fat ratio on par with exactly what i would expect from an acorn fed ham. I can definitely taste the love and care that has gone into giving this ham a good clean texture and the sumptuous aromas.

First of all, I myself am Spanish and somewhat of an iberico expert. I know about hams as well as rearing the animals themselves.The ham itself is not iberico. The label points out it comes from a 50/50 animal (that is, one parent is of iberico breed, usually the females, where the other one is a regular breed). I suspect Jamonprive is taking advantage of the fact this is geared to UK shoppers who wouldn't necessarily know the difference. You may not advertise in Spain non iberico produce as iberico. The price of the ham however does reflect this - pure iberico is a lot more expensive.Is it acorn-fed? Possibly, the flavour indeed indicates the animal fed on acorns during at least the last month of its life (this is called "recebo"). A full "de bellota" is usually reserved for animals who have fed on acorns as their staple food all their lives.A note on fat on hams. On any ham, there are two main locations for the fat. The first one is around the muscle slabs, and the second one is within the muscle fibers themselves. Now, fat is essential for flavour (this is where most of the nutty acorn derived flavour comes from) and texture, and iberico ham tends to be heavily marbled within the muscle - this is partly what makes iberico ham so much more flavoursome and sweet than serrano ham, or other european hams (eg parma). The 50/50 breed of the animal supported the amount of marbling I saw on it.I was amazed at just how much of the ham was straight up around-muscle fat. A good 50% of the "meat" on the ham was indeed fat. This is very unusual, and indicates the animal not only isn't free range, but indeed confined to a small space it can't move around on.So tl;dr:The ham was actually very tasty and easy to slice properly. Regarding price to quality however it is too expensive considering the fact it isn't free range and indeed half the "meat" was fat due to the fact the animal wasn't able to move around.If you want to buy good quality iberico ham I would look elsewhere. A lot of ham producers in southern Spain will post to the UK. Google for "jamon iberico online" then some of the better producer towns like "fregenal" or "jerez caballeros". Look for "denominacion de origen dehesa de extremadura" or "jabugo" (the latter is pricier without being better).

We spend a lot of time in spain and eat a lot of Jamon! We always buy a whole jamon to enjoy over the festive season and are very happy with this years purchase. It arrived within a few days of ordering and came well packaged. The meat is absolutely delicious and not in the least bit dry or tough. Will be ordering again.

Before i bought this , i had bought before a boneless ham that was half the price . I decided that i should try something more expensive because...i thought it would be better , but i was so wrong. Not only the taste of this one doesn't even come near the one that i have bought first , but this is fat beyond belief. I am sorry i have to write such a review , i was having such high expectations ...wich were not met. All i can say is don't buy this product.

My brother in law introduced me to this brand and we bought this ham after tasting a different variety at their place. Impressed with the quality of the product they choose we did a bit of research and opted for this Acorn fed Pata Negra Bellota.This is some info I copied from Wikipedia that helped me in choosing the product:"Jamón ibérico... is a type of cured hamproduced in Spain and Portugal. According to Spain's denominación de origen rules on food products, jamón ibérico may be made from black Iberian pigs, or cross-bred pigs so long as they are at least 50% ibérico.The black Iberian pig lives primarily in the central and southwestern region of the Iberian Peninsula, which includes both Portugal and Spain. In Spain, the black Iberian pig is typically found in the provinces of Huelva (protected denomination of origin Huelva), Córdoba(protected denomination of origin Valle de Los Pedroches), Cáceres, Badajoz (protected denomination of origin Dehesa de Extremadura), Salamanca, Ciudad Real, and Seville. In Portugal the central and southern regions have an abundance of this species, with a predilection for the Alentejo region....Immediately after weaning, the piglets are fattened on barley and maize for several weeks. The pigs are then allowed to roam in pasture and oak groves to feed naturally on grass, herbs, acorns, chestnuts, and roots, until the slaughtering time approaches. At that point, the diet may be strictly limited to olives, chestnuts or acorns for the best quality jamón ibérico, or may be a mix of acorns and commercial feed.The hams from the slaughtered pigs are salted and left to begin drying for two weeks, after which they are rinsed and left to dry for another four to six weeks. The curing process then takes at least twelve months, although some producers cure their jamones ibéricos for up to 48 months.The hams are labeled according to the pigs' diet and the percentage of the pigs' Iberian ancestry, with an acorn diet and pure-bred Iberians being most desirable...."Moral of the story: this ham is really good but to be honest there is quite a bit of fat to remove before getting to the leaner meat. For taste and texture this product is great and compared to similar quality products I feel that is also a decent price.

I ordered this Ham on a Sunday and it arrived in London the following Thursday from Spain for a birthday present. We are are very happy with the product and it met all our expectations. It is very tasty! Francisco at the vendor was very helpful when we asked advice about storage. We look forward to buying one for ourselves. Many thanks!

Achtung bei Rezessionen die sich über den Fettanteil beschweren, dieser ist ganz normal bei dieser Art des Schinkens, man muss den Schinken auch richtig aufschneiden und nicht so misshandeln wie leider auf manchen Bildern zu sehen ist.Der Geschmack ist sehr fein, und auch die Verpackung und Lieferung waren einwandfrei. Als Weihnachtsgeschenk sehr gut geeignet, da die ganze Familie etwas davon hat. Sehr zu empfehlen.

La paletilla la recibimos en la otra esquina de Europa y nos llegó 1 día antes de lo previsto. No estaba muy segura de que esperar de un jamón pedido a través de internet, pero desde luego la primera experiencia ha sido magnifica. Lo abrí para la noche buena después de dejarlo un par de días “descansando” en el jamonero y muy muy rico con sus motitas de grasa en la carne. No trae demasiada grasa y estamos encantando con el. Muy buena calidad!

In un'occasione particolare ho deciso di acquistare questo prodotto..E devo dire che ho fatto un'ottima figura. Il prosciutto arriva perfettamente scatolato e messo sotto vuoto all'interno di un sacco nero per preservarne il gusto. Una volta aperto occorre asciugarlo un po' e farlo seccare in luogo fresco (No frigo)..Io sono riuscita in pochi giorni. Il gusto è bello deciso, piu salato se si fa il paragone con un prosciutto italiano. Io l ho affettato tutto a coltello e mi ha dato grosse soddisfazioni. Ovviamente c è del grasso, trattandosi di spalla me lo aspettavo, ma è comunque un ottimo prodotto che vale il prezzo speso.

Le jambon est arrivé très vite du coup je n'ai pu m’empêcher de le goûter . l’épaule entière est enveloppée dans du papier anti-gras et glissée dans un sac de toile. Pour hygiène, le tout est conditionné sous Vide. Le goût est une pure merveille pour les connaisseurs. Très bonne texture également.

Immangiabile ..carne troppo secca..con retrogusto oleoso..