17.01.10
- A HAM AND A LEG -
World’s most expensive ham – Albarragena Jamon Iberico de Bellota - goes on sale at Selfridges
The Albarragena Jamon Iberico de Bellota Ham, £1,800, exclusive to
Selfridges
Selfridges, the UK’s leading department store announces the launch of the world’s most expensive leg of ham in its Oxford Street food hall.
This Iberico ham is not only the most expensive - at £1,800 for a leg – it’s also the purest and is sold with its own DNA certificate as proof of authenticity. The leg (including bone) weighs seven kilos and is sold encased in a beautiful hand crafted beech wood box that can be used as a stand. Each leg is wrapped in cloth that doubles as an apron and is made by Spain’s oldest tailor Bel&Cia.
Only a total of 50 pigs are personally selected by Manuel Maldonado – a third generation Iberico Pig farmer and curer – from an early age and are given their own mini ‘dehesa’ of ten hectares per pig, more than ten times the space given to ordinary Iberico pigs.
The pigs are free to roam and forage in the semi wild pastures of Extramandura in western Spain, close to the Albarragena river where the Iberico ham takes its name from. This mini eco-system is rife with grubs, wild grasses, roots tubers and the essential acorn. It is this natural diet combined with the purity of the pig which produces the ham’s rich, sweet and nutty flavour and oily texture. Following slaughter, the meat is lightly salted to allow the natural sweet nuances of the meat to take centre stage and then cured for 36 months giving patient but adequate time for the ham to evolve into this opulent edible delicacy.
Selfridges first launched Maldonado Iberico ham last year, with sales currently up 140 per cent on the year as customers continue to spend more on specialist products to eat at home, as opposed to dining out.
Andrew Cavanna, Fresh Food Buyer at Selfridges said: “Connoisseurs will appreciate the melt-in-the-mouth texture of this truly amazing Spanish ham. The leg may seem to have a large price tag but when you think about the amount of care taken from breeding right through to the curing, it is actually amazing value. Every single gram will be savoured as one of life’s incredible gourmet luxuries.”
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