Description

Pata Negra

Like wine, ham is a complex gastronomic product that offers all its flavors through different appellations. Among the most prestigious, the Iberian ham, also known less officially as Pata Negra, has the particularity of coming mainly from Iberian pigs with black coats and hooves. Hence the Spanish name which means “Black Paw”.

These world-famous Iberian pigs come from the Iberian Peninsula, and more specifically from the mountains of western and southern Spain, where the climate is dry and cool. The regions of origin of the ham mainly come from Andalusia and have localized AOCs. We distinguish Iberian hams as follows:

– from Huelva (near the village of Jabugo)

– from Extremadura (near Caceres)

– from the province of Cordoba (valley of los Pedroches)

– from Salamanca.

The Pata Negra appellation respects the breed purity of pigs, at least 75%, required to obtain the Iberian appellation. This breed of pig adapted to the Spanish climate of the mountains of Andalusia has no equivalent in the world. The Iberian pigs that give the Pata Negra Bellota ham are raised exclusively on natural land, in pasture in the heart of protected woods. They feed on oak acorns. They have adapted for millennia to the Spanish climate, which is particularly favorable to the growth of the oak acorns which make up its main diet.

The real Iberian Pata Negra Bellota pigs are raised exclusively on the natural lands of Andalusia, in pasture in the heart of protected woods. They feed on oak acorns. The pigs are raised with 4 hectares of oak grove per animal, in the open air. They feed mainly on the acorns that fall from the trees during the “Montanera” period and will supplement their diet with what they find, such as grass and roots, in total freedom. The Pata Negra pig feeds on 100% wild and natural products. They give its meat the exceptional flavor that has made the reputation of Iberian ham, otherwise known as “Pata Negra ham”: an appellation rigorously controlled by the breeder.