After reading other blogs, and forums, I noticed than a lot of people are searching for ideas of pairing ideas of Iberico Ham with wine, cheese and food. Today I want to share with you different tips of pairing ideas. how we usually eat in Spain, and personal tips.
Today we will discuss the following:
– How do we eat Iberico Ham?
– What wine goes and pair with Iberico Ham?
– Is a good idea to drink beer with Iberico Ham?
– What cheese can I eat with Iberico Ham?
– Which other products are good to pair with Iberico ham?
How do we eat Iberico Ham?
One of the most important things you need to know is than Iberico ham needs to be eaten at ambient temperature, between 21Cº to 24Cº. The unctuous flavour and the right texture, will not melt in the mouth if is colder, also this temperature makes easy to cut with the knife by hand.
Another one of the main secrets is to cut really really thin-slices like you can see the light through, and only cut the amount you are going to eat, I have seen clients cutting for days, and this will kill the flavours of the Iberico ham.
Other question people point, is the amount of ham we should eat, this is a difficult one. Because when you start, you do not want to stop, but we will recommend no more than 120g, something I cannot accomplish most of the times. This amount can be a substituting of other meats products than has a lower quality to our body.
If you are thinking of buying a Iberico ham please read our Iberico Ham – ULTIMATE GUIDE 2019
What wine goes and pair with Iberico Ham?
When you think of what to accompany with Iberico ham, probably one of the best answers will be a glass of wine. The fusion of ham and wine is an excellent combination in gastronomy, pairing it properly will have an extraordinary connection.
But, which wines I should choose to create this excellent connection?
We need to make sure that we are having a good quality wine, as I have seen some times, people with good ham and bad wine and vice-versa.
Usually, people associate Iberico Ham with red wine but sometimes will not be the best match.
Lately, trends of the sector, are going to dry white wines, bubbly wines and sherries. In case if you want a red wine, this needs to be young wine, because the Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva will kill the flavours of the Ham.
In my opinion, the best is the light white wine, as will not kill the flavour of the ham, in the main time will have a bit of acidity. The acidity will help to eliminate the fat from the ham in the mouth. The secret is to balance the combination of fat-acidity.
Is a good idea to drink beer with Iberico Ham?
In Spain more and more people are pairing Iberico Ham with beer, but why?
Just a simple reason, because the acids of beer combine really well with the ham in the mouth.
Also in summer, with all the heat we prefer to drink something colder.
The beer what makes the best mix, particularly with the bellota ham are the lager beer.
Beer goes with those flavours, that are really dominant in the mouth, like spicy, bitter or acids.
The taste of a thin slice of Iberico ham (salty and sweet, dry and fatty … ultimately delicious) is ideal, to combined with flavours such as beer. The freshness of the beer is fought with the sweetness of the Iberico ham but finds a halfway to create a perfect combination.
What cheese can I eat with Iberico Ham?
Ham and cheese is a hand to hand combination. Those are inseparable friends on the table, together with a good glass of wine or a cold beer.
Iberico ham and cheese can be associated with genuine flavours, usually, the ham will combine with cured cheeses, but this association is not exclusive, as I said before, every person will have different taste.
We can go really deep on cheese as every country has a lot of them, but we will focus on the Spanish ones. In Spain, we have around 23 Denominigin of origin, one of the famous ones than combine really well will the D.O Manchego cheese, with strong character and exquisite flavour.
Another one less cured will be the D.O Mahon-Menorca cheese with special texture and quality. D.O Idiazabal is another singular cheese than i really recommend to a cheese lover. The Iberico ham combines really good with other foreign cheese like Emmental and parmesan, lighter than the cured ones. Also, creamy and spreadable cheese, will not mask the Iberico ham flavour and will offer a different texture.
Which other products are good to pair with Iberico ham?
I want to share a list of possible combinations you can do with Iberico ham.
Pan con Tomate and Iberico ham: this is typical with breakfast or starter than comes particularly from the south of Spain. Toast 2 slices of good quality bread. Grate a red mature tomato, and in the bowl mix with Extra Virgin olive oil, salt, peppers. Ones the toast are ready put the tomato mix on the toast and really thin slices of ham in the top, the heat of the bread will melt the fat of the Iberico ham and will make it irresistible.
Figs with Iberico Ham, Mahon cheese and roquet: an easy starter, but really tasty. Buy nice sweet fresh figs and cut them in half(wash them before). Add a small slice of Mahon cheese on the top of each half of the fig. Take a thin but long slice of Iberico ham and wrapped up all around the fig and cheese. You can present the dish with rocket on the bottom of the fig.
Iberico ham and manchego cheese platter: this is one starter you must-have in your parties with friends, or sitting on the front of the TV. Cut by hand with a knife really thin slices and plate them around the plate, in the centre make Manchego cheese triangles. Accompany with Picos or Regañas (typical breadsticks from Spain).
If you want to know which cuts of Iberico and Serrano Ham are available to the public please visit this post: How Serrano and Iberico hams are presented for consumption
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We have a beautiful Iberico Ham from Aldis – how to serve it? You mention Manchego cheese triangles but I don’t seem to be able to source them – would Dairylea triangles be an acceptable substitute?