Gots to gets me a slice of that Jose Andres pig.

OMG Iberico is so good. I am seriously considering ordering my own from tienda.com.

Tomorrow I’ll be one of the few lucky ones to be able to attend Foods from Spain, NY, Jamon Serrano Demystified, Spain’s treasured ham hosted by Jose Andres at Jaleo. Sorry—this event is limited to, I believe, 15 chefs only. What’s interesting about it is we’ll get to sample light tapas, get technical presentation and individualized instruction from Pedro Barba Gil, Master Cortador from Madrid. I didn’t realize just as there are Master Chefs and Master Sommeliers, there are also Master Cortadors. Serious art of slicing ham—I like this. I’m sure it’ll be a great event.

Remind me to smuggle ham back into the US when I return from Spain in the fall. At $100/lb, one might consider this stuff on par with truffles. This must be some amazing pig.

I will try and secure some lomo from Fairway and bring it with me on my next trip to DC.

Rissa, They're called Ziplocs. I'll see ya Friday.

I was planning on hitting Brindisa at Borough Market in London in a few weeks, but if it's available here sooner that would be spiffy.

Guess we'll have to add ham to that lamb we plan on bringing back from Madrid...

It’s actually better than Ziploc CrescentFresh; I took the whole Jamon Serrano with me!

Thanks to Jose Andres for hosting, this very interesting presentation sponsored by the Trade Commission of Spain, NY and The Consorcio del Jamon Serrano Espanol from Madrid proved to be an experience. Stephanie Mazier of the Consorcio did most of the translation since Senior Pedro Barba Gill spoke nothing but endearing straight Spanish. The Consorcio has nothing to do with Iberian ham but an association that works mainly on strict quality control and the promotion of high quality “Serrano” ham. Just as there are AOC, DOCG and DOC in wines and USDA in meats, in Spain they protect the quality of their hams with TSG in accordance with the European Union standard. Look for that fire symbol on the skin and must have a numbered control label. In Spanish, the word "sierra" means "mountains", thus the name of "serrano" ham. They talked about the types of hams: the breed and feed of white and Iberian pigs, the curing processes (that takes 4 seasons), and the main differences between hams from Italy and France.

Now for the fun part--it was cool seeing all the hams lined up secured in Jamoneros ready for us. It reminded me of being back in charcuterie class in culinary school awaiting demonstration form the master cortador. Everyone was silent. Senior Gill first showed us how to conduct a CALA Test, how to clean then properly slice the ham. Using a small gadget that looks like a meat thermometer, you insert it in 3 particular spots by the tibia and the femur bones then smell (CALA Test). With a laboratory-looking apparatus that is used to hold the ham called Jamonero, Senior Gil showed us how to secure the ham for easy slicing. Step by step he meticulously demonstrated which particular knives to use and technique to clean, score then slice with a certain range of motion with good posture, balance and “bailar” (constant movement and dancing while slicing). It took almost 2 hours just for the individualized instruction.

A tad messy at the end but purely worth it, we received the WHOLE bone-in Jamon Serrano, the Jamonero and the slicing set. After having completed the seminar, I am now a certified cortador! Not a master cortador yet as it takes years of experience in butchery to become one. Feel free to drop by for a taste of Serrano ham—until it’s all gone. I could use the practice in slicing.

Great googly-moogly! They gave you one?

So um...see you at work.

(We're Jamon, and I hope you like Jamon, too)

I'm sensing a whimming location for this afternoon...

Dang yeah! Ray's the what?

Not my fault you didn't go with the cool kids on Thursday.

Besides, plenty of time before doors open at 7...

Yes we'll be happy to share a taste of the Jamon Serrano if you’re interested. And while we’re at it, there’ll be free demonstration—dancing class not included!

There was Jamon, there was wine, there was bread, there were some special olive oils, there were some Moroccan cured olives from new server [didn't catch her name]'s Mom, there was the usual wonderful Corduroy staff, and if you looked very closely, there was even a bit of dancing around the Jamon from Rissa...

And you didn't think Rissa was tough; you should have seen our fair lady probing and carving this thing.
Lookit what we be jammin' on last night:Click to view attachment

Needless to say, delicious. Girl, thank you for the education and the usual generosity yesterday!

Seriously seconded.

You're looking at the reason why we arrived late to Ray's the Classics.

Thirded....a very nice way to unwind and end a horrible work week....and dont forget the great spanish red Ferhat guided us to...

Homer: Are you saying you're never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No!
Homer: Pork chops?
Lisa: Dad, those all come from the same animal!
Homer: Heh heh heh. Ooh, yeah, right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.

Homer: It's so funny because it's so true!