DETAILS OF HOW TO STORE YOUR HAM, HOW TO PUT UP THE HAM HOLDER AND HOW TO CARVE YOUR HAM ARE INCLUDED IN THE PACK BUT ARE ALSO SET OUT BELOW.
STORING, CARVING AND EATING YOUR SERRANO HAM.
As you may not be familiar with Serrano ham we are enclosing the following notes as a guide as to how to store, carve and eat your ham.
Storing Serrano ham
Storing your serrano ham is simple. When you buy your Serrano ham it will be covered in rind and waxed. There will be a fecha de caducidad (use by date) on it. You can keep it just like this at cool room temperature or in a fridge, usually for up to that date. Once you’ve opened up the ham and started cutting it is best to eat it within two to three months.
It is important to cover any exposed areas to keep it fresh and prevent it from drying out. The best way to do this is to keep the strips of rind and fat that you cut off to start with and re-cover the exposed meat. Even better would be to rub some olive oil over the exposed meat first and then cover. If you can’t use the rind then a cloth or some cling-film will do the job.
Once opened serrano hams should never be kept in the refrigerator, even after carving has begun. If you do have to store your ham in the refrigerator you must remove it and let it acclimatise for several hours before serving.
For the best gastromomic experience, always store and serve your ham at room temperature. Keep your ham somewhere cool, dry and airy but, most of all, somewhere accessible! You should do as the Spanish do and take your little bits of heaven as the fancy takes you.
Setting up the holder
The easiest and safest way to carve Serrano ham is to place it in a support called a ‘Jamonera’. This special stand ensures the ham is secure while you carve and gives you a handy place to keep your ham available at all times. Your holder consists of two wooden sections, a metal bracket, a metal rest, two long screws, two bolts with nuts, a bolt with a sharp end and a nut, and a ring with screw end and an allen key. Use the picture on the website as a guide to what goes where. There are two ways of setting up the holder. The first and easiest way is to give everything to a teenager or group of teenagers and tell them to sort it out whilst you enjoy testing out the excellent spanish wine which we hope you have also bought from us. The second less interesting way is to do it yourself, by following these instructions.
- Attach the wooden stand to the base by using the two screws; use the allen key to get them as tight as possible.
- Attach the horseshoe shaped bracket to the top of the stand using the two bolts with nuts.
- Screw the metal ring into the top of the horseshoe shaped bracket and when you put the end of the leg into the bracket you will then be able to screw the ring down so it grips the end of the ham firmly.
- Put the remaining nut onto the bottom of the sharp ended bolt and place the bolt with the sharp end upwards through the hole at the other end of the base and through the metal holder. Place your ham on top of the holder and press firmly down so the sharp end of the bolt goes into the ham as far as possible.
How to carve your ham
First of all, remove the rind with a decent, strong cooks knife. It is important to only remove the section of rind where you plan to begin slicing. If you remove too much rind the meat can dry out. Once you’ve removed the rind, you can begin slicing. There is no better way than to use a traditional Spanish ham knife which is long, narrow and flexible. Just to confuse you, this is called a 'Jamonero’. These are very sharp when new and must be kept that way because the ham must be carved into extremely thin slices no more than 5 to 8 cms (2-3 inches) in length.
The thinner the slice, the more succulent and flavourful the treat. The top Serrano carvers can read newsprint through the slice! The best place to begin cutting is at the narrowest part of the ham. There is very little fat here, so this is the part which will dry out more quickly. When you have removed the meat from this section, your ham can be turned over and you can begin on the other side. There is more fat on this part so you will get bigger and tastier slices.
When both sides are finished you can work on the tip of the ham, always cutting along the length to the bone. Here you will find another different taste because during the curing process the salt and fat infuses into this part of the ham.
Eating your Serrano ham
This one’s easy: simply carve it as above, put it on a plate and eat it on its own using your fingers - it’s the only way! If you wish, you can have some crusty bread with it, drizzled with some good olive oil. But leave it at that, the flavour of the ham needs nothing else.
