Hamming it Up
(or “The New York Times Gets Self-Referentially Ironic“)
… he recognizes that plenty of people must think that rounding up friends and family members to go in on a thousand-dollar ham that he envisions hanging in his living room is crazy. But food lovers like him understand, he says. And in the end, the elaborate narrative of the ham (the way it is produced, his advance payment, the visit to the picturesque town in western Spain where it’s made) is a thing to be savored almost as much as the meat itself. “I must say,” Saltzman adds, “I’ve gotten incredible mileage out of the whole ham story.”
Indeed you have, Mr. Saltzman, indeed you have.
The image is from La Tienda [link to http://www.tienda.com/food/pop/jm-07.html no longer works], who are charging $1200 for a (roughly) 15 pound ham, or roughly $80 per pound, which, frankly, doesn’t sound nearly so bad. It’s in range with foie gras, and it’s even legal in Chicago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jam%C3%B3n_serrano
Serrano is definately a delicacy up there with fine champagne, caviar, truffles and the like. The prices are in the exotic region, but it is far more widely consumed in Spain than other delicacies are consumed around the world. Normally one eats only a small amount at a time. It is served as one of the more expensive tapas dishes, with very thin slices.
Definately worth trying, and is as much a part of Spanish culture as bullfights.
I worked in Spain for a short time, and their devotion to ham was obvious — after all how many other spots can boast a Museo del Jamon?
I can definitely attest to the quality of the stuff (crossing my fingers that my italian ancestors don’t haunt me for such a traitorous statement).
It is, as Woody Allen’s Alvy Singer might put it, “dynamite ham”.