My Love Affair with Ham

Ham and I have always had a tumultuous relationship. Let's be honest, ham isn't exactly something you crave, at least not for the majority of the American population above the age of eight. There are a few of my favorite recipes in my repertoire in which ham plays at least a supporting role, most notably Nasi Goreng (a delicious Indonesian rice dish that my mother has made my entire life, but really has too many specialty ingredients to post here) and Chicken and Ham Lasagna. Outside of these few exceptions, ham has never meant a whole hell of a lot to me.

Until my recent trip to Spain.

I had heard ahead of time from a friend who lives in Madrid that "ham is MAJOR" in Spain but I guess I didn't put a much thought into it until I was actually there (that's me on the right at the Museum of Ham... I know). Now I should clarify that ham in Spain (and I imagine elsewhere in the world) is not like the deli ham or Honeybaked Ham you and your childhood self are used to. It is cured and therefore looks (and tastes to some degree) more like prosciutto. The most common type of ham in Spain is jamon iberico, which comes in varying levels of quality, the most expensive being from pigs that are fed only acorns their whole lives (boring diet, eh?). You should also be aware that the Spanish have a pretty gross habit of decorating their restaurants and bars with dozens of pig legs on display (see below).

Anyways... I went to Spain thinking I could try some tasty jamon iberico and call it a day. What I quickly found out is that the Spanish don't simply "like" ham - in many restaurants we went to it was literally the only meat on the menu. The other thing I found out is that ham and I had some exploring to do in our relationship - it was delicious!

So I asked around for the best place in Madrid to try the creme de la creme of the ham world: the acorn eating piggies (jamón ibérico de bellota). I learned that the perfect place for ham and I to take the next step in our relationship was Taberna Real, a bright and lively bar in central Madrid near the Royal Palace. From the minute we walked in, we knew we were headed for gastronomic glory: the floor was littered with garbage. (Apparently in much of Spain, it is considered proper etiquette to throw your napkin on the floor when you are done with it. We were told that "the more garbage there is on the floor, the better the food.")

We ordered up the good stuff and had a little afternoon ham-fest. The photo on the left is what we got (the bread served on the side is soaked in tomato puree and olive oil, also very popular in Spain).

We all agreed it was fabulous, and decided to adopt ham as our culinary traveling companion, ordering it at every city we visited and trying various types and combinations.

I'm not sure that ham and I will actually make a long term commitment, but we had some good times and I'll always remember it. At the very least, we'll always have Easter and Christmas.