PATA NEGRA Four-legged acorn eaters: Ibérico pigs cluster in the shade on the dehesa explains the characteristic marbling and succulence of the meat. The dehesa of southwest Spain covers 1.6 million hectares, a million hectares of which are in Ex tremadura, which accounts for two-thirds of Spain’s output of jamón Ibérico de bellota (cured ham made from acorn-fed pigs). For its ham to be classified as such, the pig must be at least 75% Ibérico, which leaves a fair amount of room for cross breeding, typically with the meatier Black- Duroc or Duroc-Jersey pig. They must have had at least one montanera before being killed, although Tristancho’s have had three before they are “sac - rificed.” Through fall and winter, from October to February, the pigs feed on at least 6kg-7kg of acorns a day, gain ing around 100kg in weight. This is what gives their meat its distinctive sweet, nutty flavor. The fat, which should melt at room temperature, has a level of oleic acids comparable to olive oil. Many aficionados consider the fat to be the best part of the jamón, going so far as to claim it helps lowers their cholesterol. “In the old days the ham was even sweeter, because the acorns were supplemented with figs,” Tristancho says, as we judder to a halt in the shade of a small copse where a herd of 30 or so pigs jostle for space around what remains of a mud hole that has dried up in the sun. “The bigger farms stopped doing it because it increased their workload and costs. My pigs still eat figs.” Some might consider it a wise in vestment. At cur rent prices, Tristancho’s ham goes for $65 a kilo, meaning a whole leg could easily cost you upward of $525. His pigs are fine beasts: bright-eyed with cute, corkscrew tails that wiggle when they walk, and a ruddy black skin that is almost bloody in appearance, which is typical of the Colorada pig – the undisputed kings of the realm. “Dinner?” Tristancho says, rubbing his hands, as the pigs shoot past us in a cloud of dust, clearly spooked by the photographer in their midst. We are to dine with Tristancho’s mom, Doña Rita, who’s visiting her two grandsons at his sister’s ranch, Las Navas. When we arrive she ushers us into the kitchen for a cold supper of local goat cheese and thickly cut chorizo, washed down with Cruz campo beer. Last year Andoni Luis Aduriz and Heston Blumenthal were here, up to their elbows in blood and fat making their own sausages and breakfasting on fried offal and jugs of homemade wine. “They grow more grapes here than Rioja but it’s too strong, madre mia,” Rita says, crossing herself, as Tristancho shows the boys 88 DECEMBER 2012/JANUARY 2013 SCANORAMA �
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