January 14, 2014--Jamon Wars

Under the radar for some years a Jamon War has been underway.

Prosciutto producers in Italy have held sway for decades as the essentially sole-suppliers of European-style cured hams in the U.S. No wonder they have attempted to maintain their near monopoly. High quality Prosciutto di Palma goes for up to $30 a pound; and while one is standing in line waiting for a few precious slices, there is imported pasta to buy and a whole array of wonderful cheeses reaching out.

But people who have spent time in Spain (me included) have known for some time that various versions of Jamon de Espana are in fact much tastier and subtler than the Italian competition.

A problem, though, for those of us wanting to find Jamon Serrano or, better, Jamon Iberico Bellota in America, is that we could not locate any until fairly recently. Italian Prosciutto producers managed to keep the U.S. FDA from approving Spanish hams for export. It was claimed that Spanish hams were cured in settings that were not considered to be sufficiently sanitary for the American market.

Spanish authorities counter-claimed that their facilites were as immaculate as the ones in Italy and the FDA ban was simply a matter of unfair restraint of trade. And, it was implied, what else might have been going on under the table to protect Prosciutto's exclusivity.

But whatever was impeding the import of incandescent Spanish hams has been overcome and a number of kinds of Jamon are now available in gourmet and specialty stores.

As is often true with any food obsession, industries of various kinds come to surround and glom onto the latest, hottest, coolest foods, condiments, wines, and cheeses--reviews, magazine and on-line articles, insider information, preparation techniques, and special serving requirements. So it is no surprise with Jamon de Espana proliferating  there is debate and excitement about the best way to slice and serve it.

Actually, more than anything else the buzz is about who does the slicing. Especially if it is celebrity Jamon slicer Florencio Sanchidrian. He has made a lucrative career out of convincing the rich and famous that at least half the value of a leg of Spanish ham depends on how it is sliced. Meaning, if it's sliced by him.

According to the New York Times, when bandana-clad at the Oscars, Hollywood parties, and high-end hotels in Las Vegas and Macau, Florencio commands and gets, for spending an hour and a half slicing a 17-pound ham, around $4,000. (This is not a typo.) He has even done his thing for George W. Bush and the Pope. Benedict XVI, I assume.

For me in the meantime, I'm OK with whoever does the slicing at Dean & DeLuca.